Large Truck/Toy Storage Suggestions??

[Bens Momma]

First I should say that we don't have a playroom so 95% of the kids' toys are kept in our livingroom and the rest is in their bedrooms. DS3 is in a major truck, tractor, vehicle stage right now so we have a lot (probably too many ) of large toys like Bruder trucks, various tractors, etc. I've looked through the archives and haven't really seen any ideas. We are in desperate need of a better way to store them rather than parking them in a line against the wall. It looks terrible and I would love an idea for larger toy storage such as the trucks and also for Imaginext sets (Batcave, Castle, etc).

Thanks in advance!
Momma to 2 ACTIVE DS
and the third musketeer!

[WatchingThemGrow]

I feel your pain!!! Yes, Bruder Trucks and huge Imaginext pieces. They fit nowhere.

Last weekend, I put some of the Bruders in the PBK train table drawers. Problem with it is they don't play with them when they are out of sight. It makes me want to get rid of them. When they are out in plain sight, they get played with constantly. And the Imaginext sets - well, they are always out. It doesn't matter where I put them. They always come out and the parts are always strewn around the floor.

[AngB]

Oh geez. I'd love some ideas too.

[SnuggleBuggles]

Our Imaginext is lined up on the top of a low bookcase. An Expedit type thing might work- park the trucks in the grid slots, line the Imaginext on top.

[Indianamom2]

Our Imaginext is lined up on the top of a low bookcase. An Expedit type thing might work- park the trucks in the grid slots, line the Imaginext on top.

This is basically what I just did. We don't have an Ikea nearby, so I found this cube storage unit at Target that is essentially the same thing. I left some cubes open (for now) and some with large fabric Itso bins that fit perfectly. Here's the storage unit:
http://www.target.com/p/threshold-6-...eshold+storage

It also comes in a vertical style and seems very sturdy. I put it together myself and had no problems. It will hold quite a bit.

[candaceb]

We have the same problem. I just tried it out and I could only get one Bruder truck on a shelf. I tried a shoe rack but the big trucks don't fit there either. All the smaller trucks are in the 3 Sprouts bin and that has worked out well. The smaller Bruder trucks go on top of the expedit.

[Bens Momma]

Thanks for the suggestions so far! So the temporary (and I stress temporary, because I don't love it) fix has been to rearrange our entire living room. We have a M&D train table that was the catchall and storage for all the Imaginext sets. We had the kids pick their favorite two sets and put the rest in the attic to be rotated later, and actually set up a small starter train set and the Little People farm on top for DS3! I managed to fit a couple trucks on our rack type toy storage thingy and have parked the rest of the big Bruders, etc under the edge of the train table. They fit great and aren't an eyesore but because they're out of sight, he hasn't been playing with them as much. It's only been a week so we'll see how it goes....just in time to make room for new stuff at Christmas!!!