IKEA Toy Storage Hack: D.I.Y. Projects That Parents Will Love

Are you a burnt out parent in need of fresh new ideas for your home or apartment? Join the club. In a world filled with expensive yet cheaply-made furniture pieces and storage units, nothing compares to the potential for creativity at an affordable price than with IKEA. With hundreds of high quality and inexpensive furniture pieces, you can assemble even the most high-end looking storage spaces for you and your kiddos by using a simple IKEA toy storage hack. All you’ll usually need is a drill, access to your local B&Q or other home improvement store and a few screws. And honestly, sometimes, you don’t even need that! Let’s take a look at some of the very best IKEA toy storage hacks on the internet.

Toy Storage Ideas for Living Room From IKEA

Living Room Ikea Hacks

Storage Bookcase

Not all IKEA toy storage projects have to be difficult. Take this KALLAX bookshelf and turn it into a toy storage unit fit for bins, loose items, decorations and more.

Want to take it a step further? Consider lining the outside with wood boarding to make this bookshelf turned IKEA toy storage unit your own unique design!

Here’s how you do it:

Lug your KALLAX bookshelf through the door and into the room you are working in.
Turn the bookshelf on its side.
Add any crates, loose items, decorative pieces you want! If adding wood, be sure to take the measurements of all visible sides.
Next, have wood boards cut the dimensions you need for the top, two sides of the bookcase and the bottom surface. Note: The bottom surface is unlikely to be seen, so if you don’t want to add wooden planks to those sections, we won’t tell.
Stain the wood if you wish. Just be sure to do this step before affixing it to your KALLAX bookshelf!
Use wood glue and a nail gun to get those boards to cling tight to exposed surfaces. You may wish to use sandpaper to rough up the surface of the boards before applying the glue to help it adhere better.

Allow your creation to dry a few days, and that’s it! You have a brand new, exquisite-looking wood covered toy storage cube shelf to store all of your children’s favourite toys, books and belongings.

Closet Space for Toys

Tired of looking at your closets that are messily filled to the hilt with shoes, toys, clothes and other items? Try using the KALLAX single row book shelf as vertical toy storage.

Just be careful to anchor any sort of vertical storage to the wall in a very secure fashion… especially if you are giving it access to your little one!

To achieve this IKEA shelf vertical storage hack, follow these steps:

Remove any pre-existing racks or rails in your closet that might be in the way.
Add any decals or fun prints you want to use a backdrop to your creative new storage space. This is optional, but if you choose to do it, you’re going to want to place these decals and decorations on your wall now, rather than later. It’ll be much harder to do once you’ve anchored and installed your storage unit!
Once you’ve placed your optional backdrop, flip the bookshelf vertically.
Anchor the KALLAX to the back wall of the closet or space you want to utilise it in using your own chosen method.

That’s it! You’re done!

If you find that you’re missing the railing that used to be in your closet space and want to hang jackets and clothes, you can always install closet bars from your local home improvement store that fit the width leftover on either side of your storage unit. This way you can use the shelf for storage without having to sacrifice space for hanging up your little one’s hanging pieces.

Another tip, to make this even more appealing, is to consider adding bold and creative storage bins to the shelves to match the backdrop you chose, if you opted to put one in. This will add even more pizazz to your newly renovated space!

Beautiful Storage Bins

Want to give your children access to their living room toys without having to have one of those ugly red, pink, blue, green or yellow toy chests floating around in your stylishly decorated living room?

We get it. Instead, try installing a storage unit and customising your own beautiful storage bins that match the theme and colour of your living room for a quick, easy and unnoticeable way to store toys, LEGOS, Play-Doh, kid-safe daily hygiene products (such as a baby hair brush set) and more, out of the way.

We love this IKEA Trofast hack taking the Trofast Storage Combination Set With Boxes and applying your own customised decals to it for a unique look that is all its own.

To achieve this look, try the following:

Use a silhouette machine to cut creative shapes and colours using vinyl, or buy your own decals elsewhere. Here’s a great decal design on Amazon.
Place them on the storage bins. Make sure they’re plastic or have a smooth surface, otherwise the decals won’t stick!

Voila! You’ve got your own custom creation that’ll perfectly match your living room, or any other room in your home, for that matter!

IKEA Playroom Storage Ideas

Toy Table Storage

Who doesn’t love the idea of a toy table to replace toys that get strewn across the floor? We certainly do. Especially when it keeps mum and dad from tripping over toy trains and tracks.

To make your own toy table storage set, do the following:

To recreate a train table with storage IKEA grab a Trofest frame und Linnmon table top.
You’ll also need a few screws, an electric drill and some Trofast storage boxes of your choice.
Since it’s your child’s playroom, feel free to experiment with fun and funky storage bin colours to liven up your child’s play space.
To assemble, just flip the Linnmon table top upside down and lower the upside down Trofast frame over it. Centre it using measuring tape for accuracy.
Drill in your screws.
Sit the finished product upright.
Slide in your storage bins.

