Asked on Jan 05, 2015

Any storage ideas for stuffed animals?

Sharon
by Sharon
My granddaughter has dozens of stuffed animals. We currently keep them in a tall clothes hamper, but she has to dig to find the ones she wants. Any idea how to make them more accessible when you have limited space?
  25 answers
  • Miriam Illions Miriam Illions on Jan 05, 2015
    I've seen some really cute ideas here. First, this one by @Saving4Six - http://www.hometalk.com/diy/bedroom/organizing/stuffed-animal-storage-2511761 also, if you do a search for stuffed animal storage here on hometalk, you'll find more!
  • Miriam Illions Miriam Illions on Jan 05, 2015
    Oh, and here's one more - I don't think this comes up when you search stuffed animal storage, so I dug it up for you. It's by @Diane S - she's awesome! http://www.hometalk.com/diy/bedroom/organizing/3-step-storage-solution-560837
  • Mssmatch Mssmatch on Jan 05, 2015
    In the corner between the 2 walls I hung a net like a hammock and they are up and out of the way
  • Suzette Suzette on Jan 05, 2015
    you could hang them with clothes pins from a line, ikea sells some wire lines and metal clips that would work.
  • Shari Shari on Jan 05, 2015
    Stuffed animals (and dolls) can multiply and get out of control FAST! When my daughter was little, we used inexpensive boards and wood brackets (painted the same color as the bedroom walls) to make one continuous shelf that ran around the whole parameter of her room about 12 to 18 inches from the 8 ft. ceiling. When you are limited on space, using the unused area near the ceiling doesn't take up valuable floor or closet space. In addition, having all the stuffed animals and dolls on display helped to decorate her room but because they were up high, beyond her reach, it also helped to keep her room neat since she was not capable pulling everything out at once and having a huge mess of toys strewn all over. We had a limit of how many she could have down from the shelves at one time--4 or 5, as I recall. When she was tired of playing with those, they would be returned to the shelves and she could select a *new* group to play or sleep with. Sometimes she only wanted to exchange 1 or 2, and that was okay too, but for every one that came down off the shelves, one had to go back up. Once she reached her pre-teen and teen years and had outgrown the majority of the stuffed animals and dolls, the shelves were used to display the Breyer model horses she collected and the many ribbons and trophies she won in horse show competitions. This method worked really well for us.
  • Annette Lee Annette Lee on Jan 05, 2015
    http://www.pinterest.com/pin/556124253958550437/ This bungee cord storage is the cutest working option I've seen so that children can play with their toys and then put them back up.
  • Funnygirl Funnygirl on Jan 05, 2015
    I have saved about 12 medium stuffed animals that belonged to my children when they where younger.I keep them all together in a clear plastic bag that had a comforter in it.It has a zipper around it.works out great for storage,I can see what's in it all the time,I keep all these large bags for different types of storage.
  • Marion Nesbitt Marion Nesbitt on Jan 06, 2015
    Some good ideas. See the potential for developing a little hoarder! Perhaps it's time, too, to have a chat about the poor little kids who don't have any stuffed toys, and see if she's willing to give up some of her no-so-favs..
  • Joyce Boshell Joyce Boshell on Jan 06, 2015
    I don't have a picture, but years ago, I built an expansion pole using PVC pipe (two sizes), an expansion spring, rubber chair tips and screw in cup hooks. It fit between the floor and the ceiling with the stuffed animals hanging all around the pole. My daughter had fun tying "collars" on the animals with which to hang them. It fit in the corner of her room and took up little floor and wall space. Let me know if you need details.
  • Sharon Sharon on Jan 06, 2015
    Great ideas! Thanks everyone.
  • Taylor @ TayRose Design Taylor @ TayRose Design on Jan 07, 2015
    What I did for a client, was I bought some metal window boxes from Lowe's and sprayed them white, then attached them to the walls to hold the animals....sort of like they were in cages. They could see them and choose what to play with and more importantly, put them back. The older sister was able to reach the top cage easily
  • Melissa Melissa on Jan 09, 2015
    I stuff mine in the curtain rods and stack them on top of each other its a good space saver for the unplayed with or "special" ones
  • Tracy Tracy on Jan 10, 2015
    I am not sure what size bed is in her room but a fun idea is to attach ribbon through an eyelet dust ruffle - tack down every 3 inches or so and put each stuffed animal in it's own "home". I have seen this done on a plain dust ruffle where clear pockets were made to hold hotwheel cars. Kids play on the floor and it is right at their level.
  • Belinda Todd Belinda Todd on Jan 12, 2015
    A colored fish net strung up at a level she can reach.
  • Clk1565206 Clk1565206 on Jul 31, 2015
    We put ours in a kiddie pool in the corner. She loves diving in there and playing with her "babies".
  • Judy DeBuf Jamison Judy DeBuf Jamison on Oct 09, 2015
    I dyed some clothes line rope and hung them by painted clothes pins useddifferent lengths of ropes so I had a completely decorated wall .Had 5 or 6 ropes .
  • Bach Williams Bach Williams on Apr 10, 2016
    Search on Amazon for dream baby toy chain. It is a chain with adjustable clips you hang it from the ceiling and then clip your stuffed animals on it. Used this when my kids were little
  • Daisy june Daisy june on Apr 10, 2016
    Put ribbons on all necks of animals and. Tack hooks all around the outside edge of door frame. Now hang all the not huge animals. Looks great too and no space lost. Would send photo but my baby is 29 and not living at home now!
  • Margaret Margaret on Apr 10, 2016
    You can get one of those rolls that carpet comes on and cover with cloth or contact paper. You can put hooks on it to hang the stuffed animals. Sometimes they come long enough where you can just jam the roll to the ceiling to hold it up. Just remember that the stuffed animals will weigh down the tube a bit. Don't cut tube to short. This doesn't take up much space in a room and that way they would be able to reach most of them.
  • Joyce Boshell Joyce Boshell on Apr 12, 2016
    Years ago, I built a spring-loaded pole that fits between the floor and ceiling with tension. I used two different dimensions of PVC pipe so one would fit inside the other. Cut the smaller pipe a couple of inches shorter than the height between the floor and the ceiling. The spring needs to fit inside the largest pipe (about 8-12 inches long ) so the smaller pipe presses against the ends of the reverse spring. I used white rubber chair tips on the ends of the pipe to brace against the floor and ceiling. Then I drilled tiny holes spaced out and screwed cup hooks into the holes to hold the stuffed animals with ribbons tied around their neck. Nice thing is you can move it to wherever you need it.
  • Farwa khan Farwa khan on Oct 14, 2019

    I love to keep my stuffed animals in a toy Cage who I made myself.

  • Kyrin Kyrin on Nov 15, 2019

    Hammock

  • Jennifer Jennifer on Aug 28, 2021

    1 attached a plastic chain from the ceiling to the floor and the soft toys attached to it, very decorative

  • I've seen really cute nets that are hung from a corner and the animals sit inside. I got my own kids as large basket and they only kept their favorites in it. Everyone else was in a closet and would rotate in and out of the basket, depending on what they were playing with that month. It cut down on the digging.