It’s nothing revolutionary but boxes and bins, pretty much all over the house, have been a life-saver for us. To me, the key is to keep things accessible so the kids will want to engage with them, but to also be able to hide them away later when you have company.
In our living room alone, we have two bench ottomans with bins (6 total) plus an IKEA (expedit style) 10 cube shelving unit for toys. In the play/art/dining room we also have lots of baskets and we try to find ways to repurpose or upcycle things. So art supplies are stored in mason jars and our old changing table now serves as a shelving unit for craft supplies, toys, and play food that goes along with our play kitchen.
By far, my favorite storage solution has been our “art center“. I created it with IKEA supplies and a $70 budget and it’s the perfect thing for keeping messy art supplies out of reach but still visible so the kids will remember to use them.
We live in less than 1400 square feet with two rowdy boys! Our secret is a large screened in back porch and a huge back yard. We have a playroom but it is upstairs and very seperate from the rest of our house. They play up there some but honestly its the storage place for toys in rotation. The “rotation methods” works great for us. When they are no longer playing with the train table or big wooden ship or Melissa and Doug castle, it goes upstairs. When they spot something upstairs they want to bring down we switch things out. The same with books. My oldest has also has secret boxes on wheels for his lego creations hecan slide under his bed or other hiding places from his brother. We just put rolling casters on old soda crates for this storage.
– Jen , I Heart Organizing
myself. With four little ones it is one of my biggest challenges. I
find that going through toys regularly is key. Every few months I find
myself doing a bit of a purge. However, I do find trying to keep toys
in one certain room almost impossible to do (at least while having
toddlers in tow). One of my solutions (or ways to manage) is to have
some type of storage in every room. That way picking up can be super
easy and fast should guests just pop over. Baskets and bins are my
favorites for quick organization and clean up. Some of my current faves
are
At our house, we have a little bit of toy storage in almost every room of the house- EXCEPT OUR KIDS BEDROOMS- because toys inevitably seem seep into every space. In our great room, we have a couple of old wooden boxes on shelves where a few toys are kept. In our backyard we have one of those big boxes for outdoor toys and I love that thing. In the kitchen, I’ve designated a drawer to crayons & art supplies and we also have a little “play” kitchen in the real kitchen which I love because it really occupies the kids while we cook & clean. Only their “kitchen” toys are allowed here and I find it’s really important to keep certain toys in certain areas if things are to stay organized. In my bedroom, I keep a small basket under my nightstand to corral “left” toys & books into. When it fills up, we take it to our main toy area and clear it out. Our upstairs loft, which is basically a family room, is the main toy area. Our boys’ bedrooms are right off of it so we don’t keep any toys in their bedrooms, which has been LIFE-CHANGING. Their rooms are so easy to keep clean now that there are no toys in there. They bring toys into their rooms to play every day, but when they clean up, the toys go into the baskets in the hutch in our family room. 
In my own life and with
client work I have found that the majority of people don’t have a
designated playroom due to lack of space. Personally I’m in the same
boat as many of my clients and here are some tips I give them. I make
sure to have toy areas for Hudson in every level of my home. This way I
don’t have to move things back and forth where I will inevitably lose
something and add more clutter to my home plus this way Hudson can
always be entertained. Now in a nursery it’s natural to have toys out in
the open and they just add to the cuteness factor of the room, but who
wants to see fisherprice splashed all over the rest of your home? In
order to help hide the toys I have a couple of go to storage solutions.
1. A storage trunk: Many of the options out that are let’s face all wood
and boring! What’s the best part of wood? You can easily paint it and
give it new life. 2 cans of spraypaint should do the job for most trunk plus you can add a more design touch by getting a piece of foam cut to size and add a cushion on top of the lid. Now you have extra seating and a disguised toy storage solution.
2.
Hampers and planter baskets are no longer just made out of plastic. I
find them all of the time made out of pretty weaving with bold colors. I
use them in living rooms constantly and just fill them to brim with
toys. They add a great source of a texture to a room and no one ever
notices that they are filled with toys just how pretty they are. 3. Multifunctional coffee tables: There are now many
storage upholstered ottomans that you can use as coffee tables so that
is always a go to option, but a lot of times I just like to work with
what I have in the space. In my own personal home I switched out all of
my design books with children’s books and my trays now hold paper and
markers for art time. Everything is out in the open so it’s easy for
Hudson to grab what he wants, but it’s also easy for me to straighten
out the books and once they are lined up no one really notices if they
are design books or kids books.
Another great tip
for those of you that spend a lot of time in your kitchen area is to
empty out one of your bottom drawers and fill it with toys. Hudson loves
opening and closing drawers and this way he can be entertained taking
toys out and playing on the floor while I cook dinner.
