Simple Underbed Toy Storage

My oldest daughter (4 yo) is at the age of ‘tiny toys’. Shopkins, Littlest Pet Shop, My Little Pony, and other random inanimate objects with faces that then somehow qualify as toys - they are all invading my house. As cute as they (and she) is… I hate picking up 50 of these things a day; or stepping on them or worse, digging them out of my 1 year old’s mouth (it’s like a choking hazard minefield in here).

I am trying to enforce that these tiny toys stay in her room, and to her credit, she does fairly well following this rule. In support of her efforts, I have found a super simple storage hack. So simple that I don’t know if it actually qualifies as a hack, but I’ll just call it that because it makes my feel accomplished + clever.

Ok, here it is. ALGOT Mesh Baskets. From Ikea.

I use 4 of the 38 x 60 x 14 cm (or 15” x 23.5” x 5.5” if you are more familiar with inches like a normal person) white mesh baskets under her bed. They are super light, don’t have lids + glide easily on carpet and/or Home Depot special laminate (which is the flooring she has in her room). This is great, because she can easily pull them out herself without any assistance. I don’t organize all the tiny toys, because that’s a huge waste of time - it’s just a quick 1 minute scoop + toss before bed, then slide the basket back under the bed.

The baskets are quite large, so not all of them are used for toys (omg, could you imagine all those baskets filled with 1000’s of Shopkin sized objects), but I am planning on using the empty ones for other things. I’m thinking of maybe hiding some of her longer story books in there (just kidding, long books are my fav….) or maybe some extra bedding, blankets or off season clothing. (Sidebar: If your kids are into Lego and you want to store it under the bed, these would be perfect).

My husband built her amazing house bed, which I LOVE! However I couldn’t find any underbed storage bins that would fit underneath (it’s a bit lower than a typical bed frame). I was so relieved when I found the ALGOT bins, and the fact that they are only $7 each is a bonus. Another bonus is that they are nice looking baskets; so I don’t mind that I can see them peeking out from underneath the bed, and I much prefer these to the look of a clear plastic rubbermaid.

(Extra Tip: if you are worried about floor scratches or your baskets will be quite heavy, add a some felt pad stickers to the bottom corners).

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