How to Organize Those Bulky Toys?

Updated on January 25, 2011
G.M. asks from Peoria, AZ
11 answers

I've got solutions for smaller toys, but for those bulky toys like castles and race tracks etc., are bulky and take up a lot of room. I'd like to find a way to store them where my sons can get them to play with but easily to put them away and off the floor. I'm looking online but having no luck. Anyone with suggestions on how to organize these big toys besides setting them against the wall each night? I kind of want them a bit hidden so my house will look like a house and not a playground 24/7. It drives me bonkers to see it all and not know what to do.
I will greatly appreciate your input. Thank you so much.
G.

PS: My house is a small house with only one closet in the hallway. The boys's closet is small. Uncle is moving in so that take away one other closet and to me, this house was not built right in all different ways. Unfortunately we have to store these toys out wherer anyone can see them. But would like it to be a neater and tightier way of keeping them. :-)

What can I do next?

  • Add yourAnswer own comment
  • Ask your own question Add Question
  • Join the Mamapedia community Mamapedia
  • as inappropriate
  • this with your friends

So What Happened?

Everyone THANK YOU SO MUCH! I wish I could store some of these toys in the garage. that would be a huge help...however,
living in AZ, it gets over 100 degrees for six months here and the garage feels like an oven all the time. I don't think that would be good for the toys. When my hubby and I bought this house, we certainly didn't take into consideration of having kiddos. Everything is just all over place. Even with toy bins (the plastic totes), the toys are everywhere. Just a lot of bulky toys and we even got rid of most of them through garage sales. Everyone has such great ideas and I am going to try and implement them all. :-) Thank you again!

Featured Answers

Smallavatar-fefd015f3e6a23a79637b7ec8e9ddaa6

M.P.

answers from Portland on

I had this same issue. I found a hanging clothes organizer (hangs from the closet rod) @ Ikea that has shelves that fit most of his large toys (like his Little People garage, Imaginext sets). The bottom bin also has a small front on it so he can put things there that might otherwise roll out. It was only $6 and it works great for us! Maybe you could hang it from the ceiling if there isn't enough closet space. Here’s a link to it on Ikea’s website:
http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/50188957

2 moms found this helpful

More Answers

Smallavatar-fefd015f3e6a23a79637b7ec8e9ddaa6

L.S.

answers from Spokane on

What about a pantry-type cabinet with adjustable shelves and doors?

3 moms found this helpful
Smallavatar-fefd015f3e6a23a79637b7ec8e9ddaa6

M.P.

answers from Pittsburgh on

I used large decorative baskets. Funny though...now there are no more toys like that and I miss those days...stressing that the room was a mess with toys everywhere! Seemed like it would always be like that and then at some point, I couldn't even say when, they all disappeared-replaced by video games that take up no space at all.

1 mom found this helpful
Smallavatar-fefd015f3e6a23a79637b7ec8e9ddaa6

D.P.

answers from Tucson on

Hello G., You could use those plastic bins. One big one for all the pieces of track. You can decorate it any way you want to or buy a color that matches the room it will be in. That is the best I can come up with at this time.

D. P.

1 mom found this helpful
Smallavatar-fefd015f3e6a23a79637b7ec8e9ddaa6

S.

answers from Phoenix on

I was using bins and toy boxes to store the kids toys in and it was not working. They could not see the toys so they did not play with them. Just before Christmas, I bought rolling (optional) 3 Drawer Storage containers from Walmart. I got small ones for $11 and wider ones for $17. I started out buying 2 of each size. Loved them, so I went back for more. I think I ended up with 9 total. I have small one for all arts and crafts stuff. I have a large one for separated race track pieces. I use a small one for action figures and a large on for puzzles and games. Since I organized all the toys in these drawers, they boys have played with nearly every toy that we own. I kept two toy box style for the super bulky items. It has made a world of difference! I sat in the toy room for two days just smiling and in awe. But not only that, it still looks that great a month later. The kids have been putting things back exactly where they found them. Good luck!

C.W.

answers from Las Vegas on

I think that one of those big double door wardrobes with adjustable shelves would probably work and if you need big baskets for the race tracks to sit in (don't they come apart as road pieces?) you can put them in the wardrobe.

Wow, S.H. that's a cool idea your friend did up to the part where she sounds OCD about keeping her house way too unlived in with the permission asking thing lol, but to each its own. I like seeing my daughters bean bag lion chair-thing in the living room.

I have a playroom area for my 2 year old so her big toys, like that stand toy with the dancing bear on top or the train table, can just be positioned somewhere in the room against the wall to look neat... it's hard to hide those because they're as tall as her or just big. I understand what ya mean though, when it gets cluttered it starts wearing on you pretty hard.

Smallavatar-fefd015f3e6a23a79637b7ec8e9ddaa6

S.H.

answers from Honolulu on

Put them in a closet.
Or, buy a shelving piece of furniture... with doors on it.

I know a woman... who... when you go to her house you cannot even tell she has kids. NO kid things anywhere. She... puts all her kids toys, in a closet... or in cubby type shelves, with a 'curtain' on it to 'hide' it.
Her kids, cannot take anything out.... unless they ask her permission first, and as soon as they are done playing with it, she puts it away again.
I don't know how... she keeps her house, looking un-lived in.
But that is her. But that was what she did.

Or, you just CONFINE the kids things/toys.... ONLY in 1 room in the house.

Smallavatar-fefd015f3e6a23a79637b7ec8e9ddaa6

N.N.

answers from Albuquerque on

A wooden toy chest or cedar/hope chest. We have one in our living room for all our kid's board games and it doubles as a place to sit. It just looks like a piece of furniture. I actually bought ours at Babies R Us with a 40 percent off coupon so it wasn't very expensive.

Smallavatar-fefd015f3e6a23a79637b7ec8e9ddaa6

A.M.

answers from Phoenix on

I decided in my house less was best.We no longer have a play room so now, the kids can only have one bulky toy (which they must keep in their bedrooms), one shelf with toys and one bin of toys in each of their rooms. No toys allowed in my livingroom. When they accumulate too many toys, they end up not playing or using them. So when they get a new toy, they must donate or throw away an old one.

Smallavatar-fefd015f3e6a23a79637b7ec8e9ddaa6

J.C.

answers from Philadelphia on

We have shelves in the garage. We then have a bins with train tracks, another for Play Doh stuff, another for legos etc. The castles and doll houses are a bit of a problem... But I have two large wicker type baskets with lids in my family room. The one is angled so I can hide quite a few toys behind it. I also have a bin down the basement and I rotate toys up to the family room. All toys must be able to be contained in the wicker chests or else they go down the basement. I really dislike clutter:)

Smallavatar-fefd015f3e6a23a79637b7ec8e9ddaa6

W.H.

answers from Phoenix on

I hear ya on the garage. And I wonder WHY in the world more houses here don't have basements?!?!!!! (it IS possible, builders just don't want to deal with digging & foundations.)

My son's bulky toys go on the shelf (and the ones too bulky to fit on the shelf do sit along the wall by the shelf - but they're in the upstairs room, not our living room....)

If there are too many, take half and put away (ie, closet top shelf or somewhere suitable to you) and every month or few, rotate them out. Kids appreciate playing with toys better when they've had a rest from them. That way you don't have all the bulky toys out along the wall in the room, but just a few.

We have a bin for trains, the FP toys (mostly) fit on the shelf with books up above and DVD's on the top shelf. Stuffed animals and blankets are what I have a mess of, mostly!

For Updates and Special Promotions
Follow Us

Related Questions