Help me think this through: 2 story house, TOYS

[megs4413]

When we built this house, we didn't know we were going to have another child. So, the layout really isn't ideal, but there's no changing it.

The playroom is upstairs. There is also a school room upstairs. Both of those rooms house the majority of DD2's toys (my other DC have their toys in their own rooms.) however, it's impractical to keep ALL of the toys upstairs as we spend the majority of our time in the living room downstairs.

We have company often and it is my vast preference to keep the main living areas picked up and the toys relatively unseen. What kinds of toys could I keep downstairs for a 2 year old that are easily picked up and placed into decorative storage baskets to be hidden when company comes? How do YOU store your toys in a two story house? TIA!

[gatorsmom]

Like you, I try to keep the main floor looking nice most of the time (in other words- no random toys). My kids' bedrooms are upstairs and that's where they keep toys that are fragile or special to them. Our playroom is in the basement right off the kitchen/ greatroom. But when my kids were younger (your dd2's age I had a large wicker chest that I always kept some toys in. It was our coffee table in the last 2 houses. This "toy box" worked great for the toddler toys that didn't have a lot of parts. I didn't keep all our toddler toys in there. Just a few that I'd rotate out every few month with some from the basement. I'd never fill it completely full of toys. That way, if guests come by unexpectedly, there was still room for additional random toys and blankies and other stuff the kids dragged out. At one point, when the twins were toddlers, I had a second wicker box in the room.

[SnuggleBuggles]

Our toys are in their bedrooms (upstairs) or family room (downstairs). We have a storage cabinet in the family room that looks nice when we pick up. . We also use a large closet off of that room for more toys.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[abh5e8]

I use and Ikea kalyax with baskets, for things like trains, duplos, blocks, dolls/accessories, puzzles, etc. Super easy to clean up and invisible when in the baskets on the shelves.

[twowhat?]

We gave up and have a downstairs playroom (converted the formal dining room to a playroom). There's no hiding what it is, it's a playroom!!! However, we are working with a designer on a remodel and the playroom (which is right at the front of the house - VERY visible) is a room she wants to get her hands on. She basically wants it to look like a cute playroom and not a "formal dining room converted to a playspace". Her view is that if the room has a function, then you need to personalize that room based on the function. So, if it's used as a playroom then it should look like the best playroom ever

Anyway is that an option? Playrooms can be adorable with shelves, baskets, etc. If you don't have a whole room, can you dedicate one section of a room? Kind of like a "mudroom area" but for toys? We have something like this that is dedicated to school storage - it's basically a bench with cute baskets for shoes, a cushion on top to sit on to put on shoes, and a shelf with hooks above for backpacks and coats. We also added a magnetic board to one side of it for homework, teacher notes, etc. Maybe there's a hall closet or a bookshelf or cabinet that you can dedicate to toy storage?

If you really want all the toys stored upstairs, the way we were doing it before was we kept a couple of big baskets at the foot of the stairs. Anything that came down during the day had to go back up at the end of the day but I can tell you that NO ONE likes to do that. The end of the day = tired kids and tired parents!

[DualvansMommy]

The fragile toys and small Legos set is in DS1's room upstairs, so DS2 won't break or swallow smaller pieces. Ds2 has big stuffed toys in his room, and the boys common shared toys are downstairs main floor in living room. That living room was renovated to have build in book shelves and cabinets, which is where all the toys can be picked up and gathered in each 31 utility containers. Those containers are grouped by theme/type of toys, and each boy gets 4 cabinets of their own. They know where to pull it out, pick it up and return inside cabinets. Once all picked up, the room will just look like an ordinary living room. We do have the train table in there that doubles as train storage and coffee table.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[keh602]

We also have a playroom upstairs (heck, the whole upstairs is a kid zone), as well as a bunch more toys in the basement, and we have the same issue. We have a rolling cart in the family room that has some Star Wars figures, puzzles, cars, etc (basically whatever DS2 is playing with a lot). It stays tucked in a corner by the couch, but we can move it to the coat closet or laundry room if we're having guests and want it to go away. We also have some decorative baskets hidden in various furniture in the family room. They contain mostly DUPLOs, MagnaTiles, and plastic animals. Other things will migrate up or down, and we have a basket that is supposed to be used to transport things back. If I could only figure out how the things on the stairs remain invisible to *everyone* else in the family, we'd be in business!