How to Store Your Kids’ Toys Out of Sight

Kids’ toys can quickly take over a living room, bedroom, or playroom, making your home look like a cluttered mess. The trick is to hide toys while still keeping them accessible to your tots. Use closed storage, furniture with hidden compartments, baskets, bins, closets, and other tucked-away spaces to keep toys accessible to kids without making them part of your home’s decor. 

You don’t necessarily need more storage space, either. Look for unused areas under beds, inside cabinets, behind doors, and even under the couch. Then, make it easy for kids to get toys out and, more importantly, put them away. 

Key takeaways

• Use closed storage, such as cabinets, drawers, bins, and baskets, to hide toys when they’re not being used. 
• Look for unused storage space under beds, furniture, and inside closets. 
• Choose furniture that doubles as toy storage when space is limited. 
• Sort toys into categories so kids can find what they want without emptying every container. 
• Keep frequently used toys within kids’ reach and less-used toys higher up or farther away. 
• Use labels or pictures to show kids where different toys belong. 
• Rotate toys if you have more than your available storage can comfortably hold. 
• Regularly remove broken, outgrown, and unwanted toys to keep storage from overflowing. 

Hide toys inside an ottoman

An ottoman with hidden storage can pull double duty in a living room or family room. Use it to store stuffed animals, blocks, dolls, toy cars, or other toys that don’t need complicated organization. 

When playtime is over, everything goes inside, the lid goes back on, and the ottoman looks like regular furniture again. 

A storage bench can work the same way and may offer even more room. Put one against a wall, under a window, or near the entrance to a playroom. 

Use baskets with lids

Open baskets are convenient, but they still leave toys visible. If you want them completely out of sight, choose baskets with lids. Large baskets work well for bulky toys, stuffed animals, balls, and dress-up clothes. Smaller baskets can hold puzzles, toy animals, building blocks, and other collections. 

Choose a few matching baskets if they’re going to stay in your living room. They’ll look more like part of the room and less like toy storage. 

Turn a cabinet into a toy cabinet

You don’t have to buy furniture designed specifically for kids. A cabinet, sideboard, dresser, credenza, or other piece of closed storage can become a toy cabinet. Use the shelves for bins, games, puzzles, art supplies, and toys. When you’re finished cleaning up, close the doors. 

Put toys your kids can use on their own on lower shelves. Reserve higher shelves for toys that require adult supervision or supplies you’d rather control, such as paint, slime ingredients, or toys with lots of tiny pieces. 

Note: Secure cabinets, dressers, and shelves to the walls to prevent them from tipping over onto your child. 

Add bins to a cube organizer

Cube organizers are popular for toy storage because each cube can hold a different category. The problem is that an open cube full of toys can still look cluttered. Add fabric bins, baskets, or other containers to the cubes to hide what’s inside. 

You could create separate bins for: 

• Building blocks 
• Dolls and accessories 
• Toy cars 
• Action figures 
• Dress-up clothes 
• Stuffed animals 
• Puzzles 
• Art supplies 
• Musical toys 
• Pretend food 
• Small toys 

Label each bin so everyone knows what belongs inside. For younger kids who can’t read yet, add a picture of the type of toy that belongs in the bin. 

Use the space under the bed

The space under your child’s bed can hold a surprising number of toys without taking up any additional floor space. The bonus is that the toy storage is on your kid’s level and easy to reach. 

Use shallow rolling bins, drawers, zippered storage bags, or other containers designed to fit under beds. They’re especially useful for relatively flat toys, such as puzzles, board games, train tracks, building sets, and art supplies. 

Be sure to measure the height and depth of the available space before buying containers. You don’t want to discover that your new under-bed bin is half an inch too tall. 

Look under other furniture, too

Beds aren’t the only furniture with unused space underneath. Check beneath sofas, chairs, cribs, benches, and other furniture. A shallow bin may fit underneath and completely disappear when pushed back. 

This can be particularly handy in a living room because your child can play in the main family space without toys permanently living in the middle of it. 

Give stuffed animals their own hiding place

Stuffed animals are soft, but they’re space hogs. A collection can quickly cover a bed, chair, or bedroom floor. A large lidded basket, storage ottoman, under-bed container, or closet bin can corral them. 

Before finding storage for every stuffed animal, have your child go through the collection. They may have a handful they sleep or play with regularly and a much larger group they rarely touch. Keep the favorites handy and consider donating the ones they’ve outgrown. 

Take advantage of closet space

If your child’s closet is mostly used for clothing, look for empty areas that could become toy storage. The floor underneath hanging clothes can hold bins, drawers, or baskets. A shelf above the clothing rod can hold toys that aren’t used frequently (or messy toys you don’t want them getting into without supervision, like modeling clay). You can also add shelving, hanging organizers, or door storage. 

Don’t put something your child uses every day on a shelf they can’t reach. You’ll either become the official toy retriever or they’ll find their own creative way to climb up there. 

