Dear Emily Victoria

Dear Emily Victoria,
I have a really BIG antique cabinet in my living room. It is too big for the room and not very practical for what we have been using it for, but my husband and I aren’t ready to part with it. We constantly get comments on how BEAUTIFUL it is. Right now we are using it for storage for all my son’s toys. The problem we keep running into is that there is no sense of organization. Things are thrown where ever we can find a place for it. I would love baskets or some other advice on what to get to keep all the toys organized and still when the doors are opened looking nice for when we have guest over. It has 4 shelves, the bottom two are the biggest and the rest of the shelves are similar in size and much smaller than the bottom two. We are constantly losing pieces to toys, so any advice would be GREAT!!
Stacey
This is a great question Stacey. The first question is do you have another room to put the cabinet in? If not, here is what you can do:


1) Go through all the toys/ games and make sure all the pieces are together.
If any of the toys or games is missing a piece put it aside. If you can not
find all the pieces to the toy or game and it cannot be used without the
missing pieces GET RID OF THEM. Organize the toys and games into sections of
the same category. For example, cars and trucks in one section, trains and
tracks in another, educational (stackers, learning games) in another, blocks in another, etc.


2) Once you have gone through all of the toys and have gotten all the pieces
together you should see what your child does not use any more. Put all of those toys and games that your child has grown out of into a clear storage bin, and label it BABY TOYS with the age example (0-12 months) on it. This way you can give it to a friend or save it for your next child. You can store it in your storage area and you will know what is in the box without opening it.


3) The next step is to decide where the cabinet fits best in the living room. If it is really too big for the area and there isn't another room to put it in you may just want to get rid of it. Maybe you can pass it down to a family member so you feel better about giving it away and get a more practical piece of furniture in the living space. If you just can't part with it, then put the cabinet in the best space possible.


4) After making that huge decision. Take some time categorizing. See how many bins you will need. Depending on how many categories of toys you have and the size of the shelves.


5) You can then go to Target, Pottery Barn, Pier One, Overstock.com, etc... and find baskets for the shelves. There are many varieties of baskets. Consider lined baskets if you’d like to add color or match your décor. You may want baskets in darker colors or with an antique flair if you’d like to stay in keeping with the antique style of the cabinet.(I recommend measuring the shelves to see how many baskets you can fit on one shelf and how big the baskets should be, H x W x L. The bottom shelves should hold the heavier toys and the top shelves should have lighter toys.


6) Once you have the baskets, put the toys into the baskets separated by categories. Trucks and cars in one, Trains and tracks in another, and blocks in another.


7) Then label the baskets so you know at a glance where you’ve put things. You can even put a piece of paper at the bottom of the basket saying what goes in that basket, until you and your child get used to this system and have it memorized.


8) Next, place the baskets on the shelves step back and admire your new
improved, attractive, organized Antique Cabinet!!


By following these steps you will have a more attractive area and not be embarrassed if you have to open the cabinet when guests are over. You’ll also feel less stressed knowing that everything has a place to go. By having your surroundings in order you will spend less time cleaning up & have more time to do other things. Children also enjoy having an organized place to put everything.


Thanks for asking this question and please let me know if you have any other
questions. I always love to help!


Sincerely
Emily Victoria