Everybody knows that babies have lotsa luggage.
It’s like you bring the baby home from the hospital and all of a sudden, your den turns into a playroom and your playroom vomits toys all over every room in your home. All of a sudden you live in a daycare with lotsa brightly colored, noisy toys that flash lights, sing really annoying fun tunes, stimulate my babies brain, and become a permanent tripping-device. Don’t get me wrong. I love how Will’s face lights up when the bears ride around on the carasol and the way he giggles when we bang the blocks together. But as much as I love bringing home new yard sale finds for him, they don’t exactly match our existing decor. And as the lazy person that I am, I hate trudging up the stairs everytime I want to amuse my four-month old. So for the last few months we have been coming up with smart storage solutions that hide the baby gear without creating an eyesore in our home. Wanna see some of our secret stashes?
So glad you asked. First, let’s look at our living room:
We spend the majority of our time in this space. I mean, it has the television. And the couch. So for a couple of couch-potatoes-who-are-bonafide-television-and-movie-fanatics, this is definitely the hang out spot for the Bowers. Spending time in here means that we need to have things on hand for amusing the little guy while also making it easy to clean up for when non-diaper-wearers come into the house.
The first way we hide the mess is with our white storage ottomans. We scored these beautiful slipcovered cubes from the Pottery Barn outlet years ago and they continually provide the perfect spot for our evolving lifestyles. At first they were just perfect for extra blankets and our offseason pillow covers. After I got pregnant, we stashed lotion (for rubbing my swollen feet) and pregnancy books inside. But now we use them for stashing the plethora of toys in our possession. We just jam them full of the kiddie stuff and pop the lid on top.
Another way we hide kid stuff is pretty obvious…we close some doors. The corner bookshelf has two lower shelves that actually have wooden doors that can cover up a whole slew of games, puzzles and shoe boxes full of flashcards and Lite Brite pegs. Plus, since this is a bookshelf, we put all the kid-friendly books on there (including our Charlie Brown dictionary & set of Dr. Seuss books).
The final secret spot in our living room is the baskets that are on our shelves flanking the television. One of the baskets actually acts as our in-plain-sight-but-outta-sight changing caddy. Since the shelf above is low enough to cover the gear inside, we don’t even think about stuffing our diaper changing supplies into it in an orderly fashion.
But when Will exhibits a little thunder down under, we can quickly whip out the basket which contains a whole stack of cloth diapers, a box full of wipes and his euro pillow sham (which we use as a mat just in case he decides to mark his territory when we aren’t quite velcroed yet!)
But the baby stuff doesn’t stop there. If only.
We also have a basket full of toys in our library-esque den.
“Where?” you might ask…
Well, in this corner we have a small basket that lives beside the fireplace. It has lived there for a very long time and before it always just held extra blankets…you know…for those harsh Georgia winters. Go ahead and laugh you Minnesotans.
But since we had Will, we have accumulated some weird shaped toys…which actually fit just perfectly in this basket. But when company comes over (above the age of 16) we throw this sheepskin over the top and it all disappears and looks chic to boot. I know what you are thinking…and yes, 15 year olds would be very interested in the singing cube of colors 🙂
Granted, we also have some things that are left out in the open…and we don’t mind having that baby-lives-here look…but we also are big believers in keeping our home comfortable to us as adults. I mean, we do pay the bills around here.
So there are a few ways that we keep the kiddie clutter contained. Did you have fun playing hide & seek with me? I hope so. And I hope this gave you a couple good ideas when it comes to keeping your home kid-friendly while still looking put together. Remember – baskets are your friend. And so are any furniture piece with ‘storage’ in the name. And not just for kiddie stuff…for big people stuff too. Each one of these ideas would be ideal for those odds and ends that you want easy access to without putting on display. Now comes the fun part – do you have any smart storage solutions for corraling the clutter in your home? Spill the details on how you make toy-control child’s play.
Thanks for all the tips. I love the sheepskin over the basket. I am not sure how to cover them. Thanks!
I’m a Minnesota girl, but I didn’t laugh at you. It’s August right now, so you can be jealous of us. In January, we’ll be jealous of you!
We love the look of open bookshelves and when our son Drew got to crawling age, we made sure that the bottom two shelves in our den were crammed with his easily accessible story books. We want him to be able to read at will, whenever the mood strikes… which is blessedly often!
I also have those canvas storage cubes ALL OVER the house. Love ’em.
