Better kids room option: bookshelf and drawers or cube organizer (pic)

thebrandnewguy

creating a built-in for a 7-yr-old's room and am stuck between making a bookshelf with some drawers or something like this cube organizer ([1] http://imgur.com/MxYgY ) that lets them use it for either books or to fill with a fabric drawer where needed.


My thinking is that the fabric drawers give them a way to pull out and clean up quickly, but drawer might be nice too. Thoughts?

mae-ling

Are the fabric bins tough enough? have seen it with colored plastic bins and certain toys go in certain colored bin. or clear bins so they can see what is inside.

thebrandnewguy

For this room yes the fabric should do. My son is younger and will probably be helped by clear bins.

Either way I think I'm on right track looking at bins rather than drawers.

gma2rjc

If you go with the bins, they can be changed to different styles as your child grows. Ikea sells plastic and cloth bins that fit into their shelving units. They also have several varieties of baskets that fit.

If I recall correctly, they also sell doors that fit on the front.

Their baskets & bins fit into cubbies that are 13 1/4" W X 13 1/4" H X 15 1/4" Deep.

__________________
"The problem with quotes on the Internet is that it is often difficult to verify their authenticity." - Abraham Lincoln
The economy is so bad, Exxon-Mobil laid-off 25 congressmen --- Maxine

sdsester

Even places like JC Penney used to sell particle board type cube systems. They were, what they are and can be, ephemeral. But they were cheap and came with drawer options if you wanted them. They were perfect dimensionally which pissed my Dad, a cabinetmaker off. You could paint them to look really cute for the 6 years max you had before the kids turned into teenagers and no longer wanted friends over to even think they had been sleeping under something so UNCOOL as a canopy princess bed.

Metal shelving and, as mentioned, baskets or whatever to hold things. Someone on this site mentioned the plastic/PVC shelving systems that will hold things, even a kid up to 100 pounds if he or she wants to sit on an adjustable shelf.

Just one word of extreme caution here. Anything a kid could possibly pull over on to them, needs to be secured. Stove, frig, tool cabinet, bookshelf, and all get anchored into the wall if kids are near.

Joe Dirt

My son (7yo) has this type of system from Ikea, only his is white:



CLICK

It's nicer than the fabric units, he also has one of those. Problem with those is no matter how much you try to organize and pick up after and also have a 7yo maintain their room, stuff is still all over. The plastic ones are a lot sturdier, and are less likely to get scuffed out, bent, or torn on the floor. We've lost one of them already. Also, the framing is a lot sturdier to put stuff on top of...

Also, if you have a dog, ours liked to chew the fabric ones.

If we were getting another one, we'd get one like the set above again. Also, the framing is a lot sturdier to put stuff on top of...

gma2rjc

One thing I like about the one you are talking about Joe Dirt, is that you can fit larger toys in it. And even the smaller bins hold more than the cloth or plastic bins that fit into the cubbies of the other kind.

One other thing about the one you have Joe is that you can remove a bin and slide a piece of wood into the slots to make a shelf if you wanted to.

__________________
"The problem with quotes on the Internet is that it is often difficult to verify their authenticity." - Abraham Lincoln
The economy is so bad, Exxon-Mobil laid-off 25 congressmen --- Maxine

Joe Dirt

Exactly... They're pretty versatile, actually. And not built too bad for what they are.

sdsester

True. Kids are pretty versatile and I swear most are not built too badly for what they are.

Joe Dirt

If I could just get mine to pick up toys, shovel snow, and cook without burning himself, we'd be all set...