Ask:
Just wondering if anyone has any tips on organizing a toy room. We will soon be converting our dining room into a toy room for the babies and I'm curious as to how to minimize any problems.
Thanks!
Susan
Finley and Jude
#3 arriving May 2007
Answer:
My very favorite "trick" is to not put things out on shelves so much, as to put them in chest of drawers (picked up at garage sales or Goodwill!). That way, out of sight is out of mind...you get a much neater look to your dining room/playroom! Controls for game systems, etc. can go in the top one, dress up clothes in another, matchbox cars in one...etc, etc.
Answer:
Boy, I have to agree with that... out of site, out of mind, out of mess!!! The more toys you have out in the open, the more of a mess you're likely to have on a routine (hourly, daily) basis. So keeping toys put up and rotating them on a regular basis is a huge helper. Plus, then the toys seem "new" again, and the kids really enjoy playing with them.
Answer:
I also enjoy the out of sight display- unfortunatley, we don't have a toy room- the toy room is my girls bedrooms! I have one of those toy shelfs that has multi-colored open boxes (got it at Target pretty cheap). It works decently for my 3 year old and clean up is fairly easy for her. Now my oldest enjoys her toys but does not want anyone to see her toys. We use under the bed boxes for her toys and a couple shelves in her closet, needless to say my oldest shoves everything under her bed- instead of putting them away.
Answer:
Our toy room is on the other half our living room. It's a long room so I have it separated by back to back couches. I have a table with two little benches and a dry erase board on top to work on projects or just draw. For housing toys, I have done a few different things. 1) a wooden shelfing unit. The top is for nice looking things and the bottom two shelves have tapestry curtains on them to hide the not so nice looking toys. 2) I have two wicker picnic baskets stacked for lincoln logs and blocks. An antique trunk houses a pretty large geotrack set 3) Nice oak book shelf for books 4) a nice desk to do paper projects 5) 2 toy boxes w/ shelves and enclosed toy area on the bottom. On the shelves are small bins for toys. It all has a library feel to it so it doesn't necessarily look like a toy room.