My 9-year olds bookshelf. He uses it for books but I also use the bottom shelves for toy storage. I don’t know if you can identify but no matter how many times I fix this bookshelf it ends up looking like this:
He has had those orange and brown baskets for years and they started to show it. When he was smaller they served their purpose but now he needed stronger baskets. I had to find baskets that wouldn’t warp and could handle being pulled out by kids who are not always the most gentle on their toys. I also needed larger baskets to house the countless cards that my son collects.
Target saved the day. Again. I found these bins with the basket weave design which are VERY sturdy and I chose the putty color. I also purchased some white ones that I will use for some bathroom storage. I will post on that later. They had the bins in white, putty and brown. The baskets also nest but that wasn’t my intention with these.
I used one of the small baskets to hold magformers. I love that toy! They are like legos with magnets and kids (and adults) don’t seem to outgrow them. I purchased them like 4 years ago on QVC.com
Next, I used this sandwich container to hold one of his little card games and its pieces. That’s the thing with kids toys…ALL THE SMALL PIECES! They end up scattered everywhere especially when they don’t have a home.
This container was $1. and not the best quality for lunch but perfect for this little game.
There were cards that he only had a small set of. I used small bags to put those in and I added a label. I placed the bags inside one of the tins seen in the pictures below.
The second small bin is only for card games. It holds tins that are full of cards and the sandwich container.
The large bin was a good size to organize all the miscellaneous small toys. I used boxes on the inside to keep them in place. If I used a separate small basket for each type of toy I would have a wall of baskets and bins. Not an option. This bin was large enough to fit the smaller items and his DS perfectly.
The finished product.
The bins fit nicely in the shelves.
Notice the labels on the shelves. My son did that on his own with my label maker. Should I be proud or scared that he is doing this? At least it’s not color-coordinated. Now I am giving myself ideas. 🙂
Of course we all know that this much order wont last in a kids room but creating systems for everything makes the clean-up easier. If it’s easier, then the kids are more likely to do it. If not, at least it’s easier for mom.
Maria
Yep, if we could just get the books back in on the shelves neatly, even if they’re not in order, that would be wonderful. My 11-year-old is incredibly neat, but the 6-year-old? Yikes.
My 9 year old son is very particular about how he wants certain things organized…yet in other areas…yikes is right!
Diary of a Wimpy Kid…39 Clues…LOTR…does my elementary school teacher heart good! Not just all electronics! Yay mom!
It makes me happy that he loves to read so much. Since you are a teacher you will also appreciate that the AR program (advanced reading) in his school has encouraged him to read even more.