DIY Toy Shelving

The girls were away this past week at Grandma’s, so I took advantage of the opportunity and did what any Mother would do…

I cleaned their rooms!

Deep clean.

Windows, drawers, cabinets, toybox, under the bed and I even managed to clean out their closets for clothes that are too small.  I pulled a full black garbage bag of junk out of their rooms – turns out my children are hoarders.

I know they’re going to go nuts when they come home and can’t find whatever wrapper or bit of paper they’re looking for, so I also decided to distract and appease.

I figured they can’t really yell at me if I have a super-cool new storage rack for all of their Littlest Pet Shop toys right?  (fingers crossed)

I adapted this rack from others I’d seen done for matchbox cars.  The cars themselves are much shorter and narrower than the LPS figurines, so I had to make my own measurements – but you can adapt these plans to fit whatever space you’re looking to organize as well.

Chloe has a narrow section of wall by her closet, so I wanted her shelf to fit that space.  Madison’s shelf will go above her desk, so I needed something wider.  Both sets of measurements are below.

Chloe’s shelf (narrow, but taller)  26 3/4 wide, 29 3/4″ tall, shelf spacing at 3″

I used 3/4″ MDF (medium density fibreboard) for my project because that’s what I had lying around… but it’s heavy when put together.  If you want a lighter piece, I’d suggest using 1x3s.

Cuts:

Top and bottom (2) – 3/4″ wood cut at 26 3/4″

Sides (2) – 3/4″ wood cut at 28.5″

Shelves (7) 3/4″ wood cut at 25.5″

I started by building the frame of the shelving – top and bottom go on top of the sides.

I used 1 1/4″ wood screws to hold in place, but you could use a Kreg Jig if you don’t want to see screw holes in your finished shelf.

PLEASE PRE-DRILL BEFORE GLUING AND SCREWING TOGETHER!  (I know this because I split more than a few boards by trying to shortcut)

 

Then glue your shelves into place at 3″, 6 3/4″, 10 1/2″, 14 1/4″, 18″, 21″ and 24 3/4″.

Pre-drill your screw holes and screw into place with 1 1/4″ wood screws.  Check for square and level before drilling.

 

Above is Maddie’s shelf – much longer at 41 1/2″ long but shorter at 22 1/2″ tall.

If you decide to build this version, you will want a few extra pieces of wood/mdf spaced throughout to keep the shelves from sagging.

Cuts:

Top and bottom (2) – 3/4″ wood cut at 41 1/2″”

Sides (2) – 3/4″ wood cut at 21″

Shelves (5) 3/4″ wood cut at 40 1/2″

Shelf spacing is the same – 3″ gap between shelves.  Glue, pre-drill and screw into place.

A couple of coats of paint:

and voila!

Because the MDF was so heavy on these, I used 3″ L-brackets screwed into studs to hold them in place.

This is Chloe’s:

She took a lot of her Littlest Pet Shop collection to Grandma’s with her, so I’m sure this will be filled when she gets home tonight.

This is Madison’s storage rack:

Pretty cute right?

Do you think they’ll forgive me for over-hauling their rooms?
I’m feeling pretty confident they won’t even notice once they see these!

 

Have a great one!

 

 

Linked to:

• Anderson & Grant
• Between Naps on the Porch Naps on the Porch