A few weeks ago, I shared the bench seat we have in our playroom. At that time, the cube storage areas were empty and waiting to be filled with toys. Today, I am going to show how we keep the bench seat organized!
As a reminder, this is what the empty bench seat and shelves looked like before.
My favorite part about this bench seat is the cube storage area. The green and blue bins are from IKEA and they fit perfectly into the four spaces at the bottom of the bench seat!
Having the bins definitely helps us stay more organized! It’s much easier for my kids to put their toys away in bins. It also doesn’t matter how neatly the toys get thrown back in the bin because they are hidden inside.
Now I will show what toys we have been storing in the green and blue bins!
Let’s start on the right side. In the first bin, we have our bowling supplies. Since there are several pieces to a bowling set, it’s easy to throw them in this bin when it’s time to clean up. These would also be really hard to put away on a shelf because if one got knocked over, others would fall down, too. The bin is the perfect way to store the bowling set.
The second bin from the right holds a few toys that can be rolled around. This includes toys that are shaped like balls and other toys on wheels that can be pushed around.
Moving on to the other side, the third bin holds our musical instruments and other toys that play music. It’s really nice and convenient to have all of these types of toys in one place.
See ‘n Say
The last bin on the left holds a few miscellaneous toys that the kids like to get out and play with a lot.
Overall, I try not to stuff too many toys into the bins because that would make it harder to get the toys in and out of the bins. I also like the kids to be able to see all of the toys so it is easier for them to find what they are looking for.
Ball
I should point out that the bench seat doesn’t always stay organized exactly like this. My two little kids love to take the toys out, but don’t always love to put them back! However, having the bins is really helpful when it is time to pick up all of the toys off of the floor!
We also store stuffed animals on top of the bench seat. There are typically more stuffed animals hanging out on the bench than these two monkey stuffed animals. They seem to move around the house a lot!
Lamp
The bench seat is also a great place to sit and read a book. Our two-year-old daughter already likes to sit there and “read” sometimes.
My husband and I also put a Hemnes bookcase from IKEA on each side of the bench seat for even more storage.
My kids are still pretty young, so that influences the way we keep the bookshelves organized.
As a general rule, I try to keep breakable items and other items I don’t want the kids playing with by themselves on the top shelves. On the other hand, I try to make it as easy as possible for the kids to get their toys from the bottom shelves.
In our case, the top three shelves on each side contain items that I don’t want the kids to reach. The bottom three shelves contain toys that I want the kids to be able to get out all by themselves. As they get older, this will most likely change a little.
Now let’s get into all of the specific details!
Starting on the top shelf on the left side, we have a yellow piggy bank shaped like an elephant. The bank is my son’s and it’s in the playroom because he doesn’t have a good place for it in his own room. Since it’s breakable and contains small coins, the perfect place for it is on the top shelf!
Lamp
Moving down to the second highest shelf on the left, we have some bookends that are breakable. The books on this shelf belong to the kids, but I keep these up higher because they are paper and can easily be ripped up. I get these books down when I am reading them to the kids. This helps them stay a little nicer because they can’t rip the books apart. There are some other board books closer to the ground in another part of the playroom the kids can reach by themselves.
Below that is a shelf with some decorations on it. The monkey pillow and LOVE letters are just there to make the shelf look pretty.
The bottom three shelves on the left side hold some toys that are easy to reach. I also don’t like to cram many toys on these shelves because that would make it harder to get the toys out. The dinosaur is one of the heavier toys, so that is on the bottom shelf. The turtle shape sorter and puppy dog stuffed animal are pretty light, so they are up a little bit higher.
Moving on to the right side… The bottom three shelves again hold toys that the kids can easily get off of the shelves. The little Mega Block wagon is on the bottom shelf because it is wider than some of the other toys. Having it on the very bottom shelf makes it a little easier to get out and put away. The stuffed dog, star stacking toy, stuffed bear, and Jack in the Box toys are up a little higher because they are easy to move around.
Jack in the Box / Star Stacking Toy
The third shelf from the top on the right side again has another set of bookends with some books.
Next, the second shelf from the top holds my daughter’s piggy bank. Since it is also breakable and holds small coins, it is safer to have it up pretty high.
Last, the top shelf on the right bookcase holds some more books. We have a lot of books, so we tend to store books in several places all over the house!
Overall, I love the amount of storage the bench seat and bookcases add to the playroom!
For more details about how my husband and I put this bench together, read this post.
How do you organize the toys in your playroom? I would love to hear about your strategies, so please leave a comment below!
Have a great day!
♥Jena♥
This post contains affiliate links. For more information, see my disclosures here.