I love this post. I have so many friends that I wish would read this! One couple I know, have the largest home out of our friend group, and their 3 year old dominates every room. Even the downstairs basement. It’s obnoxious! Their whole home is primary and plastic. We have cabinets built into our family room book shelves and we are planning on hiding toys in there. Also have a laundry room on the same floor that will be used as downstairs changing area. I love your basket/sheepskin rug idea, may have to use that one… 🙂 Awesome post, thanks!
Ok, I’m super embarrassed to admit this, but I scoot stuff under my couches. All. The. Time. Certain toys (especially when they start walking…) just don’t fit anywhere. Like the half-size broom my son “seeps” with all the time. Under the couch was the only place it would fit. And now stashing stuff under there is so addictive its like crack…I toss stuff under there all the time when people come over, and no one is the wiser, though they do seem curious as to why my son keeps trying to climb under the couches.
Great Post!
Great post. Love the idea of covering cute baskets, so people dont even know its toys. 🙂 I wish you had a baby around 18 months… their toys are MUCH bigger.. and i have the same problem, our living room looks like Toys R Us, and I am not a fan.
What a great post! We have two boys. One will be three soon and the other is 4 months, so we have a TON of toys. I have a short post about storing toys: http://ourhumbleabowed.wordpress.com/2010/07/15/how-to-store-toys/ but I plan to tackle how to store larger baby items, too. Thanks!!
Excellent post! This definitely hit home with me – I have to admit in several rooms my 2 year old has taken over. Now I have some solutions to take my house back :o)
Katie, do you use bouncy chairs, or swings? I am just wondering what a good storage solution might be for some of the larger items I am sure we will be using when we add a newborn to a house with an energetic 2 year old.
Thanks!
Love these ideas! Your house always looks so beautiful!
I have to show this post to my husband. He grew up in a house full of semi-hoarders and because of that he’s completely intolerant of clutter (as am I to a certain point). One of his reasons (excuses?) for not wanting to have kids is that “they come with too much stuff and then your whole house is full of toys.”
You’ve done an excellent job keeping it under wraps!
we use baskets and storage ottomans too. we have a swing that stays in the living room, because I don’t like to move it to his closet after every use, but we do have 2 kids so I’m okay with the swing. i don’t think a blanket over the swing would be a very good look. i do move it we have company (that isn’t family)
I really love this post. You’ve found some great ways to keep your home a home and keep Will happy too!!
I get a lot of inspiration from your posts so keep ’em comin! 🙂
Katie–I’m just curious what you do with the bigger stuff like the bouncy seat and the swing. We are having a baby anytime now and I can’t figure out how to stash the bigger items.
OK, I’ve been over to your house about a million times, and didn’t know about all your little hiding spots. 😉 Guess we’re going to need to do this soon to our living room! Gotta love the pic of Will. What a q-t pie!
Love this post. I’m always happy to see that a house can still look like a home where grownups live and not turn into a day care after the baby arrives.
I cant stand it when toys are out. Granted kids come with all those things… but I dont need to see them ALL THE TIME. When our little one was little, the swing and the bouncer and then the exersaucer and walker were out.. no where to hide those big baby things. But the toys… I have a cabinet (used to hold our plethora of DVDs)that holds all her “living room” toys! Its the best. We have baskets for some toys to go into, and books, and games… and at the end of the day or before nap time… my living space is back to adultish… LOVE IT!!
I love the look of all the white boxes on your bookshelf. What do you store there. . . dvds-cds? Haha so nosy I know but I am thinking of using something similar to hide our way to big collection of DVDS.
I like the tips! Already wondering how we’ll keep our house looking somewhat adult-like while still having everything on hand that our little one will need.
Love the post
Yup Christine B…they house our DVD collection. Which we barely watch anymore since we have a blue-ray player now. Jeremy is such a snob 🙂
XO – kb
Hi Erin,
Good question. We originally had the giant swing out in the living room…but now Will won’t sit in it happily unless he has no other visual stimulation…so it got banned to the basement. And we don’t have a bouncy seat so no need to find a stash spot 🙂
XO – Katie
Great post (as always), Katie! We don’t have kids yet, but baskets are already my BFF and I imagine they’ll be even more helpful with little ones!
I absolutely love my ‘under-the-bed’ drawers. They keep all my t-shirts and jeans nicely stored and they are easy to get out!
