apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time


#16 - Bins and Muffin Tins

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Name: Valerie
Children's names and ages: Vyolette (VyVy), 20 months and Drake, 11 years
Location: Chicago, IL
Category: Toys


Items used for the project and favorite part of the storage solution:

Our house is a small 100+ year 2 bedroom house. What used to be the attic is now the two bedrooms. The ceiling/walls are angled all the way down to the floor, with only one and a half closets for the whole house! So .... needless to say we needed storage.

 
 

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Adam (my husband) custom built these shelves into the bottom corners of the wall/floor upstairs on both sides of the room. We use one side for blankets, books, and records. The other side of the room is for the kids. Children's books, plush toys, VyVy's clothes are in the middle/cream colored bins. Separated by pants, shirts, onesies, overalls, sox/tights, sweaters & bedtime clothes. I just labeled them with a label maker for simple, non distracting reference. I love this system for her clothes because I can just throw her stuff into the corresponding bin in no time flat. I don't have to worry about folding anything or cramming , or loosing anything at the back of a drawer! (which is what happens with my own clothes). The green bins are crib & bed linens. Above the green bins is the "accessory" shelf. Shoes, barrettes, jewelry & a couple of toys!

I love to use vintage baking muffin tins and brownie pans for organizational storage. VyVy's barrettes are in the muffin tin and her shoes are in the brownie tin. VyVy loves to take the muffin tin down in the morning and sort all of her barrettes by color or style. It keeps her busy for a while so I can get myself dressed in the morning.

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What's your best storage tip for families with children?

Make use of any and every little space you have. Especially in the city in a small apartment
or house, space is precious. If possible make the storage low enough to the ground so that the kids can use the space themselves.

Thanks for your entry, Valerie!

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Comments (7)

i love the clean look of the shelves and bins. muffin tins -- ingenious!

posted by selena on April 8th 2008 at 10:49am
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Wow... those balls on the top shelf bring back a flood of memories! I definitely used to have one. (The storage is great too.)

posted by Kat81 on April 8th 2008 at 12:23pm
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I like the storage but love the pyjamas! Where did you find them?

posted by JudiAU on April 8th 2008 at 12:28pm
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those pj's are carters... there is a little kitty cat on the front;~

posted by veeveeme on April 8th 2008 at 1:03pm
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OMG! That is the sweetest picture of your son reading to his little sister! It just melts my heart to see my kids in fleeting moments like those!

posted by homebody on April 8th 2008 at 1:35pm
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I forgot to write on my description that those pink bins are full of her plush toys! opps!
and I am entered in the toy catagory! oh well it is BOTH!
and belive it or not...
Drake reads to VyVy like that [u]all[/u] the time! It is so swwwweet!

posted by veeveeme on April 8th 2008 at 1:51pm
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I love the way this looks and I love the muffin tins. It looks such a nice space to spend time in. Love the labelling too. What's not to like? I think the best thing is that with a little guidance a young child could start to sort/tidy their own things into the boxes. Very montessori!

posted by kirstiej on April 9th 2008 at 3:29am
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