Easy DIY Built In Playroom Storage (With Storage Cubes)

Last year we sold our townhouse and one of the many things I miss about that house is the playroom and all the playroom storage. Shortly after buying the home, we decided to add some built in storage to the playroom area and it was so nice.

When we first bought our townhouse the basement didn’t really seem to have a purpose and we just weren’t sure what to do with it. The basement had a garage, half bath, laundry closet, and two square rooms that were open but offset each other. Plus one of the rooms walked out to the backyard.

After tossing around several ideas of what to do with the space in our basement we ultimately decided to make it into a playroom area. But there weren’t any closets or storage of any kind, so we needed to do something.

The Kids Playroom

We quickly noticed that with lack of storage the kid’s toys were everywhere and they never wanted to play in the basement. The toys being all over the place made it hard for them to find what toy they wanted to play with. Plus the mess was driving us crazy.

After looking at several different storage options and costs, we decided to build a DIY playroom storage system while using some premade parts.

We wanted a large wall of storage so making our own playroom shelving for storage made the most sense. This way we could for the playroom storage shelving to the length of the wall.

DIY Built In Playroom Storage

Once we decided to make our own playroom storage shelving we needed to figure out where we wanted to build the shelving and how big we wanted it to be. We ultimately decided to go big and make a wall of built-ins to organize the kid’s toys, books, and all of our games.

These playroom shelves are simple and easy to put up and will give your playroom tons of space to organize all the kids toys. Plus the shelves look awesome and give you space to decorate.

The Built In Storage Shelving

To make our wall of built ins we decided to use several storage cube shelves as well as a few 1 in. x 12 in. x 10 ft. boards (the length will vary depending on how long you want your storage shelves).

We used cube shelves we picked up at a local store but you could definitely use Ikea cube storage shelves for this project.

Because we decided to use storage cube kits instead of making our own storage cube shelves we were able to build our playroom storage shelving in a weekend. If you build your own cube storage this would definitely be more than a weekend DIY project.

Storage Cube Makeover – Playroom Storage

After deciding which wall to put our built in cube storage on we measured to see how many cube units we needed and how much wood.

For the size of our wall we used 2-9 cube storage shelves and 2 – 6 cube storage shelves as the base and 3 1 in. x 12 in. x 10 ft. boards (the length will vary depending on how long you want your storage shelves).

Before you start building your shelves make sure that you have patched and painted the walls so you don’t have to try to paint around the shelving or remove it to paint.

Once your wall is prepared you’re ready to build your playroom storage. This is a great time to sand and stain the boards for your shelves. We used MinWax Dark Walnut 2716 stain and I love the color it ended up being!!

Now while you let the stain on your boards dry you’re going to build each of the individual storage cube shelf units. Building the storage cube shelves isn’t hard but it can be kind of time-consuming.

Once each of the storage cub units are built it’s time to attach the units together.

How to Attach Storage Cubes Together

You might be wondering how to attach storage cubes together. While I’m sure there are several ways you can attach them we went with a quick and easy method.

We attached the storage cubes together using screws. We used short screws inside the top and bottom of the units to attach the different shelving units together. So we had a long row of cube shelves.

Then we attached 3 12 Gauge Angle to the top of the shelves as well as one of the stained boards. We used small screws and attached them by screwing up through the top of the storage cub units. So that the angle, shelf, and stained top were all attached together.

We then moved our large storage cube shelving against the wall and screwed in the other side of the 12 gauge angle to the wall where studs were located. Now the storage cubes are attached to the wall and very strong.

Above the storage cub section we put two additional shelves that we made with brackets and wood stained the same color as the wood topping our storage cub shelving.

Our wall of playroom storage shelving ended up being 10 feet long and about a foot deep. So it took very little space away from our playroom and gave us a ton of storage.

Side Note: If I was to do this again I would paint the angle and brackets to blend in with the wall before putting them up.

How to Organize Storage Cubes

For our playroom, we decided to organize the storage cubes by using fabric storage cubes for different toys. We had a fabric cube for cars, blocks, dolls, animals, etc. We placed larger toys on the different shelves as well as standing books some of the cubes.

I love that with storage cube shelving you can have things displayed as open shelves or you can use baskets or fabric storage cubes to hide some of the mess. Plus the storage cube shelving keeps all the kid’s toys low and easy for them to access.

Final Thoughts on Our Playroom Storage

While not everything can easily be stored in cube storage (I’m talking about you dress up clothes!) most of the kids toys and books can be kept organized with this type of storage system.

I love this type of storage with young kids because they can easily find and get the toys they want, plus it makes it quick and easy for kids to clean up.

Our playroom storage built ins also had some shelving higher up the wall that the kids could not reach this was a great place to put things I didn’t want them to get without me. We also stored family board games on the top shelves as well as displayed a few family photos.

Overall this storage system worked really well for us and this home. I not only love how functional it is but I also love how it looks.