I've been tackling a few projects around the house since I've been off work for the summer, and organizing Hunter's toys was at the top of my list. He does not have a tonne of toys, mostly because he loves hockey sticks, golf clubs, and balls the best, and I'm pretty choosy about the toys we buy for him. Even with a fairly edited toy collection, it had gotten out of control in our living room and I needed to get it back in order. I'm so happy with how it turned out that I just had to share it with all of you!
First, we emptied everything out (no picture of that....it was utter CHAOS!) and put things into piles and bins of similar items.
{sidenote: have you ever noticed that your child gets overwhelmed with choice when there are toys all over the place? I find Hunter is like this, which is why I wanted to sort his toys in this way, so we could take out a few things at a time to really explore}
I have been saving the plastic containers that we buy salad greens in lately because they work so well as drawer organizers, and decided the extras I had laying around would be perfect for organizing H's smaller toys, along with a few plain white bins I picked up at Dollarama.
In the end, I came up with these bin "themes"
- Music
- Cars & Trucks
- Animals
- Blocks
- Stacking
- Puppets
- Colouring
- Trains (or choo-choos as Hunter calls them)
We had a few standalone toys too that I will be keeping in another cabinet since they don't really fit in the ottoman:
- Puzzles
- Mr. Potato Head
- Toolbox
- Sushi kit
- Dress Up Tickle Trunk
- Tupperware Shape Sorting Ball
Then, it was time to put it all back together in the storage ottoman. No more jumble of toys everytime we opened it up!
I bought this ottoman at Superstore (PC Home) when I was 9 months pregnant with Hunter. We had a metal and glass coffee table at the time, and the injuries I had sustained by stubbing my toe on it multiple times, plus the ridiculous amount of dusting and windex-ing the glass top required had put me into super-nesting mode and I HAD to get rid of it.
I made a great choice, but didn't really realize it at the time. The shallow storage is just perfect for Hunter's toy collection and keeps it out of sight when we want our living room to look tidy once the monster is in bed. The bins fit in there just perfectly!
Hunter perusing the wares.
Mr. Potato Head, all put back together in his new home.
Balls bucket, shape sorter and Ikea push cart. Some of Hunter's favourite things.
Ikea Latt Table - I am dying to paint/IkeaHack this somehow!
After all this commotion, Hunter packed up his little suitcase with a few toys and kissed me goodbye. He said he was going to the car. Off to work I guess!
Here is what our living room looks like once Hunter is in bed. You can still tell we have a child, but I think it looks pretty good for entertaining friends, or just having an at-home date night!
My next toy task is to beef up some of the bins with minimal items. Especially the tickle trunk! I see some thrifting in my future! What dress up items do your children like best?
p.s I was also thinking of taking pictures of the items, and making a label with photo for the bottom of each bin so Hunter can put them away in the right place when the bins are empty (kind of like a matching game). Is that going too far? Has my "Morganizing" crossed the line here?
