The wonderful and lovely Tiffany wrote with this query:

Um, Miss NTB? Do you take requests? If so, may I request a home entry on incorporating kids toy storage into your living room? I mean like, serious storage. Not just one or two cute baskets for decor. We have the world’s smallest living room, which is now also the world’s worst decorated (thanks, kid-proofing). I have been TRYING to come up with something somewhat stylish and utilitarian, but I end up with dumpy and cluttered. I WOULD LOVE YOU FOR A BAZILLION YEARS.

A bazillion years? I like the sound of that. Of course, before I could effectively answer Tiffany’s question I needed to know just how small the world’s smallest living room actually is. The answer? About 14’x12′, which I think is about the size of my own, so I can definitely sympathize with the very real fact that a tiny space plus childproofing plus toys can equal a major bummer of a room. The good news is that you don’t need to be all LOOKIT MAH TOYBOX!

The bad news is that it’s not like you have all kinds of unused square footage to start adding in a bunch of furniture whose only purpose is to store trucks and blocks and the like. Too many people for my taste suggest things like this, because yeah, that’s just what we all need, toy Tupperware in the living room.

What I’d suggest you do need is furniture that does double duty and looks good, like a bench ottoman that you can sit on but also use as a coffee table:

That could go by the front door, where the chair and little table currently reside. The added benefit of a bench ottoman is that it becomes a place to toss a purse or the groceries at the end of an outing or a place to park your tush while you put on your shoes before going out.

Next, you have the traditional cylindrical ottoman, which can be used as both a a side table and storage:

I’d put it where you currently have what looks like a toy box or bench, behind the kiddie couch. It’ll have a small profile, making your living room look a little larger because you can move the love seat over a tick, and it’s okay because you now have all that extra storage and seating in the bench ottoman.

And finally, I’d move the kiddie couch next to the bench ottoman or, better yet, replace it with something that does double duty like this:

Besides being a totally cute little chair, it has a small storage drawer. It’s not going to do as much to keep your living room clutter free, but it has some space for stuff, which is better than most kiddie couches!

One more thing that really helps the toy organization process along is to start thinking of your kid’s toys as just more stuff belonging to another member of your family. His stuff might be kind of different from your stuff, but it’s still an important part of his life so when you’re organizing think of his stuff like you think of your stuff. In a small living room like yours (and like mine) the more important thing is to not let the toys overwhelm your space.

We, for example, keep one small basket of toys along with one small basket of books in the living room under a writing table. Not out of sight, but definitely out of the way. Do toys migrate out of the nursery or into the hallway? Pretty much every day, but at the day’s end I toss as much as I feel like tossing back into the baby’s room and stuff everything else in the baskets. Is it the optimal solution? Nah, but until someone hooks me up with a sweet ottoman, it keeps me sane and keeps my living room looking reasonably sharp!

This entry was posted on Monday, July 12th, 2010 at 6:59 am by Christa Terry and is filed under Kids' rooms, Organization, Storage, The living room. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.