Corralling and Concealing Toys in a Small Space
You wouldn’t know it upon first glance, but the main room of our cottage is filled with a reasonable amount of books and toys— they’re simply hidden in plain sight.
Rather than opting for traditional “toy storage,” we simply use items from around the house, or pieces we’ve found locally or via Etsy that suit our aesthetic while being easy for West to open and close.
By breaking the storage up throughout the space where possible, we’ve eliminated the need for bulky, dedicated playroom trunks and similar storage furnishings.
Above: Baskets from Kembali collective, tin from muji. vintage coffee table from super marché.
It only takes a few minutes for our home to turn into a disaster zone. But, luckily, one joy of a tiny house is that it only takes about takes about 3-10 minutes to put everything back together again.
While we strive to only purchase responsibly-sourced and ethically-produced eco-friendly toys and accessories, we are also fine with using hand-me-down plastic and metal toys, because if the products are already out there we might as well put them to good use. They’re already sunk goods, so there’s no point in sending them directly to a landfill where they’ll sit until the end of time. Our hope is to pass on all items to friends, families in need, and places like the library where they’ll live out new adventures.
Between a woven suitcase, a book trolley, a built-in drawer, and a few baskets, we can accommodate nearly every toy West uses on a daily basis right here in our mini home without it looking or feeling overwhelming.