Easy enough, right?! We think so, too!

Play Clothes Organiser

Sometimes, it is the simple things that make life easy.

The same is true of these sleek and durable steel rods sold by IKEA.

Just install them according to their normal directions to any wall in your playroom for an easy and convenient way to get your children’s play clothes up and out of the way!

Easy peasy!

Toy Storage Bench

Ever see one of those nifty toy storage benches and thought, “I want one of those!” Well, lucky for you, it can be done fairly easily, just using a few tools.

Create a super cute storage bench that your kiddos will love and that serves multiple functions by doing the following:

Take two of these sturdy KALLAX storage units in the colour of your choice and set them perpendicular to one another to form a sectional style couch.
Next, find something to fill in the corner portion of this sectional. This may be tricky, and of course, you’ll need it to be safe and study. Some parents opt to make a structure of their own using wood, while others prefer to use a ledge of some sort to bridge the gap. Whatever you use, please, make sure it is appropriate, sturdy and safe for your little ones to sit on.
Once you’ve figured out how to fill the awkward spacing left between the two KALLAX pieces, go ahead and secure a cushion on top. Cushions can be affixed using nails and a drill, but some choose the easy way out by opting for velcro. Whatever suits your fancy!
Lastly, grab some cute storage containers to fill the compartments beneath your cute little reading bench with, leave them bare or store some cute decorative toys beneath. The world is your oyster with this one! Enjoy!

IKEA Kid’s Bedroom Storage

Floating Wall Bookshelf

To add a little creativity to boring ol’ hanging wall shelves, why not spice them up a little by adding your own creative edge?

To achieve this floating shelves idea:

First obtain hanging shelves of some sort. They don’t have to be fancy. We like these.
Next, measure the front of your shelves, snag some small wooden boards that match those dimensions and draw the shape you wish on them.
Cut the board to match your drawn on shape, or have the wood professionally cut.
Lastly, safely affix the board to the front of your already existing plain wood shelf. The result is a cute and creative way to store children’s books or toys on their bedroom or playroom wall!

An Alternative Book Shelf Idea

Does the previously mentioned method sound like a bit too much work? Don’t worry mum and dad.

Try purchasing one of IKEA’s spice racks instead, for an easier way to spice up your little one’s sleepy space.

Simply grab a cheap spice rack, paint it whatever colours your heart desires, affix it to the wall using nails and a drill. And there you have it….a perfectly matched book shelf at an extremely affordable cost.

Toy Car Storage

If this doesn’t impress you, we don’t know what will. How about a hanging toy car storage that doubles as decor?

Cop these steel magnetic knife bars from IKEA to hang any magnetic toy, such as play cars, from your child’s wall.

The added bonus? Your child’s toy cars can now be used as decorative displays instead of as an obstacle course to your every step.

Score!

LEGO Storage

Seriously, it can’t get any easier, or more practical than this.

It seems as though everyone is looking for LEGO storage ideas IKEA because, well, stepping on a LEGO isn’t a great experience. Thankfully, a LEGO table top is easier to set up than 1,2,3 !

Just follow these steps to achieve an awesome LEGO table:

Grab this IKEA side table and attach sticky velcro pieces to the four corers of the table. Be sure to use measurements to get it to line up, correctly.
Next, add the other pieces of sticky velcro to the four corners of a LEGO Pad.
Attach the velcroed LEGO pad to the velcroed table top.
Add LEGOs and you’re done!

Super simple right? And trust us, your feet will thank you!

Oh, and don’t forget to add some storage bins to the bottom of your LEGO table for easy access and clean up.

Bear in mind that this can be done with virtually any table, provided that it is child-safe, so if you aren’t crazy about the wheels on this table set, you can always opt for a different one.

General IKEA “Hacks”

Now, let’s take a pause here just to be real for a second.

Not all of us parents have the creative ability to think this stuff up, and, even if we do, the thought of pulling out the saw and drill may be daunting for more than a few of us.

But never fear!

If you find any of the above intimidating in any way, try changing the way you look at IKEA furniture the next time you stop in the store or online. Not every “hack” has to involve a trip to the home improvement store!

Many mums and dads have set up brilliant looking storage solutions using KALLAX bookshelves, spice racks or even IKEA garbage cans, in an easy, unconventional and non-intimidating ways. It just takes a little research, patience and creativity.

Still wondering if D.I.Y. organisation is for you? Check out the basics on how to get your children’s toys organised, the easy way!

IKEA Storage Ideas for the Creative Parent in You!

To summarise, if you haven’t taken the plunge on IKEA furniture, you don’t know what you’re missing. From building your own LEGO table to creating a window seat, the opportunities for IKEA toy hacks are seemingly endless!

Want even more hacks to help you reclaim your space? Take a look at our detailed guide on toy storage ideas for the living room. Take your home from chaos to chic within minutes!