Today’s AAA is for Jess, who emailed me to ask for ideas for practical storage for her 10 month old baby’s room, that will be appealing as he grows into a toddler, yet still stylish. These are a few of the ideas that I have found…
1. Chalk board crates on castors
It just so happens that I am in the middle of the DIY project for wellie boot storage for my hallway (lots of muddy dog walks begin again with the coming of Autumn) that will double perfectly for appealing, stylish storage for children’s rooms and will look something like these crates on castors. By painting the crates with chalkboard paint (see a tutorial I did for that here) they are appealing to children as they can scribble all over them, instead of your walls. They are also easy for toddlers to manoeuvre because of the castors and can be stored under a bed or under tables, like in this room. Watch out for the tutorial next week…
Image from: Flickr
2. Bookcase seat
I’ve always loved this idea of placing a bookshelf on it’s side to make a storage seat. These bookcases are from Ikea and I had them in my classroom when I was a teacher, but never got round to making the seat. However, you could just use a bunch of cushions, if you can’t make the seat yourself. It is just the right height for little bottoms and you can store all sorts in the baskets. Paint it with Annie Sloan chalk paint to make it colourful and appealing, or you could choose beautiful fabric for the cushion and make it really stylish…
Image from: I Heart Organizing
Image from: I Heart Organising
3. Toddler friendly book shelves
The Ikea picture ledges that I featured on the blog this week are perfect for storing children’s books as they can easily take them on and off the shelf without pulling a whole shelf of books from a bookcase. Hang them at toddler height so they can be in control. I like this little reading corner…
Image from: Pinterest
4. Animal hooks
If you are a regular reader, you will know that I love a hook or two (I talk about them a bit too much, I think, and they seem to be my solution to everything!). Well, they are perfect for children’s rooms to keep clothes, costumes, even storage baskets off the floor. To make them appealing to children, so that they want to use them, I love this idea by Liz, over at Say Yes blog. Pop over for the DIY tutorial…
Image from: Say Yes
5. DIY toy box
Another way to use a crate is to add a padded seat. These are really easy to make (a good bit of staple gun action) and I think they look great. Surely a child would like to ride around on one of these too? There’s a great tutorial over on This Little Street blog…
Image from: This Little Street
6 Letter press drawers
To store smaller toys, I love this use of antique letter press drawers. You can buy these really cheaply, I have one that I got for £4 – search for letterpress drawer on eBay. You can either paint it or cover with wrapping paper to make it exciting for children to use…
Image from: Retro Villa
I really hope you and your baby like some of these ideas, Jess! Thank you for asking 🙂
Katy x
The last idea is great. I’m going to try that with wrapping paper.
Great, Marta! I would love to see a pic of it once it’s done! x
Brilliant- so useful.
Thanks, Farah x
These are such great ideas and relatively cheap too – children’s furniture can cost a fortune. I’ll be looking out for your DIY post for the first idea 😉
The cheaper the better in my book, Cathy! I hope you find the DIY tutorial helpful x
Thank you so much Katy! I love these ideas, and especially that they aren’t expensive. I think you’ve also solved another problem I had – a painted create on casters will make a tasteful toy box for my living room.
Thanks again
Jess x
I’m so glad it’s useful, Jess! If you pop into any wine shop they will give you wine crates for free and they are a good shape and size for toys x
Ha! I was looking at them on ebay for £10 each! Thanks (once again ).
Hi Katy,
I love these ideas 🙂 I have an AAA question – I’m looking for attractive ways to display and Fran Instagram photos. I’m not really keen on the pegging the up displays that I’ve seen in lots of places but would prefer some smarter ideas if you’ve come across any 🙂
Lorna x
That is a tricky one, Lorna! I’m doing CD and DVD storage this week so could tackle yours next week x
Oops that should say frame not Fran (I don’t know who she is) sorry 🙂