We just put up an Expedit bookcase that will house his toys in baskets with nice leather (faux I’m sure) handles. That way they’ll still feel like the rest of the room, but he can see in them (since I’m not sure if I want to put photos/labels w/contents on the outside). In addition, I have a seagrass chest, which I love from Target, that we slip under a console table for the larger awkward toys. I’m going to pick up the adorable rattan whale PBK has on sale right now. My rule is that all of his toys must fit into storage when all is said and done, otherwise I know that it’s time to purge and donate.
I love the sheepskin over a basket idea!
I love this post and I don’t even have kids yet. I certainly use a lot of baskets and hidden storage in our 900 SF bungalow now but husband doesn’t have the same obsession. He seems to think its ok to have stuff just laying around. He also doesn’t have a problem with kids toys and things being in plan site. The thought gives me the chills however. I’m afraid I’ll get a little resistance from the hubby once we do have a little one running around. Did you get any resistance from Jeremy? Was he “Geez, another basket?!” or is that just my husband?
It’s good to know I am not the only one who gets a tad annoyed with all the baby toys! I don’t even have kids yet!
I have a question about your diapers though – first, What brand(s) do you prefer? Do you like the one size fits all? Velcro or snaps? Reusable or disposable wipes?
We are trying to conceive and my husband was actually the one to say that he would prefer the cloth diapering (which was great to hear) but even though I have looked at sites that sell them I don’t feel like I know anything about them. Also, do you wash them all yourself or have a service that does it for you? We live in a small town in Southern UT and don’t have the conveinence of a service. Just wondered if it was a big deal doing it at home yourself.
Thanks!
Hi Sheena,
We use BumGenius one-size velcro with disposable wipes. So far, we love them. Granted we don’t follow any of the rules that they come with (like not using Desitin – we do. Or washing them three times – we only wash once.) But we have had great results. We pop them in our Samsung washer on the sanitize cycle with extra wash and extra rinse right after a quick rinse in our sink. In the grand scheme of things I believe we have more of a hybrid approach…we use disposables when it fits better with that day. Overall, we will definitely save money and that is the motivation for us 🙂
XO – Katie
I keep toys/books in a wicker basket under the coffee table in our living room, but i still tend to have toys scattered everywhere. I really need to improve my toy stashing skills. I love how you covered the toys with a fur. Very sneaky and awesome!
Love this post! When my son was Will’s age, we had a very similar setup with all the hidden toy storage 🙂 Then came his first birthday and Christmas! We ended up having sooo many more toys. First we started switching them out so we didn’t have so many out. Then we got and EVEN bigger wicker storage container. Now he’s 2 1/2 and we invested in all kinds of toy storage containers (Ikea has a great one for little pieces i.e. little people stuff ect) but our house still looks like a daycare sometimes!
I was definitely one of those parents that said “ohhh I’ll always keep the stuff hidden” and then well life happens. We still clean up and now have him help clean up his toys, but the very next morning it’s all out again! We do have a separate play room upstairs so that helps a lot. However, we spend most of our time downstairs so quite a few of his toys migrate down here.
You have to do a post on toy storage as he gets older and gets more toys! I’m sure he will be a spoiled little one 🙂 (just like my son lol) with tons of toys so I’d love to see your creative ideas!!!
Katie, I love your great ideas. We have an almost 2 year old, almost 4 year old and one on the way. I try very hard to keep our house looking nice and will be using some of your ideas. I have to comment though – I’m surprised you use disposable wipes? We use baby washcloths and just throw them in with the diapers. Neither of my kids have ever had a diaper rash or have ever used any diaper cream and I credit our washcloths – just a thought. I love your site!! I’ve been away for a week so am just catching up now!
I can’t tell you how I happened upon your wonderful blog; Not because it’s creepy but because I honestly don’t remember. I blame it on the plague wonderfully known as Baby Brain. I have read a few of your posts and I lament “I wish she lived in Charlotte and we were friends.” How’s that for a boost to your morale and a healthy serving of the warm and fuzzies? Well, I am expecting my first (a boy) and couldn’t be more excited with just a smidge of nausea-inducing fear to make it a challenge. Right now my better half and I live in an apartment. Your space saving (and sanity saving) ideas are exactly what I needed. Once my nursery furniture arrives I’ll send you a picture where I will be more than welcome to any ideas you have. For someone who loves design shows on HGTV I feel so uncreative sometimes. When we eventually save enough money to buy a house and remodel it, can I convince you to be my interior designer?
Your living room is almost the same shape as mine if you replace the window in yours with sliding glass doors in mine. I’m in love with your media wall unit around the tv. Can I ask where you got the base and the side bookshelves?