It feels like our house has been taken over, but I know we've got a lot less than many people. DD has a 'playroom' which is not actually a room, but a dedicated space within our open plan living area. She has three deep shelves that hold bigger toys (xylophone, duplo, wooden blocks, that sort of thing), a biggish play kitchen whose shelves store all the crafty stuff, and a little table and chair which hold the crayons and markers and things. Her stuff spreads throughout the place during the day but is returned there at night.
Her bedroom just has books, stuffed animals, and some dolls' furniture.
I really only buy her art/craft stuff throughout the year, and then one big present for birthday and another for Christmas. She's a December birthday, so all her gifts arrive at once, and I go through and cull/hide after Christmas to be taken out during the year. We belong to a toy library and a book library.
I know people who - with young children, like mine - check gifts before letting their DC open them, so they can confiscate things they don't want in the house. And other people who think that's uptight. I know people who, like me, insist that the toys have one or two dedicated homes and cull every time the stash overspills that. And other people who think that's restrictive and the children should feel welcome to have their stuff in every part of the house, since after all adults do. I know people who feel that having only a very few toys makes children use their imagination and really use them. And other people who want their children to have access to a range of toys so that they can always satisfy a creative desire.
I didn't know I had a toy philosophy, but apparently I do. So how do you approach toys?