This one goes out to all the parents who let out an exasperated sigh every time they walk into their kid's room. Can we all just get on board the solidarity train on this one (preferably where cocktail hour starts at 3pm?). Keeping your tiny trouble maker's rooms organized can be a tall order for even the most efficient Marie Kondos of this world. But fear not! I'm going to throw you a parent bone and gift you the most pretty and practical creative storage ideas for kids' rooms, so we're looking less cluttered chaos and more tidy tots!
How to curb the kiddo chaos
Plonk your tiny humans in front of Bluey and let's have at it! I present to you - creative storage ideas for kids' rooms:
Rise and organize
Vertical space is where it's at! Install floating shelves or wall-mounted cubbies to give your little explorers a place to showcase their treasures (in my son's case it's rocks...just so many rocks). Add some hooks or pegboards for hanging backpacks and other assorted trinkets.
Multi-purpose furniture for the win
Think beds with built-in drawers, trundles for storing bedding, toys, and mystical artifacts like two-week old fairy bread and your son's left shoe. Ottomans and benches with compartments are perfect for stowing Lego you painstakingly built only for it to be pulled a part an hour later, along with your kid's artwork you'll try to bin when they're asleep only to be found out the next morning.
Bins and baskets
Your girl's a big fan of bins and baskets (I wrote a whole post about em'!). And why not add a touch of style by making them colourful? These wee gems are literally and figuratively in your corner in terms of storage. Containers not only make organizing easy breezy cover girl, but they can look amazing in open shelving (think mustard yellows, olive greens and dusty pinks). Swoon!
Book nooks and reading corners
Create a cozy reading oasis worthy of the most adventurous bookworms. If you're feeling brave with a power tool, install floating bookshelves and add a comfy chair or bean bag for your little explorers to dive into their favourite books (or is that just wishful thinking I'll get a five-minute break to go to the loo without a pint-size visitor asking me why my tummy looks like that with an inquisitive face).
Bookcases
If you have room to swing one then take the plunge! Go for a bookcase which has shelving for the fancy books and cupboards for the toys with the built-in sirens that never, ever, ever seem to run out of battery power.
Under-bed storage
Perfect for out-of-season clothing or the endless plushie toys you swore you wouldn't buy again but folded when you wanted five minutes of uninterrupted shopping time in Kmart.
Bunk beds with build-in storage
Another fantastic storage option for your little tike's bits and bobs. A lot of bunk beds have a pull-out drawer at the bottom and built-in shelving - perfect for books, stuffed animals and a drink of water for when they conveniently become the most dehydrated child on the planet before bedtime.
A wall-mounted wonderland
Install a pegboard or magnetic board for everything! Think certificates, school photos, artwork, birthday invites. It's the best way to manage your kid's life admin and your poor, overwhelmed fridge will thank you!
The toy trolley
This is a seriously versatile storage solution. Trolleys or carts can be used for just about anything! Think a large version of an art cubby, a book holder or a display for your favourite 3000 piece Ferrari Lego which will put most parents on the brink of a menty b. Alas! Trolleys are amazing and I insist you have one in at least one of your rooms. Off you go now!
Lovely little lockers
I adore this particular storage item - so much so I wrote a post about them. There are so many metal locker options on the market and the colours are positively stunning! My son has a locker for a bedside table and while he couldn't give two hoots about how fabulous it looks - it makes me smile every time I drop off the folded washing which will inevitably sit there for a week.
File folders for arts and crafts
Nothing strikes more fear in parents than the mountain of artwork which comes home with our kiddos at the end of term. Cue file folders! Think labeled bins within a deep drawer. If you can't swing that due to limited space, then the under-bed storage solution will also make the mountain go away. Just make sure you label each box for when you're little one has an artistic epiphany at 5am and makes you dig out a specific masterpiece from three years ago.
Canisters or vases
You know how you used to be fun and go out to gigs with friends until the wee hours of the morning? Well now you can colour coordinate your Lego in canisters or vases and pop them up as a cool graphic display on a Saturday night. This is such a practical storage solution for Lego and it also packs a visual punch. Now go make that hot cup of decaf tea, tip out your kid's Lego box and let's get this party started.
From insanity to serenity (or something like that)
Well, here we are - one big colour coordinated Lego family armed with an arsenal of clever storage hacks that would make even your passive aggressive mother-in-law proud. Say goodbye to stepping on Lego in the dark and hello to a room that would make Marie Kondo proud - although even our girl MK has loosened the organizational reigns since parenthood slapped her with a reality check stronger than the triple shot latte she now needs to function.
A word to the wise
A lived in home is a happy home! Even with the best storage solutions in place, your little person is still going to sniff out a just cleaned room and flip it upside down quicker than you can shot your short black. My advice is that sometimes you will have to simply embrace the inevitable and take solace in the fact that a messy room is a sign of a vibrant imagination at play (or a soul destroying tantrum). And, when they're all tuckered out in bed and if the allure of Netflix and chill hasn't quite taken over completely, your storage solutions will make life just that much easier when you're putting 58 soft toys away for the tenth time today.
Has your little one's room got you feeling like it would be easier just to move? Don't fall into a pit of soft toy despair! Leave a comment below or email me and I'll peel myself off my son's bean bag (look away - it's not pretty) to help find a kids room remedy just for you.
Yours in storage,
Kate xx
Disclosure: I only recommend products I would use myself and all opinions expressed here are my own. This post may contain affiliate links at no additional cost to you and I may earn a small commission.
Image use: All licensed images are courtesy of Shutterstock.
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