Is the Best Toy Storage Bin the Ikea Samla or Sterilite Ultra Box?
Toy storage is serious business in my line of work. As a professional organizer I hear all about the problem areas that families struggle with and toy storage is certainly on top of that list. There are SO MANY options for toy storage depending on the child/children’s age, amount of toys, amount of space, where they play, how they play, how much time and energy everyone has to put into maintaining a system, plus considerations around design and style. It can be super confusing, especially when you want to avoid wasting time, money and resources on the wrong choice.
When parents tell me that their toy storage is not working for them, I find that it is likely for one of these reasons:
The storage isn’t large enough to hold specific categories. For example, all of the legos may have fit in a small bin initially but now there are too many and need a larger bin.
The system is too intricate to follow. I love to organize too, but having separate bins for lego wheels, lego heads, lego people, or individual bins for bunnies, cats and horses is probably far too complicated for a kid or most adults to clean up every time they play.
There is no system and therefore kids (and adults) don’t have clear directions of how to clean up.
A word about toy rotations
Many families that I work with like to rotate their toys, where certain categories of toys or books are kept out of sight and are periodically swapped out. This is an awesome way to keep kids entertained with their things and can also be a good space saver in smaller homes. I have laughed with many of my clients who started a toy rotation and five years later, came across those toys hidden in the garage now that the kids are far too old to care about them anymore. Whoops! If you want to rotate your kids’ toys, my storage bin recs will make the process even easier.
So what makes a good storage system for toys? I always say that best organizing system is the one that you will actually use. If it is too precious and time consuming to manage, things get old fast and the clutter will mount.
Maybe you are rolling your eyes right now thinking “yeah right Melissa. No matter what solution I have tried, the kids just dump everything out and we have toy mayhem until I go crazy one day and throw everything into whatever box, cabinet or drawer that is closest to me.” I hear you, friend. While I am far from a parenting expert, bear with me. We parents are playing a long game of getting kids to clean up after themselves so that one day they can spread their wings and be able to find their W2s at tax time. Having them be a part of maintaining a toy system gives them ownership of their things and with gentle persistence (and I mean it may take saying it 1,200 days in a row), they will start doing it on their own. But we all have to start somewhere.
A note about adorable kids storage furniture
Perhaps you bought one or more of these when you were having a baby and they worked great…until they didn’t. All of a sudden they went from being just right to a total disaster all. of. the. time. These are great for babies and young kids who don’t have many toys or books and any category of toys (or art supplies) is relatively small. But once they hit preschool age they might need an upgrade. In other words, if you are feeling frustrated with these once-hero solutions, isn’t you, it’s the system!
Enter: The clear stacking storage bin
I have found that sometime during toddlerhood, toy collections start to consolidate a bit (as in having fewer but larger categories of things like legos, dress up clothes, dolls or magnatiles) and having sturdy, see-through bins can be a great solution for keeping things tidy. My two favorites are the Ikea Samla and the Sterilite Ultra Bin. A clear bin that comes in various sizes is an easy to maintain system where things can be labeled and their homes can be intentionally defined. What is even better is that they are easy to clean and can swapped out with other toys or items as they grow.
My goal for families is to make a system where the kids, regardless of their age, can help clean up. With clear bins, even non-readers can easily see where things go.
Samla vs. Ultra Box
I have spent a lot of time researching and using both the Samla and the Ultra Box and they are both solid choices. One of the two should be a good fit for any toy collection.
Depending on which line is the better fit for their needs, I work with my clients to start with a few different sizes and see how toys fit in the them and where they can be stored. There will still be things like books, board games, special stuffies and other treasures that can live on bookshelves and in smaller more decorative baskets. But toy categories with a large number of pieces (like legos) or are just plain large (like monster trucks or big dinosaurs) will work great in bins.
Now that the toys are in bins, where do they go?
Depending on your space, I like to find behind-the-scenes places to store items, especially large bins. Kids' closets can be reconfigured to stack larger bins on the floor. I prefer storing larger collections this way, so that adults can establish a "one in, one out" system if they like. In other words, the kids need to clean up all of the duplos before we swap them out for the trains. Smaller bins might look and function well on shelves or inside cabinets.
I hope this has helped you with your toy storage dilemmas! If you need a helping hand, let’s chat about how I can create a more efficient system for you.
