The Clever Way I Use a Common Pantry Storage Item In My Kid’s Room

My wife and I live with our kids in a 750-square-foot apartment and need to limit the amount of items that we have in our space. So, we recently followed the advice of a professional organizer and tidied our girls’ stuffed animal collection.

We were successful with reducing the number of stuffed animals, but struggled with the “contain” part of the process. We tried to contain the stuffed animals in baskets but inevitably the girls would scatter the stuffed animals all throughout their room as they attempted to find the “most special stuffed animal” that they wanted to play with that day. Then I discovered a better way to store all those stuffies.

I decided to try out a vertical system for organizing stuffed animals. I took an over-the-door five basket organizer and installed it on their bedroom door. The five basket organizer features baskets that come in three different sizes and the baskets can be placed anywhere along the center track. I’d used a similar organizer on the back of our pantry door and liked that it stayed put when I opened or closed the door. 

I collected all of the stuffed animals in the girls’ bedroom, categorized them by color and size, and then determined the most strategic placement of the baskets to maximize the space. I decided to organize the stuffed animals using a color organizational system, so we now have a beautiful stuffed animal rainbow.

We’ve had the system in place for a few months now, and the stuffed animals continue to be organized and off the floor. This vertical system is one that my 7-year-old, 5-year-old, and 2-year-old are able to understand and maintain. Here’s a video I made of how it works.

Stuffy storage success!

Want more great ideas for families with kids? Sign up below for Cubby’s Thursday newsletter or get one weekly text featuring our best meal ideas, editor-approved product recommendations, and all the kid’s room decor ideas you need. We’re also on Instagram and TikTok!