There came a point about a year ago where we could no longer keep toys in a basket hidden in the corner of our living room. We do not have a designated toy room in our house, so I knew the solution would be a toy ‘area’. AKA: no more hiding toys.

I believe when you have small children in your home, your house should be set up to be functional. But I also believe it can still be aesthetically pleasing. The first thing I did was search out how to store our toys in this new designated toy space. Oeuf is a brand I love, and A has their toddler bed. Their toy shelf system is beautiful, and because this thing was going to be staring at me all day long, we decided to splurge on this shelf.

There are several reasons I love this shelf. The first is that it is beautiful and well made. I also love that it has some areas that are actual cabinets. The cabinets are where I like to keep the toys that are loud and bright and don’t exactly follow the color palette we’ve set up for the rest of the house. Don’t get me wrong, we use the big colorful toys every single day (a thank you goes to Melissa and Doug who have filled my home with bright blue and red trucks), but there is something so satisfying about put them away after bedtime.

I also love that it’s not an enormous cabinet system. This helps us keep our toy count in check. Our children have very loving relatives who gift the entire toy department of Target if I let them. It can quickly get out of hand. We do have some books and art/crafts stored in a box in the basement, and there are a handful of toys in the kids’ room. But overall, almost all of the toys are able to fit right on this shelf.

We implemented the Montessori method for toys, so when it’s time to clean up A knows exactly where to put his toys. And G’s toys also always go back in the same spot. It works really well for us.

Where We Get Our Toys

I often get asked where we buy our toys. My biggest piece of advice is when your child is suddenly interested in something (for us it’s been construction sites, rocket ships, garbage trucks) I will just google whatever toy I am looking for in the wooden version. Etsy has an amazing selection of wooden toys that I find reasonably priced. We also love getting toys from Tot, Maisonette, Crate and Barrel, etc.

Toy Details

Wooden tractor, bulldozer was a gift, rattle toy is part of a Montessori kit off of Etsy (similar), coffee maker, bicycle is Kinderfeet, toys bins are from Target, white metal basket is Ikea.