My son had this toy storage container in his room. I actually didn’t mind it when he was a baby because well his toys were smaller then. Now that he is a toddler you can maybe fit one of his trucks, trains or balls into one of those teeny tiny buckets. It just doesn’t justify the space it takes up for the amount of storage it will contain. So I’ve got it sitting in my basement right now just sitting there empty. I don’t want to get rid of it yet because my son is still using the matching bookcase and eventually when I sell them I’d like to sell them as a set.
So here are my questions of the day for you:
1. What is your opinion on these type of toy storage bins?
2. Do you use them for anything other than toys?
3. Do you think I should just get rid of it now and forget selling the pair as a set?
69 Comments
When he wasn’t using it, I put it at our back door entry and it worked great to hold shoes. (It wasn’t “pretty”, but it did the job and was free!)
Now that he’s 9, and adores Legos, it’s back in his room. The 6 smaller bins hold random Legos pieces sorted by him in catagories for building (like wheels, moveable/bendable, base pieces, and some by color- he has his own method of sorting). The large bins hold Legos that he has built and doesn’t want to take apart.
I helped him do a little of the organizing and bought 4 plastic pencil boxes when school-items were on clearance. I paid about 0.15/each. Those 4 boxes fit vertically in one of the small bins. They hold the tiny lego pieces like men, discs, and other tiny bits.
Hope this helps! Dana D
One holds All of my daughters art supplies (playdough, pencils, crayons, and the tools for the playdough)
One holds her pieces for her Lincoln Logs (so she can see what sizes she is after)
The last color has smaller toys that she loves to play with, she has pull back cars, happy meal toys and small stuffed animals in the larger cubbie
I like the idea of repurposing. I could spray paint it and put it in my craft room for something…
After my daughter is finished using ours for her toys, I’ve thought I may put them in the floor of our pantry (it’s a walk-in) to add more storage there.
It would also be good for things I don’t want cluttering up drawers…cookie cutters, bills, blank stationary, receipts, etc.
I guess they could even be used in the garage for tools and supplies…
I think it is good for cars and trains, too. Once he outgrows toddler stage, he will have lots of little things, I bet.
I think if you are going to sell it, though, you might get more for the set.
I’d keep it, because it will be handy in the future.
They get cleared out once a year because I use them as my redemption center for prizes when I run the games at our church street fair!
I would get rid of it if you aren’t using it, especially if he is still using the bookcase. That is something he can use much much longer.
Do you have a mudroom? I bet it would work great for holding mittens, hats, dog leash, things that need to be returned to the store, library books, etc.
My 7 year old daughter has one and I’ve already sized it up for when she outgrows it.
Another idea is to use it as your container for your containers, which frees up the wire cubes to go into your sons closet…but that was month’s ago so you may have already come up with another solution.
I would say keep it, you’ll find something for it. You could even take the buckets off and use it for some hanging storage if you needed to.
It was great to meet you today! I hope you had a safe trip home. Here is that Wordpress blog that I told youi about:
http://www.ohmystinkinheck.com/
She just changed her layout, so I’m a little lost, but “Wordpress Wednesdays” is on the top right hand side. Enjoy!!
Heard you were awesome today. So wanted to come,but promised Gav I’d do his field trip with him.
Let me know when you’re next one is!
Take care!
:)
Once her toys are too big I am thinking her crafting/home schooling supplies or my sewing/quilting/knitting supplies.
Just athough
I’m sure you can find lots of ways to repurpose it.
Jerri
http://simplysweethome.blogspot.com
Hmmm…how much are you selling it for?LOL
And make sure that you label each bin — I laminated each label so that it will last longer — so that clean up is a breeze for you and for your child! (Of course, I really don’t need to give YOU that hint!!!)
I’d say if you don’t have any other purpose for it now sell it. You can always sell a bookcase on it’s own, no one would know that it had a coordinating piece. If you were to sell them as a set I wouldn’t be surprised if someone asked to buy just one piece. Some other uses? Organizing gardening supplies, shoes or other odds & ends in the garage maybe.
Kim
I would tend to be like you thought and want to sell the set in one. However, I guess if you sold them seperately the buyer of each piece would never know there was another piece with it.
Guess I wasn’t much help was I??
Hugs,
Melinda
Also, Ikea makes things that look sort of like bookcases with bins that slide in and out. They are prettier than this style. Here is a link to them. I found they work very well for my kids’ millions of lego Bionicle pieces.
http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/categories/rooms/childrens_room/12018-2/
If I were you, I’d go ahead and sell BOTH the toy bins and bookshelf together! Then use the money to get whatever bookshelf you want him to grow into. (Bracketed to the wall of course!). Look at the bookshelf/toyshelf in the book GOODNIGHT MOON. He could put his books on half of it and toys on half. :) I can’t wait to see what you come up with!
i store all his legos and blocks in clear lidded totes that are much larger because he has so many, but they are easily stackable so it is okay space-wise.
