Many credenzas have open spaces baskets can slide into for toy storage. Any book shelf/any sort of shelving can hold baskets/cloth squares..there are many decor choices.... Is your child a climber? Anything you put under there will be an opportunity for climbing. You may want to live with the open space for awhile.

You look for a long closed media cabinet, or you build it. Or you show the whole room and perhaps other storage exists.

Kids aren't great at getting behind closed doors. ........if a cabinet? Buy for the long haul, not just a temporary toy issue.

Large matching baskets elsewhere, make pickup and access a lot easir for you.........and for little ones.

Fortunately he’s not a climber! I LOVE the look of the credenzas (west elm one especially), but I worry (1) my toddler will beat up anything new (my couch, excessively child proofed coffee table, etc have all been destroyed), (2) we want something that will allow him to easily access his toys. In his room we have cubbies with baskets that he can pull out and rummage through. I was just worried it would be redundant putting that in the living room?

Can't say you should expect miracles from toddlers. But. A quick tap on the hand and stern faced NO. works wonders.

Otherwise? Set yourself up for the lack of respect for all you own until off to college.

Few day care centers allow the disrespect of play things (and its space, ) behavior. They teach the pick it up routine even to those too small to lift more than plastic : ) whatever ! . . Start now and you won't have a huge worry for 15 more years. Bonus is you end with a toddler you can take ANYWHERE. , EVEN TO THE HOMES OF DEAR FRIENDS. YEAH!!!!!

I love the idea of any storage that is easy for your child to use. So they can get the toys out without asking for help and also put them away without help. . . saving you some headache. So anything with drawers they can easily open would be good. Or placing cubbies inside a credenza with cabinets would also work.

How can a toddler destroy a couch & coffee table?? I had 2 kids with my moms antique coffee table, they colored, ate there, they’re 32 and 29 now and I’m getting it refinished! Boundaries go a long way at this age!!

Thank you for the decorating advice. Our home is small, so our living room is also our dining room and our family room (no storage closet and limited storage space in general). I also don’t like the look of clutter, so I’ll definitely consider putting his toy bins off to the side. For those offering design advice, is it necessary to put something under the tv to anchor the room, or can we just enjoy the extra 12” of floor space?

As an aside, my toddler just turned two this month and is a very sweet little boy who likes to drive his trains and cars on the coffee table made of soft, easily debatable wood. He also likes to climb and sit on the light gray linen couch that has gotten dirty with time and mama is too tired to clean it.

It always depends, right? Everyone understands mommy exhaustion. But. You can go online to Surefit.com....and there are a zillion tailored slip covers that will suit a soiled sofa. Need the floor space? Lining up LARGE open baskets for toys isn't difficult.

At some point, you pick the poison that best suits you.

Does a kid need a plastic fort hogging space, when two kitchen chairs and a blanket can make a fort that goes away in two minutes flat? Does a kid need a child sized chair when a couple floor pillow tossed on the floor are comfy? Do they need play tables, when a big block of foam set on a kitchen chair will make an art table? It's not that any of this stuff is bad, but it best suits a dedicated play room, that you do not have.

The amount of junk you get stuck looking at, is whatever junk you brought in : ), usually.

I am not in any way against play, or the learning reward that derives from it. But kids are a bit like cats. Just when you think you have the perfect kitty bed? You find them in the cardboard box courtesy of an Amazon delivery!. You buy toys, and a cat prefers crumpled tin foil from your kitchen.

Go line up three or four.........., under the tv.

The cheapest , easiest, best? Soft, accessible and BIG. Like this.

The key to visual calm? IS YOU MAKE THEM ALL MATCH. 31.99 ea. amazon

https://www.amazon.com/Oversized-Basket/s?k=Oversized+Basket

With a toddler, I'd recommend Ikea's Kallax - they're pretty indestructible, very inexpensive, and have cubbies that you can either use open, or fill with boxes that can act as drawers.

If he’s not a climber, I’d put something like Jan posted (under the PLAY sign) with pull out drawers/bins. I’d worry more about him pulling the tv down, toddlers have Herculian strength LOL) so I’d definitely put something under the tv, bonus to hide all the toys. When my kids were little I used to just have the wicker toy chests (closed) in my family room, which worked well. Unfortunately you can’t really escape toys for quite a few years!

