Best Toy Storage Box Buying Guide
Your children’s playroom is their personal space. In their room, they are able to move about without worrying that they might get into an accident, thanks to your impeccable child proofing. They can ‘work’ in this room – it is where they make their art, dance about, and make believe with their toys. It is no wonder, then, that your children’s playroom is also the messiest part of your house.
Mess, though, is a great opportunity for your kids to learn an important life skill: organizing and packing away. The best way to do this, of course, is to make sure that everything in the kids’ playroom has its own place. So, if you want to get ahead of the mess, you might want to start looking at toy storage boxes for the kids’ room.
Types of Toy Storage
As far as toy storage boxes and organizers go, there are a lot of choices for your kids’ room. In fact, they come in all sorts of cute constructions and colors that it will be hard to keep yourself from over spending or over buying. This won’t be a problem if you have a lot of space to put your new purchases in, but if you don’t, you will have to plan on buying your storage units carefully. But before you can plan, you will need to know what types of toy storage boxes are available to you.
● Cubby Holes
Cubby type storage units look like traditional book cases except with more compartments. Each compartment may be used as a shelf to store books, kids’ DVDs, art sets, and toys. While others may be used as light drawers. For versatility, you may purchase a cubby type storage with different sized compartments for different types of toys and knick knacks. They come in different finishes and it will look great in any room in the house.
Pros: Cubby holes have a classic look that can outlast trends. While the hardwood varieties will last longer, being on a budget and buying shelves made with cheaper engineered wood will not take away from its classic look. You can also make customized cubbies to fit right into your interiors for exactly the things you wish to store in them.
Cons: Cubby holes can get really bulky and if not correctly incorporated into your room interiors, could make a room appear smaller. Fully customized units can be more expensive than other toy storage options.
● Hanging Storage
The great thing about hanging storage is that you can use the vertical space in your child’s room and save the floor space for other things. They can go from traditional store bought plush toy hammocks to sleek floating shelves from your local Home Depot. But where hanging toy storage really shines is in the DIY department where crafty moms can use pails, baskets, crates or any child safe container and hang them as storage for their kids’ things.
Pros: You can really get creative with using vertical space. This is especially useful for small play rooms with very little floor space to spare.
Cons: Hanging storage may be unsafe for little kids who might not know how to properly access storage that hangs overhead.
● Free Standing
Free standing toy storage are among the most versatile toy storage units available. They come in the form of wooden or metal frames with different sized colorful bins to help your kids organize their stuff. The bins are ideal for grouping toys and clothes together. They are also built to be within your child’s reach.
Pros: Free standing toy storage boxes are light and easily carried should there be a need to move things around. They are normally made to be compact so as not to take up too much floor space. They are also relatively inexpensive and widely available. This being so, it is easy to buy more units if you need additional storage.
Cons: While the bins can store all sorts of different things, they are unsuitable for soft covered books.
● Soft Plush Toy Bags
You can organize your kids’ plush toys in soft zipper bags that are specially designed to do just that. They are also ideal for pillows, bed sheets, pillow cases, and duvets.
Pros: These organizer bags are inexpensive and are a great way to compartmentalize things in the closet.
Cons: They have limited use and don’t have the structure to store harder toys.
● Chests
Toy chests are a classic way to store toys when they are not in use. They come in wood finishes or in more modern plastic designs. Chests are great for quickly stowing things away, but it is not easy to organize things inside them.
Pros: The classic look of a toy chest can be appealing to children and adults alike. And because it really is just a big box with a lid, it is easy to make a room look neat by getting toys out of sight when they are not needed.
Cons: Chests can get really heavy and pose as a real hazard for very small children whose fingers might accidentally get caught in the lid. If you choose to use a chest as a storage box, never leave your child unattended. There have been too many horror stories of children getting trapped inside chests when no one was watching them.
What are the features you should consider when buying a toy storage?
Now that you know your choices, it will be easier to decide what you need in your kids’ room. It is always a good idea to have a look at the things they own so you have a good idea of how many storage units you need. In addition, you and your kids could have fun together if you involve them in choosing their storage box. It will be fun for them to be part of deciding which toys get displayed and which ones go into which compartment.
Once you and your kids have sorted out what you need in their playroom, you will want to look for the ideal unit that not only looks good, but has the following features.
