Tired of tripping over toys? Make organizing your toy room simple and fun for the kids with these toy storage ideas.
Is your playroom so messy that the kids can scarcely play in it anymore?
If you’re tired of wading through a sea of toys, there’s hope. Transforming your toy room into an oasis of tidiness isn’t a science, and you can do it in an afternoon and only a few simple steps.
We put together a complete guide to organized toy rooms complete with toy storage ideas that will make you weep with joy. In the first section, we list some of our favorite organization options that are both functional and cute. However, make sure you don’t miss our guide to getting organized at the end of the article.
Our tips for organizing your toy room will help you buy the storage components you need to make sure everything has a place.
Keen for some toy storage ideas? Let’s get started.
There’s no end of home organization systems out there, but so many of them focus on function over design or vice versa.
For kids, you need both. Why? Thoughtful design aesthetics make storage fun—as you’ll see on our list.
All our toy storage ideas and options fulfill the primary function of holding toys. But they also include features that cater to kids. They might be tilted at an angle to allow kids to see in, or easy to set up and move. Many come as part of a matching family of organization tools for cohesion and cuteness.
Although we looked for quality, we also wanted to see toy storage that kids would think is fun. Fun is a quality all in its own.
Looking for inspiration that will keep your toy room neat and organized? All the options on our list neatly pack away all types of kids toys and make cleaning up (almost) fun. Where possible, we also suggested complementary organization options to create a cohesive look in your toy room.
The first item on our list is a toy chest and storage trunk from 3 Sprouts. The trunks feature cute, gender-neutral animals like an elephant, bear, alligator, dino, leopard, hippo and more.
All the 3 Sprouts products fall under the category of safari, under the sea, woodland, and farm.
The trunk features a polyester fabric construction along with the polyester felt applique. That renders it spot-clean only, but it’s so cute that you almost won’t mind. 3 Sprouts also bolstered it with cardboard sides, so it stands upright even when empty.
We like the use of cardboard and fabric because it means the design is lightweight and easy to move. It’s not rigid like plastic or heavy like wood trunks.
We also like that the storage is cute enough to capture kids’ hearts, but it also offers a design aesthetic that parents can appreciate. So many toy storage options place function above design, and this is cute for a forward-facing toy room and for parents who love to style each room in their house.
How did it work out this way? 3 Sprouts is the product of three friends with a taste for modern design and design experience from Barneys New York, Kate Spade, and Holt Renfrew. Their kids’ products were always going to be cute.
Plus, we love that you can choose an animal or a theme (or no theme at all) and buy all your storage options from the same brand to create a cohesive look. They also offer a:
The Senbowe storage cubes are foldable linen storage cubes featuring a lid, removable divider, and handles on each side of the cube.
They measure 17.7-inches long by 11.8-inches wide by 9.8-inches high.
Although these storage cubes are linen and collapsible, they are durable and high quality. The linen features both woven and non-woven fabrics that are both eco-friendly. Unlike other manufactured textiles, there’s no chemical smell when you pull them out of the box.
We love that they fold because you can pack them down and use them to move items between rooms or dwellings. We also like that they are the size of two typical storage cubes sewn together, which means they fit far more toys.
You might wonder if the construction allows you to fill them to the brim. The answer is yes. Senbowe reinforced the storage handles so that they’re entirely sewn through. You can pick them up and carry them around with complete confidence.
Of course, that doesn’t mean you should fill them with bricks. They’re best when used with plush toys, clothes, sundries, and other lighter products.
When you order you receive four at a time including one blue, one pink, and two mint green cubes.
All in all, these are great organizers that give you heaps of storage in a single order. You may even find yourself ordering more.
ArtBin’s Store-in-Drawer cabinets are the perfect storage solution for crafty kids. The construction includes a plastic outer with space for plastic drawers that slide in and out. You can buy a model with nine drawers or one with 30 drawers for a family of crafters (or those who prefer to be hyper-organized).
However, these also make excellent Lego and building block storage options. Don’t be afraid to think outside the box.
The nine drawer set features outer dimensions of 14.375-inches long by 6-inches tall by 8.375-inches high. Each drawer is 5.31-inches long by 4.25-inches wide by 2.19-inches high. The drawers are perfect for stamps, paints, brushes, coloring utensils, and sorting small pieces like beads and buttons.
When you buy the 30-drawer set, you’ll receive a unit with the outer dimensions of 14.37-inches long by 6-inches wide by 8.75-inches high.
We would advise against using the cabinet for paper or other bulky items. It won’t fit in the drawers regardless.
At the same time, we recommend the cabinet because it sits well on the table top or you can mount it on the wall to save space.
The Phoenix Home Lodi Kid’s Toy Storage Organizer is the savior of pre-school rooms the world over. You probably recognize it from your child’s daycare center or school and wondered how you could get your hands on one.
The toy organizer is perfect for all kinds of toys including blocks, dolls, crayons and more. It grows up with your children, and it caters to kids between 3 and 12. Because the bins sit at an angle, kids of all ages can peer in and see precisely what’s inside.
Each organizer features 12 removable ins including eight standard sized and four over-size bins. They come in a wide variety of warm colors including purple, white, pink, and rose to encourage easy sorting.
The dimensions are 11-inches long by 33-inches wide by 31.5-inches tall.
