Toy Storage Bench

Recently I came to the conclusion that my little minion friends (age 3 and 1) wreak havoc on my poor home. I bought into that colorful bin toy organizer, hoping it would help sort through the madness…but in the end, it became problematic in itself. The boys would make a game out dumping each and every last one out and then stacking them on top of each other (making it nearly impossible to separate…no matter all the swear words I threw at it).

Here's my problem before pictures...

And here's one of what it looked like 'picked up'…if you can even call it that.

This is after their Sept. and Nov. birthdays and then Christmas.

So, I took to Pinterest and found this blog of an absolutely amazing playroom, in perfect order. Yes…I need some of this action here! Now my house is modest of size, so I just dedicate a small nook to my minions…and a little corner storage bench would be just the ticket. Right off the bat, I messed up and ordered the Billy bookcases instead of the Expedit bookcases. But I search Pinterest to see if my hopes were still reachable and found this pin. So yes, it's doable…and so I shall!

I started with two of these bookcases ($24.99 each).

I wanted to add a pop of color, so I painted the inside of the cubicles a turquoise and yellow. I used acrylic paint and Mod Podge to finish…not the best, but it worked.

After trying to simply super glue the shelves into place, I realized that wasn't going to cut it, so I added a couple of screws into each shelf on each side, to ensure the sturdiness required for active kids.

I got MDF board at Lowes and had it cut to size, then measured/guessimated and cut all the other materials (foam and batting that I got for a previous project that I never used from JoAnns, and canvas fabric which I got from this website). I used a bread knife to cut the foam, since I'm not fancy enough to own an electric turkey cutter and wasn't going to purchase one for this particular project.

Now before I did any stapling, I need to add a little more support to the MDF board, since there was a small area that had no support in the corner. I should have taken a picture of the corner, but I didn't. Here's the two legs that I added for support.

 Now with those legs secured and ready, I could get busy stapling everything down…I love this part. :)

 I got it all stapled and put my two bench cushions on top, added some screws to secure the cushion in place, and I was done!

I got the baskets for this at Target (black or white options), and they informed me that the colored baskets usually become available around back-to-school time. 

My husband feels I should note that I donated and sold a great deal of toys, so this storage system doesn't magically fix my hoarding or hopeless-packratting…NOTED.

The boys really love their new bench to climb on, and I love the ease of big baskets to store the toys. I apologize that all my pictures are off my iPhone…busy mom problems, you understand. ;)