Stop your home from becoming the island of scattered toys. Use this guide to the best toy storage to tame the toy room (and bathroom).
Storing kids’ toys is an uphill battle. Even if you buy storage solutions, those are useless unless you can get the kids to use them.
As part of our series on the best toy storage, we put together a list of the best cubby and bath toy storage options.
We scoured the internet for storage options that tick all the boxes: they work, they’re cute, and they are simple to use. We also put together a short guide to help you see what to look for when you need a storage solution.
Are you ready to win the Battle of the Playroom Floor? Keep reading for our full guide.
How We Made Our Choices
Our list contains two different types of products: cubby storage and bath toy storage.
These are two very different styles of storage, and both have properties that work best when kept in their respective settings.
When we looked for cubby storage, we wanted to find a range of options that include simple, kid-friendly designs that are simple to use but also don’t transform your home into a pre-school room. We looked for options that range from kids’ furniture to cubbies that grow with them and work in many spaces of your home.
Among bath toy storage options, we looked for choices that don’t just store toys but protect them. We focused on storage options with great draining properties and that dry themselves thoroughly. We avoided anything that looked as though it would get moldy or allow the toys to get moldy.
Overall, we looked for quality and function with a particular emphasis on helpful (and cute) design.
Best Toy Storage Options
The following list of toy storage includes both cubby storage and bath toy storage. We chose three of our favorites from each category. But you should know the two aren’t interchangeable. Bath toy storage comes with features that make it shine in the bathroom but virtually useless outside of it.
The first three options work well as cubby storage, and the final three are bathtub storage options.
B. spaces by Battat Totes Tidy Toy Organizer
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The B. spaces by Battat organizer is a cute but sleek cubby storage set that is design-forward but still very functional.
So many cubby organizers look like you plucked them from a preschool room. While the design works for classrooms, it doesn’t always match the home setting.
We love the colors and shape of the organizer. It includes ten stackable bins in cool colors like sea, mint, and ivory. The organizer itself includes sleek lines in a neutral color that complements all the containers perfectly.
The storage system is also easy to assemble. All you need is the hexagon key that B. spaces by Battat include in the package, and you have a new toy rack in only a few minutes.
We also like that it offers ample storage without dominating a wall. The dimensions are 35.55-inches long by 14.6-inches wide by 26.-inches high. It fits two different bin sizes with eight small bins and two large bins. You can easily mix and match the containers across each of the three racks for the perfect setup. At 26-inches tall, it’s the ideal height for toddlers.
Finally, we like that B. spaces by Battat designs its kids’ furniture lines to complement each other. If you fall in love with the organizer, you can also get other pieces of furniture that mesh well for a clean look. We think these design-forward cubbies are particularly helpful when your playroom is also the living room or another communal space.
Kings Brand Furniture White Finish Wood Cubby Storage Cabinet Unit
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The Kings Brand Furniture cubby system is something different than we usually prefer, but it offers something the plastic, collapsible units don’t.
The wood design with the white finish combined with the unique dimensions means the cabinet unit will grow with your kids.
It works perfectly in the toy room—or living room—but it won’t date itself quickly. There are six cubbies sat on either side of two shelves. The bottom cubbies and shelves are child height, but the top sections and the uppermost tray (which is the top of the unit) are suitable for growing kids and pre-teens.
It offers plenty of cubbies, but it doesn’t look like it belongs in a classroom. You could place it almost anywhere in the house, and it wouldn’t look out of place. It doesn’t even look like a kids’ cubby unit if you don’t put toys or books in it.
The dimensions are 34-inches long by 15-inches wide by 33-inches high. You do need to assemble it, but it’s no more difficult than putting together an IKEA design. It also comes with a wall anchor to prevent it from toppling over if little ones use it as a place to practice standing.
Is it a cubby system that is at the top of our typical price range? Yes, but it is also a piece of furniture that could happily sit in your house for years—or decades—without looking out of place.
MULSH Multi-Bin Storage Unit Organizer
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The final product in our cubby storage solutions section is the MULSH Multi-Bin Storage Unit Organizer. It is a large, green or blue storage chest featuring three rows of pull-out bins (or drawers).
The organizer frame is a powder-coated metal, which means it is both light and durable. MULSH covered the structure in a non-woven fabric that is both waterproof and dust-proof. It even comes with a cover that rolls down over the front of the shelves and closes with a zipper.
You can use the system for kids toys that you don’t want to get rid of or for seasonal clothing items that you want to protect from dust.