As a design perspective, yes I believe you should have something under the tv to ground it. And I believe the guideline is that the tv should be about 2/3 the width of the console. whatever that measurement works out to be for the console lol. I'm too lazy to do the reverse math :)

As a parent, you do you Kirsten! You don't owe any of these people an explanation. Kids are kids. Just bc a piece of furniture is "ruined" or shows wear from a kid doesn't mean that kid is coloring it with sharpies or stabbing it with scissors every day. It can be from one bad split second action! Or it can be because instead of just plopping their butt in a chair they have to pull up or grab it or climb to get in it. They use stuff differently! And that is just the fact of life.

If you post more photos of the room(s), from all angles and give some measurements, people can make better suggestions based of your style and what would fit where.

Do you need a tv console to offer storage for your own items and not just toys? Could you possibly have something like the IKEA Kallax behind the sofa for toys?

Please take time to secure any freestanding storage to the wall. There are actually kits available as tipping is such a problem. Not all furniture is kid proof so you can either buy short-term pieces or invest in items that can survive a busy “truck driver”.

" Explanations" are what make design personal to you. to the house, to the situation. To the budget. To the poster. It's not about "owing " . More info equals more answers.

Kristen, you brought back fond memories! My oldest, who is now 31, loved cars so much that every surface in the house became a roadway. He would set up elaborate "roads" with dozens of cars on his bed and sleep on the floor so as not to disturb it.

He still loves cars and became a mechanical engineer because he initial plan was to go into car design. So Kristen, don't worry about the fact that your house looks lived in.

And now a question. I am planning a basement remodel with toy storage for future grandchildren. I like the look of the IKEA Kallix. Is that strong enough to stand up to literally thousands of pieces of Lego?

"I like the look of the IKEA Kallix. Is that strong enough to stand up to literally thousands of pieces of Lego?"

I don't know how much thousands of pieces of Lego weigh, but I have many heavy books and vases with stones in them.

Oh, I do know how much they weigh.......400 Lego bricks weigh 1 kilogram, or 2.2 pounds. So 2 thousand Lego pieces weigh about 5kg, or 11 lb. There's no question it is strong enough for that, and a lot more.

Great, thanks! My sons were huge Lego fans and we amassed a huge collection over the years.

Oh geez - this discussion has reminded me of something my son did when he was only 2 or 3 - found a screwdriver and scraped almost the entire top of a rustic bench/coffee table with deep gouges. I still have the table - more 'rustic' than ever now 😄

What about something like this - maybe more than one side by side? I think it's from Crate and Barrel

I never put any toys near tv or cabinets etc. I bought the laundry Grey mesh basket from IKEA and have been using it for a couple of years for my grandkids, it stays behind the sofa , they play with what they need together, light to carry if need be and returned. Only limited number of toys, which I clean out when needed and wipe down toys to clean. Rest stays in their rooms.

We have three kids and our kids toys have been in the now defunct expedit cube shelving for over a decade. Same soft sided bins still in there now. Has weathered the storm of three kids from baby to now teen. No issues at all. Also two floods!

Our legos are in a different ikea system with plastic drawers in a different corner.

TV has been above the cube shelving the whole time just sitting on top and not once have we had a single issue. It’s all down in our rec room now but I continue to love how the bins hide what’s inside and when all cleaned up how neat it is. But also how easy it is for kids to play

"now defunct expedit cube shelving"

That's the Kallax now, except they've changed the corners and width of the sides: "The Kallax is nearly identical to the Expedit – it will maintain the same internal dimensions and use the same internal fittings. There’s just one major difference: the wood that makes up the outer edge of the design is going to be slimmed down. Ikea says the new shelves will also be more scratch-resistant and will have a slight corner bevel to make them safer around children. In the end, this “discontinued” shelf is merely being redesigned and rebranded."

I’m aware. Simply sharing ours is the expedit and not Kallax version

Do you have space elsewhere in your home for toy storage? Do you have a playroom or can you turn an extra bedroom into a playroom? That would be my suggestion.