Toy Area Update

I feel like it takes me a couple of years before I feel comfortable and settled in a new home. I only had 2 years in my first condo then two years in my first home with my husband before we picked up and moved across town. Now, 2.5 years later, this house finally feels like our home.

Our toy area is really just the other side of our living room. It was originally designed to be the dining area, but we put our dining table right in our kitchen. The space originally had nothing – for months. Then it had some IKEA Expedits with green bins that are awesome because they are plastic and super durable but horrible because they don’t fully fill up the space. Check them out in the background of this photo –

 

The toys were exploding from the bins, and the area looked terrible. We also had a bassinet and the Skip Hop mat that made the space undeniably the kid space.

Several months later we upgraded to a beautiful black and white rug that was inexpensive. I don’t really mind if it gets wrecked. I also bought cheap white bins from IKEA that are made to specifically fit in the Expedit. The bins keep all the toys completely hidden. This is when I introduced the toy map. We also officially started doing toy rotations then, which is something every parent should do.

The room looked like this:

We still had no art or hanging photographs though, and that drove us crazy. One day while my husband was away I got wild and spent the Friday evening hanging a ton of photos while my toddler helped. Here’s how the room looks now:

 

I’m not thrilled with the styling on the shelves on the right, but I know I need to take some time to live with the space before making any more decisions. We have photos of all the important people in our kids’ lives on that wall, and I hope and intend to refresh the photos now and again. I like that right now every single toy except the wagon is kept away. The space does not look like the toy zone, but it is. In those bins we have cars, train tracks, Sesame Street characters, balls, electronic junky toys, blocks, stuffed animals, puzzles, books, etc. It’s hidden chaos.

There’s the update! I thought I’d share since the room seems to change every few months. I wonder if I’ll ever consider it completed.