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Keeping up with kids can be a tough call at the best of times, with every age group having its own set of storage needs. Keeping bedrooms tidy can feel like an ongoing battle. If you’ve got storage wars going on in your kids’ bedrooms, we’ve put together a few ideas to hopefully bring peace and harmony back into the house.
Everyday Toys and Books
Toy fads come and go, and they can make keeping kids’ rooms tidy a bit harder. Keeping an eye on which toys are in favour and which have been temporarily discarded can help keep everything organised. For favourite, everyday toys, you could try having a set of baskets or tubs arranged on shelves at an appropriate height. Keeping the favourites within reach encourages little ones to help themselves, and also you (if you’re lucky) to put them away when they’ve finished. This works for living rooms or bedrooms, and if you don’t want shelves the baskets can sit in a designated toy corner of the room.
For very young children, baskets or tubs are safer than chests or boxes as there’s less chance of pinched fingers. While having a jumble of toys in a box might not sound much fun to a grown-up, they make for great treasure hunt games for little kids, especially for dressing up clothes. Another useful piece of furniture is a book display unit. The books face outwards, making it easier to find the one you or your child is looking for. They’re lovely when you want to encourage reading, and maybe make a quiet corner with comfy bean bags or cushions to lounge on.
Ringing the Changes
With toys and playthings often costing a small fortune, it makes sense to get the most out of them that you can. Keeping toys at home when they’re no longer in use is a waste of space unless you’ve got loads of storage, and most of us don’t.
When you’ve got nowhere to put the items in use because all the cupboards are full of unused things, it’s time to rethink. Instead of parting with those unused toys (which might be in hot demand again in a few months), a better idea is to pop them in self-storage. They’re out of the house, out of sight and out of mind, but still in your possession.
You can get self storage space in all sorts of sizes, even large locker sizes if you don’t want an entire room, so it’s worth investigating for safekeeping all the overflow. Of course, if you took a whole storage unit, you’d have space for outdoor kids’ equipment too, like climbing frames, swings, or trampolines, when they’re not being used. A hidden benefit of putting items into self storage is how they feel new and fresh again when you bring them home. It really can give toys and games a new lease of life.
Storage for Older Children
As kids grow up, their needs change drastically. If you’re struggling with storage for older kids, consider replacing standard furnishings with storage alternatives. Items like raised beds with desk space underneath, or divans and ottoman styles that have storage under the mattress, for instance. These can make a huge difference to the feel of a room as things are either tucked out of sight or you get more use out of the same size footprint in the case of raised beds. If your teen would rather have a frame bed, invest in some pull-out drawers underneath to help keep things tucked away and tidy. Shelving systems, such as cubes or corner units can add a different dimension to a straight shelf on the wall. Run a couple of shelves around the corner above a desk or dressing table or arrange a modular system in creative and unusual shapes for books, shoes, sports gear or games.
Fashion-conscious teens might enjoy an outfit station behind the wardrobe door. Fit an over-door hook, a small towel rail and a few smaller hooks for hanging accessories. It makes choosing and laying out outfits fun and creative way to experiment with clothes and try different things together.
Future Proofing for You
As much as children have distinct personalities and preferences, they also tend to go through much the same growing up stages. From nursery to toddler, infant to junior and on to senior, bedroom storage and furnishing needs are fundamentally the same.
Saving good items to hand on to younger siblings is a great way of hedging against future costs. When you haven’t finished growing your family, save nursery furnishings and good baby equipment in self storage units, ready to come out again for a new arrival. Also save cots, first beds, toddler tables and chairs or high chairs. Everything that’s still in good, clean condition can be reused and repurposed as younger children grow up, or even put in a storage room for all future life changes. As well as saving money, you’ll also have the satisfaction of knowing you’re on-trend, seeing as we’re all trying to buy less right now.
Hopefully, there are one or two ideas in here that you can use or adapt to make your own kids’ bedroom storage work better. It might never be perfect, but it’s good to get as close as possible.
