How to Organize Toys with Free Labels - It's Easier than You Think!

Traveling back from the Vietnam, we carried 6 kilos of the matchbox cars, 3 kilos of Lego, a dozen of different costumes and Playmobil pirate shack.

Marta, who lived at our place while we were away, was extremely kind and left for Emir piles of the toys she outgrew.

Then, the shipped belongings started to arrive. A Viking ship, Japanese railroad sets, 3 more kilos of matchbox cars, Guru Gears and stuffed Moomins topped it all up.

Considering that our apartment in Ukraine is at least twice smaller than the one we rented in Saigon, the place was absolutely bursting up with toys.

So we needed a storage solution – any solution!

Not that we have so much storage in our playroom, by the way. As we don’t have Ikea in Ukraine yet (would you believe someone can just fantasize about having Ikea goods available?), my dream Trufast system is still beyond my reach.

I have another Ikea piece, though – the Norden table. Highly recommended for any multifunctional spaces you’ve got. It’s easy to clean up, sturdy and unfolds really quickly. You can set up a working area anytime you want in a breeze. I use it for the sewing projects – even with one flap open it’s perfect to put on a sewing machine and all the paraphernalia. My husband also uses it when he needs a temporary home office.

Also, this table has 6 drawers from both sides, which I decided to use for the toy storage. The only thing I craved for was the organization – so I decided to mark off these solid drawers with simple labels.

As I did this before, it was a real easy-peasy. I didn’t even bother with the sticky paper. Painters tape works just fine. It does the job perfectly and doesn’t come off easily. At the same time, you can take it off whenever you need, leaving no trace.

So I cut the pieces of painters tape, stick them to the tabletop, draw on with a sharpie, and put on the drawer front when I’m happy.

I try to draw the toys exactly as they appear in the drawer. It makes it easier for me to sketch, and easier for Emir to identify and clean up. Besides, I love how personalized they turn out to be.

For the downloadable file, I added two more icons with the play foods and play kitchen utensils. Get the printable here

I don’t sign them up as I love the minimalistic intuitiveness of those. But you can absolutely add your caption if you feel like it.

Oh yeah – as you can see, all the Playmobil and Lego is still roaming free across the playroom. But I’m satisfied. At least, I can keep the cars, cars, cars, and cars at bay.