● Sturdy and Durable
When you are looking for a toy storage box, you need one that is sturdy and durable. For one, your little ones might be curious and inclined to climb their storage unit. If they do, the last thing we want is for it to come crashing down, with your child on it. Even though storage units are not built high enough to injure your child should she fall from it, just imagine the mess!
Likewise, you want to have a storage unit that is durable. Toy storage boxes are furniture pieces and will be part of your child’s room for a while. It pays to buy one that can grow along with her.
● Customizable
You want a storage box that is versatile and can be used for whatever you need it for. Do you need some levels to be higher? Longer? More square? Do you need a bin to be deeper? Do you need to organize by color? Standardized units are ok, but every play room is different and kids’ things vary. So you will want to make sure that the unit you buy can adapt to your kids’ belongings.
● Expandable
You will be surprised and how fast kids accumulate things. The things that you bought them are just part of their inventory. As they grow up, their rooms will be filled with things that others have gifted them. They will start gathering things from their many explorations and collecting keepsakes from friends at school. They need to be able to organize all those things. So you will want a toy storage box that can be expanded easily so that it conforms to the look of your child’s playroom.
● Easy to Clean
We can imagine how busy your schedule must be, so anything that wastes time and energy are an unwelcome addition to the household. The same is true for your storage units which can gather dirt in very little time. Art supplies and drinks can spill and stain storage units while kids can accidentally drop food in their bins. So you want to choose storage units that are easy to clean either by a quick wipe down or by simply throwing it in the laundry.
● Pick Open Shelving or Bins
Closed shelving is super neat and you can hide poor organization behind a closed door. But they just are not kid friendly. Kids can get their fingers caught in closet doors, while drawers could be too heavy to push and pull. Open shelving will be the better option when it comes to kids’ storage units.
● Match Your Interiors
Since you’re already out shopping, why not pick a unit that matches your interiors? That’s the beauty of shopping these days. It is much easier now to find things that you need in the look that you want.
Tips for Organizing the Kids' Room
- Before buying or having a toy storage box made, make an inventory of your children’s things. They could help you look over their toys, art materials, and other stuff so they could decide what to keep and what to give away. Once they know what they are keeping, it will be easier to get the storage they need in the correct quantity.
- If your children can already express what they want, involve them in shopping for their toy storage box. You might be surprised at how insightful they can be since they are the ones who will put their things away in their play room. For instance, they might want to have a special compartment for a favorite toy. In addition, if their toy storage box is to their liking, they might be more likely to use it.
- Have more than one kind of toy storage box. Some types are better at storing specific things than others. For example, a cubby style storage box is better for stowing books away while a bin in a free standing storage unit is better for crayons and art materials. By having different options for stowing things away, your children’s play room will be neater and more organized.
- It is never really too early to start the kids on keeping their surrounding neat. Little kids can be taught to pack away before bed time, even if they do it badly at first. However sloppy their packing away is, learning how to do it early will teach them to be neat and organized as they grow up.
- If you’re using a chest toy storage box, make sure you get one of those safety springs that prevent heavy lids from slamming shut. Doing so may save little fingers from getting caught and little kids from getting trapped.
- Create compartments that helps keep sets together. Shoe boxes are great for this. Toy cars belong together, the xylophone and sticks together, train set in one box, Barbie clothes in another, and so on and so forth. Keeping organized this way helps kids put away toys before pulling others out to play – it’s a great plan for staying ahead of the mess.
- Whether it is with a sharpie or an electronic label maker, labelling will be your new best friend. Label every compartment and every shelf so that your kids will know where to return his things.
- Organize from the bottom-up. Most frequently used toys and books should be at your child’s eye level – which is usually at the lower shelves – and those that are used only once in a while can be higher up.
Our Recommendation
Finding solutions for your organizing your kids’ toys isn’t as difficult as it seems. This is especially true if you know where to look for guidance. So before you go out and shop for the toy storage box of your dreams, have a look at our Top 5 Best Toy Storage Boxes that we and ParentsNeed HQ so carefully picked. We are especially fond of Tot Tutors Kids’ Toy Organizer with Storage Bins. It is light, slim, beautifully finished, and the different sized bins that it comes with are very versatile. For these reasons, it is our number one pick and a must have in your child’s playroom.
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