Refinish older pieces of furniture and use them for toy storage.
A little boy's room doesn't have to be littered with toys all over the floor. Creative and inventive storage strategies can house all your child's most precious possessions without making his room look like a daycare run amok. Rather than opt for storage solutions readily available at a big-box store, try a unique solution that will reflect the personality of your little boy. Does this Spark an idea?
Vintage Chest
An older, restored storage chest painted to match your little boy's room not only holds a large amount of toys, but enhances a room's pirate or train theme. You can weather a newer chest to look old, giving it a distressed appearance, and you can paint your child's name or add custom graphics to your chest to personalize it for your little boy. If you do use an older chest, restore the hinges and sand the wood to ensure it is smooth and in top working order so it doesn't cause any harm to your little one.
Hanging Storage Baskets
Make soft fabric hanging baskets in a variety of sizes. These baskets are lined with plexiglass squares so they retain their shape and hold the heaviest toys. You can use your choice of fabric, making custom storage solutions for your room. Because they are suspended from curtain rods, you can put them almost anywhere, and, unlike toy storage with shelving, your little boy won't be able to climb them and jump off. Buy bigger rods to support the weight of bigger baskets.
Rolling Crates
Update inexpensive vintage crates by adding low-cost wheels so they can be stowed neatly under beds and in other out-of-the-way areas. Use the separators in old soda crates to make different sizes of cubbyholes for storing blocks, cars and other small toys. Remove the separators to make one large crate to store bigger items.
Antique Cabinet
As an alternative to the standard shelves or toy cabinets available in big-box stores, an antique cabinet can be filled with cubbies, shelving and bins to store all of your little boy's toys, with the bonus of being able to neatly conceal them behind closed doors when not in use. No matter what the style or theme of your son's room, you can find a vintage or antique cabinet to enhance the look of the room. If you cannot find the perfect cabinet, refinish, distress or paint a cabinet so it fits in with the look you are trying to achieve.
Tags: your little, available big-box, little room, storage solutions, your child