Assembly is straightforward, and the organizer includes braces to prevent it from tipping over.
We love the open containers, particularly for small children. There’s no need to dig around or pull out boxes. They can see exactly what they want and get it practically and with less mess.
If you like the organizer and its color scheme, we also recommend the Tots Tutors WO697 Kids Book Rack, which matches the purple and pink color scheme well.
The Best Choice organizer is a shelving unit and padded bench in one sweet package.
It includes six cubbies that are the perfect height for children’s books or toys generally. The bench sits in the middle of the organizer and features a padded seat and sides to create a cozy reading space that’s just for them.
The whole thing is polybutylene, which means it holds up well to years of use so it will grow with them. The cushion features polyester and cotton blend.
Its dimensions include 42.25-inches long by 12-inches wide by 25-inches high, and it holds up to 110 pounds. Assembly is required, and out of all the products on the list, it is probably the most difficult to build. It weighs 40 pounds, so you may need a helping hand when building and moving the seat.
Even though you know the dimensions, it’s important not to underestimate how small the bench is. It works best for children under eight, and it isn’t somewhere you can sit with them. It is, however, an independent reading space that’s just for them, which offers value on its own.
If you have little readers at home, then you need this forward-facing bookshelf. The design allows you to place books in with their cover facing front, which makes them super easy to identify for pre- and early readers.
The rack measures 24-inches long by 10.25-inches wide by 24-inches high, and it also comes in two colors. You can buy it in a natural wood finish with a cream storage space. Alternatively, choose something brighter with an espresso finish wood and pastel color book racks.
It’s not large enough to store all your books, but it does house your current favorites. It can store up to 25 to 30 books depending on the size of the books.
Have you ever wondered if you can’t just hide all those stuffed animals and plush toys away without losing floor space to a big storage bin?
5 STARS UNITED made it possible. The storage bean bag chair is a durable cotton canvas outer that opens up and stores up to 90 plush toys (depending on their size). You can also use it to store extra clothes, blankets, pillows, or other linens.
The bean bag measures 33-inches in diameter and comes with a wide handle that makes it easy to drag from room to room. You’ll fill it up through the child-friendly zipper, and it makes tidying the toy room into a fun game. If they want to sit in their favorite bean bag, then they have to fill it up first! Plus, they’ll always be close to their plush friends, even when they need to clean their room.
You can buy it in five colors including:
We love the ingenuity of the design, which makes a huge difference in small rooms or rooms without built-in storage. We are also big fans of the guarantee. If you don’t like the chair, just return it for a full refund.
The Maginels Portable Kid Organizers looks like a clothing storage solution for kids without closet space, but we also think it has a place in the toy room.
Take your dress-up clothes out of the bin and hang and fold them neatly here instead.
The organizer includes eight storage cubes and two sections for hanging. You can use four of the bins to store folded costumes or craft smocks and the other four to store accessories and other bits that go with dress-up time.
It comes in pink and blue, and both feature cute animal designs like owls, bunnies, and bears.
We love the organizer because it’s lightweight and easy to move, but each cube can hold 22 pounds of clothes. The materials are light but resilient and even waterproof.
It’s also simple to assemble and requires no tools. You’ll put it together with multi-angle connectors that attach to each other seamlessly. There’s even a video to use if you need further instructions.
The final item on our list is a more durable storage solution designed to take a beating. It includes a powder-coated metal frame for extreme durability and a 100 percent polyester basket design.
You can buy the bin in a two or three-tier design. Each bin is open on top and presents at an angle, so that little ones can peer in without tipping over the whole storage system.
The metal frame makes the design very sturdy. Many people use it to store heavier toys including outdoor toys. It’s also good for use in garages and basements.
Before you start drooling over the organizational accessories on offer and the possibility of never, ever stepping on a Lego brick again, there’s work to be done.
We recommend following these steps to plan what kind of organization you need and what will work with your kids before making any purchasing decisions.
What kind of toys do you have, and what do you need to store? Both of these are essential for understanding the type and amount of storage solutions you need to buy.
Start by—and we’re sorry—pulling out all the toys in the toy room and laying them on the floor. What toys get the most use? Are there any that everyone forgot they had?
Go through everything and create two piles: one that the kids love and play with and one that can go to charity.
To make the sorting process more manageable and give you a better idea of what you have, try to do everything according to the toys’ broader category. What building blocks do you have? How many books do you have? Keep going until you complete the process.
Don’t forget to involve your kids.
Letting the kids participate may sound like a bad idea if you want to get rid of toys but asking for their input allows them to feel in control. There may be a few battles, but it’s better to give them agency now than the be accused of subterfuge when they discover their toys went missing in the dead of the night.
Storage becomes more accessible to find and maintain when you create a system. We recommend grouping the toys into broad categories—like puzzles, dolls, etc.— and then store them together in one place.
Do the sorting after you inventory everything and put them into groups in different parts of the room. It will give you a better idea of the size and type of storage needed for each group.
You don’t need to buy five of the same storage containers but using similar styles or colors makes the room feel less jumbled, which encourages the whole family to keep it cleaner.
If you struggle to find the size and shape that works for your room and toys, you can always add some aftermarket uniformity with a coat of paint. Painting and decorating is another way to get the kids involved in taking ownership of their toy room and not just the toys in it.
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