Planning a playroom...Expedit? Trofast?

[ohiomom1121]

I know there's lots of love on this board for the Expedit system so I'm talking DH into an Ikea trip. We want to turn the unused dining room into a playroom for the kids. I love this and am using it for inspiration for setting up the room.

But looking online reviews for Trofast seem iffy. Wondering if anyone has thoughts about it. Plus I don't see tall ones online like in this picture. I like the idea of connecting them at the top and putting a little desk in the middle.

[boolady]

We used this exact photo as inspiration and ended up buying only Expedit. The Trofast bins seem nice, but they just didn't appeal to us as much as the Expedit...the bins on the Trofast seemed either really shallow or really deep. I also feel like when the room's done being DD's playroom, we can use the Expedit for other purposes...not so sure what we'd do with the Trofast. I am curious to hear from folks who have the Trofast system or some of both which they prefer.

[brittone2]

We are big Expedit fans for toy storage. There are toys that don't fit in it, but it houses a LOT of stuff.

I have considered the Trofast a few times but we don't own that unit.

[♥ms.pacman♥]

We are big Expedit fans for toy storage. There are toys that don't fit in it, but it houses a LOT of stuff.

I have considered the Trofast a few times but we don't own that unit.

we have a 4x4 expedit in our playroom, and love it. we just got another 4x4 for upstairs game room/play area.

i considered the trofast too, but went with the expedit, i guess for the simple basic design. we really only put boxes on the bottom rows anyway, for easier access. i also like how you can swap out the types of boxes you use to store toys for different looks (e.g. you can get basket-woven type, or plastic ones, or mesh ones, etc).

i agree with PP that once kids are older, you can easily use Expedit for other non-kid things (e.g. can put books, picture frames, etc).

[wendibird22]

We've had the Trofast for about 2yrs now and love it. We have two of the 3-tiered style and have them side by side with the tallest portion touching in the middle and the steps getting lower out to the sides. We use all 3 sizes of bins. The small are great for coloring books, plastic party favor junk, playdoh, small legos, doodles, magnet dolls, etc. The medium size hold our little people and their vehicles/accessories and our weebles and their vehicles/accessories, our Thomas train tracks and trains, blocks, pop-it dolls and their clothes, etc. Our large bins hold doctor kit, music instruments (drum, piano/xylophone), a large container holding Mr Potato Head and his accessories, duplos, foam blocks, etc. We have 4 of each size bin. Our large items (little people farm, weeble village), stuffed animals, etc sit on top. My girls are not exactly gentle with the bins and they've all held up great...even to them sitting inside them. They make lids for them too which was nice for keeping DD2 out of the bins containing choking hazards early on. Since we have two identical ones I envision either splitting them up one in each girls room later on or both with go to DH for repurpose in either the basement or the garage.

[brittone2]

we have a 4x4 expedit in our playroom, and love it. we just got another 4x4 for upstairs game room/play area.

i considered the trofast too, but went with the expedit, i guess for the simple basic design. we really only put boxes on the bottom rows anyway, for easier access. i also like how you can swap out the types of boxes you use to store toys for different looks (e.g. you can get basket-woven type, or plastic ones, or mesh ones, etc).

i agree with PP that once kids are older, you can easily use Expedit for other non-kid things (e.g. can put books, picture frames, etc).

Yeah, we keep one 5x5 in our study filled with non fiction books and HSing materials (manipulatives in container store boxes, curricula, etc.). Our other 5x5 is in the finished basement playroom holding toys. I have a 2x4 for our picture books but that's bursting at the seams and is going to get relocated to DD's room.

In our last house we didn't have a dedicated playroom, but we had a long living room. We had this one huge expanse of wall, so at the end of that wall we had two 5x5 expedits side by side to store all of the toys and books. It worked well for the situation at the time. The "play area" was behind one of the couches and the Expedits were in that area.

[JTsMom]

Cute room. I've heard some don't like the Trofast b/c of the dumpability of the bins. I wonder how easy they are to get in the grooves.

We have a variety of storage types b/c no one type works for all of our stuff. Some things are too bulky for the Expedit, so open shelves are good for those items. Some items work better in small bins, some in large.

Some things are just too ugly, so I don't want them exposed in the Expedit.

I'm a huge Expedit fan in general, and that's what we have the most of. I really think it's hard to go wrong with them. I don't own a Trofast, but I don't think it would be as flexible. I can't see storing books in it, for example.

I think the best thing to do is just to gather all of the stuff, sort it, and figure out what will work for your stuff now, and in the future.

I posted pics of our playrooms in Clean Sweep. We have 1 big one upstairs with open shelves and bins, and some other storage
http://windsorpeak.com/vbulletin/sho...light=playroom

and an office/playroom/schoolroom downstairs with several Expedits, and a couple of cheapy bookshelves from Target.
http://windsorpeak.com/vbulletin/sho...light=playroom
(Post 76)

[twowhat?]

We have both and the Expedit is FAR more useful. We could've done without the Trofast.

[jerigirl]

They do have a taller Trofast system. We have it.
http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/30171123/

I will say though, we like the Expedit system better. It just works better for what we want to store.

[MissyL11]

We have both too and I like the expedit better. I feel like I am limited in what I can use the trofast for.