Need an affordable toy storage solution - please send help!

[Rainraincomeback]

Toys are always "tidied" at lunch and bedtime so there doesn't appear to be much clutter but the reality is they are thrown randomly into one big toy chest downstairs, and into a small canvas toy storage bag upstairs which is overflowing

The net result is that toys are really random, bits of one toy upstairs, bits downstairs, bits in the garden etc

DD is 2 so doesn't really care and plays with whatever but I'd like to get this sorted ASAP so that we put things away properly in their proper place - ie toy till and all its components are together etc etc

I don't really want to spend more than £50 so I guess cube storage is out... and I'm not sure it would suit the room anyway. Could I just get a large chest upstairs but put plastic storage boxes in? Not sure of best plan!

I'd just get an IKEA Kallax 2x2 and put some storage boxes in it. If you are willing to spend a little more then a 4x2 so you can use it as book shelves too.

One of the best ways to keep toys together I've seen was what they did at my middle sons nursery when he was little. They made a few toys available to play with and others were put away in a big cupboard that had no child access. They rotated those available to play with. Less to tidy, easier to keep bits together and the children seamed to treat each rotation like it was a birthday with lots of new toys.

Almost everyone I know has gone the Kallax (or b&q/Homebase version) route for toy storage. It’s a bit ‘done’ but popular for a reason.

My playroom has 20 kallax cube holes. Everything is beautifully organised into its own boxes and I’m pretty militant about keeping things together. It means the children actually get good use out of their toys as it’s all there together with no bits missing. In some of the kallax boxes I have smaller plastic boxes with lids. You can fit three in a kallax box for smaller toys.

If I was you I would have smaller plastic boxes in your toy chest so that as your child gets bigger they can take out a box and everything is there together. They give up otherwise and just pull everything out!

Charity shop wooden tea trolley and ice cream tubs/baskets works here. They get to choose a couple of sets of things then the rest is put away. Tidy up in the right box when they're done.

We have a mixture of kallax, troops and open shelves.

If you want a budget option and it isn't the actual space in the toy boxes that's the issue, I'd buy a bunch of mesh bags so that toys stay with their associated small pieces, and then just chuck them in together. I've done that in some kallax cubes before and it worked fine. I bought my bags on amazon, but I've seen people use the fruit and veg bags from sainsbury for this. They need to be see through so your dc can find the toy they want.