Use the back of the closet door

The back of a closet door is easy to overlook. Try an over-the-door organizer with pockets for dolls, toy cars, craft supplies, action figures, small stuffed animals, and other little toys. You can also add hooks for dress-up clothes, bags, costumes, and accessories. 

Keep the weight of anything hanging on the door in mind, and make sure the organizer and anything inside it are secure. 

Put toys in drawers

Drawers make toys disappear instantly. If your child has extra dresser space, dedicate a drawer or two to toys. You can also add a small drawer unit inside a closet. 

Drawer dividers or small containers can prevent little toys from becoming one giant jumble. Give each section a category so your child doesn’t have to dig through everything to find one piece. 

Store toys behind a curtain

Open shelving provides plenty of storage, but it doesn’t hide anything. One solution is to add a curtain in front of the shelves where you store toys. When the toys are put away, close the curtain. This can be particularly handy if you already have built-in shelves or an open storage area and don’t want to replace it with closed cabinetry. 

Choose a coffee table with storage

If toys tend to migrate into your living room, make your coffee table work harder. Look for one with drawers, cabinets, a lift-up top, or hidden compartments. Depending on its size, it can hold puzzles, games, coloring supplies, building blocks, and other smaller toys. 

The toys stay close to where your kids actually play, but you don’t have to stare at them after bedtime. 

Give board games and puzzles a cabinet

Board game and puzzle boxes can create visual clutter quickly, especially when they’re stacked on open shelves. Store them inside a cabinet or closet instead. Stack similar-sized boxes together, or store games vertically if the contents can stay secure. 

Check puzzle boxes occasionally for missing pieces or damage. There’s little reason to give precious storage space to a puzzle nobody can complete anymore. 

Make use of awkward spaces

Take a walk around your home and look specifically for small spaces you aren’t using. 

You might find storage space: 

• Under a staircase 
• At the bottom of a closet 
• Above a closet rod 
• Under a window seat 
• Under a bench 
• Inside a hallway cabinet 
• Under a crib 
• In a corner that could hold a cabinet 
• Behind a door 

Even a narrow cabinet can hold art supplies, small toys, games, or puzzles. 

Create a toy rotation

You don’t necessarily need every toy available all the time. Choose a selection for your kids to play with and store the rest somewhere else. Every few weeks or months, switch some of the toys. 

A toy your child hasn’t seen for a while may suddenly seem interesting again. Rotation also means you only need room in your everyday toy storage for part of the collection. 

Put the toys that are out of rotation in labeled bins in a closet, basement, garage if conditions allow, or another storage area. If toys are taking up space you need for everyday belongings, a storage unit can also give you another place for out-of-rotation toys, keepsakes, and other items you aren’t ready to get rid of. 

Declutter toys regularly

Eventually, even the best toy storage system will fill up. Go through toys every few months and look for things your kids have outgrown or stopped using. Toss toys that are broken beyond repair, and check games and puzzles for missing essential pieces. 

Depending on their condition, unwanted toys may be donated, sold, handed down to friends or relatives, or recycled if a local program accepts them. 

Involving kids in the process can also help them decide which toys still matter to them instead of automatically keeping everything. 

Toy storage FAQ

How do you hide toys in a living room?

Use furniture that doubles as storage, such as storage ottomans, benches, cabinets, sideboards, and coffee tables with drawers or hidden compartments. Lidded baskets and bins can also keep toys nearby without leaving them visible. 

How do you store toys when you don’t have a playroom?

Use storage throughout the spaces where your kids actually play. Try under-bed containers, closet shelves, cabinet storage, baskets, drawers, over-the-door organizers, and furniture with hidden storage. 

How do you store a lot of toys in a small space?

Use vertical and hidden storage before adding more furniture. Take advantage of closets, under-bed space, doors, cabinets, shelves, and storage furniture. A toy rotation can also reduce the number of toys you need to store within easy reach. 

What is the best way to organize kids’ toys?

Sort toys into broad categories, such as blocks, dolls, cars, stuffed animals, puzzles, games, and art supplies. Give each category its own container, drawer, shelf, or cabinet area. 

How do you organize toys so kids can clean them up themselves?

Keep categories simple, use containers kids can easily reach, and label each storage area. Add picture labels for younger children who can’t read yet. 

How do you store toys under a bed?

Use shallow bins, rolling drawers, or other low-profile containers that fit beneath the bed. Measure the available height and depth before buying containers, and choose options your child can easily pull out. 

What toys should you get rid of?

Consider removing toys that are broken beyond repair, missing essential pieces, outgrown, rarely used, or no longer interesting to your child. Donate, sell, hand down, recycle, or dispose of them based on their condition. 

Where can you store toys your kids aren’t currently using?

Out-of-rotation toys can go in labeled containers in a closet, basement, or another storage area where conditions won’t damage them. If you’re short on space at home, you can also move less-used toys and childhood keepsakes to a storage unit.