Letting kids play independently is an amazing milestone for parents, but the after-mess is something I hate staring at every time.

I wanted to try to revamp and organize my playroom so it's easier for my kiddos to cleanup their toys by themselves, there's a spot for everything, and not everything is always accessible and a free-for-all.

I started out by swapping out my big cubby set for two cabinets. I wanted cabinets so I could shut the doors to hide away the clutter, plus to add childproof locks so these items are accessible when I'm not in there with them. In one cabinet I stored all our arts and crafts, and in the other I did toys with a lot of pieces or puzzles.

Before | After

I still have open storage on the side of my craft table I made for the playroom, plus this awesome smaller toy storage unit that has 3 cube spaces and 2 open buckets that are perfect for all our random balls and bigger toys like nerf guns or bigger cars.

I bought clear plastic storage cubes from Target so all items are contained, but still easily see what's inside - the large cube for items he has a lot of, and the medium cube for smaller toys. They're not as durable as acrylic cubes, but these are cheap and I liked that for now haha.

Open toy storage on side of craft table
Craft Cabinet (childproof latched)

With this many cubes, labeling them was a MUST if I wanted any chance as keeping it someone organized and cleaned up after kids play with it. I used Canva to make some labels, and made sure to use both a simple word and a picture so it's clear for both readers and non-reader what goes where (and then to start associating words and pictures!). Then, I printed and cut out each paper label. I borrowed a laminator from a friend (here's a highly recommended one super similar!) and laminated them all so they'll lady longer. To attach, I used Velcro squares because I wanted to be able to switch up the labels as time goes and their toy preferences change.

Here is all the before and afters of the playroom!

Toy Wall
Full View
Corner station

I am LOVING having the playroom looking more organized, purposeful and functional! Still plenty of toys open to play with all the time, but still lots hidden away to switch it up or try something new when mom's around or it's just 1 or 2 kiddos playing calmly.

Here are some other links for some of our other favorite playroom items:

  • White floating shelves
  • Table stools - set of 5
  • Superhero Capes and Masks
  • Picasso Magnatiles
  • Melissa & Doug Barn animals
  • Kid's trampoline
  • Little Tikes Swing with slide
  • Little Tikes rocking horse
  • Melissa & Doug car track rug
  • Picture frames at top edge of wall are Mixtiles
  • A lot of our toys are also from our Lovevery subscription!