I loved reading everyone’s comments–we current have building blocks, cars, the pieces to his Little People sets, and a few other things in there. I use the top shelf (with the boxes flat, not angled) to hold his board books.
Let us know if you figure out a good use for it. I do agree with what someone said–go ahead and get rid of it if you don’t like it. Maybe you could go ahead and replace his bookshelf, and sell both of them??
What I neglected to show you was the side of this unit has A B C in bright colors on it which is why my middle son no longer wants it in his room :) So I think I am leaning towards selling them both now and just purchasing a new bookcase for my youngest that he can grow into.
I loved the idea of using it for shoes but these bins are way too small for even a pair of shoes unfortunately. It’s also very low to the ground.
I’m going to give it some more thought and re-read the suggestions before I do anything though.
Just wanted to let you know I appreciate your input!!!
Laura
As for the ABC, you could try and cover them up with something, maybe even some fabric to match his bedroom decor????
I do know what you mean. We have a similar type structure from Ikea for my daughter’s toys and it is getting harder and harder to fit things into the bins (though I believe they are slightly larger than what you have). However, I do wonder if little lego pieces, linking logs, tinkertoys, etc. would fit into those bins down the road????
Sorry that I missed this on the day you posted. I have this bin as well and I really do not like it for toys. I was always an eye sore no matter where I put it. I finally found great transparent totes at Walmart to store the toys in. I used this bin to store all of the kids’ craft items and workbooks. That way when we color, craft or work I just take the bin with us to the table and then we throw it all back it and put it away. I was able to fit this bin and rack in the closet under our staircase.
I think these are great!
Art stuff can be used in them or even scrapping supplies!
I haven’t read all your comments, but it seems pretty unanimous you should keep them. I know that as my son got older he began collecting Playmobil, Hot Wheels cars and Legos. Both things, at first, were stored in small bins like the ones you have. His Hot Wheels cars eventually had to move into cases with dividers to protect them from each other, and the Legos now occupy two HUGE Rubbermaid totes in the garage, awaiting the day he has his own home.
There are many other smallish toys boys acquire, like yo-yo’s tennis sized balls, small instruments, etc. that will make it handy for a few years.
TM
When I worked with preschoolers, we used these in the classroom to hold art supplies. They worked really well! We had crayons, markers, glue, scissors, paper scraps, stickers, stencils…you get the point…everything had a box. We also cut out ‘cartoon’ like images of each item (ie a bottle of ’smiling’ glue’) and tape it to the bottom so preschoolers could associate with the picture and put the items away. It worked really well!
I use mine for books. The kids are older so their paperback books fit nicely in the bins without taking up shelf space.
They can be seperated by genre, author, etc…
Laura, I love your new site!!! Way to go!
I couldn’t swallow the price for those (out here, I’ve yet to see one under $50), and instead bought some metal/wire shelves, different sized Rubbermaid containers, and went to town that way.
Oh my never throw a perfectly good storage unit away. You could use it for Art or Craft Supplies, Scrapbooking stuff. Maybe a bathroom storage unit for different stuff like poytail holders burshes, curling iron blow dryer. Shoes?? belts, purses? I’m sure if you think long enough you’ll come up with someting.
I do not have the shelving however I have collected a few of the bins randomly at thrift stores…they are super sturdy and slide easily under my son’s bed…
These are great for sorting legos. My 8 year old is a lego junkie and the small bins are good for sorting and storing his creations.
Also,this is good for match box cars and action figures.
I just discovered this website… NEAT!! Love it!!
I have the same thing you have, except in pastel colors for my 4 yr old girl. It is pretty useful. I think we have a 12 bin shelf. One big box used to have all the Little People stuff in it but she has outgrown them. I now have them organized in crayons/markers/paint (art stuff), another with Mr Potato Head stuff, another with misc toys won from Chuck E Cheese, those toys from McDonalds etc. Another bin holds the viewmaster and its slides; Another will hold all her barbie dolls which is easy to do since they are ‘flat’. That is until her collection of Barbies grow. One bin has baby doll stuff (bottles, bibs, diapers, and stuff like that). One bin holds all her flashcards. I can’t remember the rest of them, but I hope this helps.
Laura,
They are only good for toys that don’t have smaller parts to them. If you do have toys such as Playmobil, LEGO, and other related which have extra pieces; I would suggest that you store them in separate “bags” which don’t rip, tear. I saw this website online which are mesh (fabric) and they are great for storing items which would rip ziplock bags. The bags are very inexpensive too. They are way too “open” for things like blocks and LEGO bricks. You may want to use that bin sorter for groups of similar toys. Puzzles are best stored in bags as well too. You can use the bins for smaller play sets as long as you put pictures on the front to help him organize his toy collection. Have you done a purging on what he doesn’t want anymore or rotated his toy stock as well?
Troy S. in Downey, CA