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Kid's Storage Tips
Don't Miss Out on the Door
Durable canvas over-the-door hangers feature several pockets into which you can store small- to mid-sized items – from clothes to toys, depending on your needs. These storage pieces create storage on the backs of doors., so in a room with even just a single closet, you could create 3 new storage centers - one on the back of the entrance door and one on the inside and one on the outside of the closet door. How is that for multiplying your storage options?!
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Lockers at Home
There's a reason why schools, train stations and gyms use lockers: they hold a lot, and they take a beating! Whether you have an old school locker or want to purchase a new one, lockers are fantastic places for sports equipment and other bulky items. Look for a 4 door locker unit for maximum flexibility, if you have the space.
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Collapsible Storage
There is a range of storage items that collapse when not in use. They are often canvas, plastic, or mesh, and come in many sizes. Items like this can be good as laundry hampers, and can store things like shoes and sports equipment. You can also use them to store toys, especially toys that you bring from place to place, as these lightweight storage containers are very portable.
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Storage and Creativity
Some kids storage options and opportunities are obvious: dressers are good for storing clothes, toy boxes are good for storing toys, and bookshelves are good places to put books. Stopping there, however, deprives you of loads of opportunities to use space effectively and to have space multi-task to make your life easier.
Think out of the toybox:
What other “dead” spaces exist in the room?
How can you make them useful for storage?
What space is used for storage, but probably not as efficiently as it could be?
What storage spaces seem to always be messy?
What tools or systems could make them neater and more effective?
Can you use the wall space?
How about under the bed or behind the doors?
Thinking creatively along these lines may help you identify a slew of ways to store more things more effectively, in your child's room.
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Why Storage is Critical
From toys to books to clothing to memorabilia, you and your children have plenty of things that need stowing, and most of it lives in your kids' rooms. Having a home for these things is very important: having places to put things will make it easier for you and your child to keep the room neat, and a neat room is both a safe room and a room conducive to pleasant sleep and play.
Moreover, putting things away preserves them … toys that are off the floor are less likely to be stepped on, tripped over, or otherwise broken, and clothes that are folded and in drawers or hung in closets will need to be cleaned less often, and will get less wear and tear – and will be easier to find.
Knowing all these benefits of organization and storage doesn't make it any easier to accomplish, but it should give you and your child some motivation to create the storage in kids' rooms that will make them a fun, safe and enjoyable place to be.
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Kid's Closets
It seems like such a shame to open a closet and see a single shelf and a single pole for hang-ups. Kids' clothes aren't that long: think about installing two levels of poles to double your hanging storage space, and consider adding shelving up higher to store items that you don't use that often. Over-the door storage and hooks can create vertical storage options on the inside of a closet door, and collapsible storage boxes and totes are good options for keeping shoes and toys organized on the floor.
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Kid's Bookcases
Sure, bookcases are perfect for books – but they're great for so much more! Interspersing other items with books not only gives your shelving a sense of visual interest, it creates accessible homes for items that kids want to get at easily.
Another great way to use bookshelf real estate is to use storage boxes for smaller items, like figurines. That way, you can put all the small things in a box, and put the box on the shelf – everything stays neat and tidy and off the floor!
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Furniture that Stores
Beds, benches and cubes are all examples of furniture that can multi-task as storage pieces. Platform beds with built-in drawers are excellent for storing clothes and toys, and eliminating the need for a box spring or a bedskirt. Storage benches can act as toy boxes and a seat, as can storage cubes, which are great for keeping books, blankets, and toys in.
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Using Vertical Space
Most people do not take best advantage of the vertical space afforded them by walls. Because children are short, we think that everything needs to be within their reach. While many things do need to be readily accessible to kids, there are plenty of ways that you can use wall space to both store things and display them to best advantage.
Consider putting a Plexiglass or wooden shelf about 18 inches below the ceiling, along one wall or even around the perimeter of the room – that's a great place to put a stuffed animal collection or other items that your child wants to keep, but does not play with all that often. It's also a good place for breakable decorative pieces.
Consider hanging sports equipment, like hockey sticks, from hooks on the wall. This will free up floor space and can make functional items decorative. It also is easy to take them down when your child wants to use them.
Wall-mounted shelving and magazine racks are good options for a room short on floor space, as they enable you to have the flexibility of a bookshelf without its footprint – just make sure that you install them into wall studs and you use enough brackets to make them sturdy.
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Under the Bed: Storage and No Monsters
If there are not monsters hiding under your kid's bed, what is? If it's where everything gets shoved when it needs to hide, it's no wonder your little one is afraid of what's under there! Under-the-bed space is best use to store those items that can be stored flat, and that you need to get to only rarely.
Look for shallow plastic bins, and use them to store extra bedding, artwork, and off-season clothes. If you can find bins with casters, you'll be able to slide these items out from and back under the bed with very little effort.
