This Clever Storage Hack Organizes Outdoor Toys Easily (and It’s So Cute!)
After a brutally long winter where I live in New York, I am so psyched to get outside — and to reclaim the backyard as my kids’ playground. One thing I am decidedly not excited about is how ugly my outdoor toy storage is. The term “storage” is a stretch; right now I’m using a plastic bin that’s probably not designed for the elements, where I’ve shoved a T-ball set, tons of sticky bubble wands, some hand-me-down kid-size tennis racquets, and other random toys. Not only is it ugly but it’s inefficient, too: Nothing has a place, and everything seems to slip to the bottom just when we need it most. Plus, I usually keep it at the top of some perilous stone patio stairs, so whenever a kid wants a new toy, they need to run up to get it. I was ready to put on my DIY hat, then, when I saw Instagram creator @salvagedbysammie’s brilliant take on toy storage: a repurposed library cart dressed up in a summery shade of blue.
In the video, which has racked up more than 43,000 likes, the furniture flipper calls it “the best thing I’ve ever made my kids” and shows how she transformed a cheap online find — a used library cart — into an outdoor play cart. “Last summer I turned an old library cart from Facebook Marketplace into [a] rolling activity cart! It made summer play so much easier, and I would roll it onto the driveway for my toddler to grab things off of,” she captioned her post.
No library cart on hand? A bar cart would work, too, she suggests. I only found a few library carts for sale in a recent Marketplace search near me, but there were a ton of bar carts under $25. Some were even free! I bet the IKEA RASKOG would work well, too.
In the video, Sammie scrubs the cart clean with a rust remover before spray-painting it the prettiest pool blue. Then she loads it up with clear pantry organizer bins and fills them with all the outdoor toy essentials, like toss-and-catch paddles, chalk, bubble wands, and even a helmet and sunscreen, before rolling it around the driveway.
“But do they put it back[?]” one commenter asked of the inevitable toy spillage. “My toddler didn’t last year, but she’s getting better! It’s a great way to encourage putting things back since she can see through the clear containers and match what goes where. But even if it doesn’t all go in exact spots, at least it’s all together in one trip,” shared the creator.
If it helps corral the toy chaos and makes cleanup even a little easier, I’m willing to give it a shot.