The bins are small cubes and come in three different sizes and 11 containers in total. All the drawers fit into the organizer’s total dimensions of 31-inches long by 12-inches wide by 32-inches wide.
We love this organizer because it is both functional and stylish. It works well in large built-in closets or as a free-standing storage solution within the room. You can put it together without any tools, and detailed instructions are in the package.
The organizer is great for older kids, but it is missing some of the kid-friendly teachers you’d find in cubbies geared at toddlers. They’ll need to pull out every drawer to find what they want, which gets messy. There’s no good way for little ones to peer in the drawers on the top shelf. However, we do like that there’s a zipper, which is a good way of obscuring toys from their sight.
Additionally, it is not as sturdy as a wood-framed cubby unit. It works well for storing small things, but it might not respond well to leaning or pulling from small children.
OXO Tot Bath Toy Bin
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The OXO Tot Bath Toy bin is a simple bin or caddy for piling in bath time toys.
It features a sleek design and carries up to five pounds worth of toys. The simple design makes it easy to clean with water and soap to remove soap scum and build up.
You can keep the bin on the floor or in a cupboard. If you find the right place, you can also use the strong adhesive tape to hang it from the wall. It is streamlined enough to hang in a bath or shower without getting in the way. However, you should be careful to avoid overfilling the bin when you hang it.
We like the product because although it doesn’t market itself as a scoop, it does act like one. The handle on the side is soft, which makes it easy to scoop up toys out of the water. There are also dozens of holes in the bin to allow proper draining and drying.
The holes mean it drains while hanging on the wall, but you should be careful not to put the box away while it is wet.
Because it uses sticky tape and pads instead of suction, the effectiveness can vary according to the type of wall you stick it on. You might find it’s a good solution for things like textured tile, which doesn’t match well with suction cups. At the same time, you might struggle to mount it to sleek tile. Whether or not it works seems to be a coin toss.
Nooni Care Panda Bath Toy Organizer
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The Nooni Care Panda Bath Toy Organizer is a neoprene and mesh bath caddy that keeps toys off the ground and out of the bath while also offering up a cute face.
The adorable panda features a mesh belly that holds toys. The panda’s belly is super wide, so it holds plenty of toys as long as they aren’t bulky or largely oddly-shaped. You attach it to the wall using two heavy-duty suction cups.
We love that the panda’s body is neoprene, which is the same material you find on rubber wetsuits. You can soak neoprene endlessly, and not only will it dry quickly but it resists mold and mildew.
There are a few things you need to know about the Nooni panda.
First, Nooni admits that the suction cups work best on tiles and glass. Surfaces that have a texture or do not lay completely flat may make hanging the panda difficult. If you are using it on tile, make sure you apply the suction cups and then twist them to tighten to ensure it stays up on the wall.
Boon Whale Pod Drain and Storage Bath Toy Scoop
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The last of our bath storage options is a scoop. The Boon Whale Pod Drain and Storage scoop is a cute blue whale scoop that picks up toys directly from the water. You can then return it to its wall-mounted base as the remaining water drains back into the tub.
We like how well the whale drains because it reduces mold on toys. We also love that it attaches to a base, so you don’t need to pull at the adhesive every time you want you to use it.
The whale is also easy to wash to remove soap scum. Warm water and soap take care of everything for you.
However, it is an adhesive-based cubby. That means you do roll the dice when you try to hang it. It works great on textured surfaces, but it may fall off traditional tile. You could also buy a different type of adhesive if you wish. We suspect companies go light on the adhesive properties because they don’t want to hear complaints about their adhesive ruining customer’s walls.
How to Find the Best Toy Storage that Works
Getting kids to use the storage solutions you buy is half the battle.
What can you do to help get there? The right storage actually helps because, with the best system, kids love cleaning up. Tidying brings instant gratification, and it doesn’t need to be a chore.
The best toy storage matches your kids’ needs.
So, start by taking a short inventory of your toys. What types do you have? How many toys fall into each category? These questions will help you find the right size, style, and the number of bins or storage. It simplifies the process, which only helps in your efforts to get kids to pick up their toys themselves.
Second, look for storage that is easy for kids to use. If you have young children, make sure they can see into the boxes in the storage system. Make bins light enough to pick up and empty or drag. And of course, avoid any storage that pinches little fingers.
With storage that matches your toy needs, consider using a fun labeling system that shows kids how to use the system. By saying, “put the dinosaurs back in the dinosaur bin,” you’ll give kids precise instructions that offer more direction than “clean up.” It also keeps everything neater and shows kids how simple it is to find their toys when they use the system.