The Boys' Room: Animal Zoo

A few months ago, I went through a purging period and got rid of William's dresser. This freed up enough space to get a play kitchen into the bedroom! I was very pleased with the change and I think the boys were too. There was, however, one aspect of getting rid of said dresser that I didn't even consider. . . 

The stuffed animals!

20+ stuffed animals made their home every evening on top of William's dresser for 4 years. And when I hauled it away, those animals lost their home and ended up living in a cardboard box for months. Luckily for the boys, we had received a giant box (big enough for William to fit in and hide) that acted as home to animals and huge garbage bin for lets-play-garbage-truck-again time. 

I cannot tell you how much I disliked that big box. It was always in the way, always being left in the middle of the room. Always emptied. Something needed to change! I started searching online and found a few ideas and even asked friends on FB what I should do. A few ideas I considered:

1. Animal Hammock, but I couldn't figure out the best place for it and didn't really want it to be above their heads at night (although much safer than bookshelves above their beds!) And I didn't want to have to be present to help them get them down like I was with the dresser. 

2. Stuffed Animal Chair, but again with the cardboard box, it would be in the middle of the room and most likely emptied . . .

3. Animal Zoo, I loved this idea and was amazed to see it on Amazon for over $100. Seriously, stuffed animals are not worth $100! 

I read a lot of DIY Pintrest posts/blogs about how to assemble my own animal cage but they all seemed a bit complicated for what I wanted. And then, one day I had lost my patience with the cardboard box and went to homedepot.com and purchased a wood crate for $18 (ship to store for free pickup). It's 27"x 12.5" x 9.5" -- just big enough to fit all our stuffed animals and small enough to fit in the corner of the room. When I went to pick it up, I also bought some stretchy cord to make the "bars" -- the idea is that the bars stretch so kids can easily get the animals out and put them back in without dumping them all out. 

I'd love to say it was put together then very next day, but I needed Chris's help with the power tools (because they are his and he likes using them) so it took a couple of weeks for it to reach the top of the to-do list. The other element we added was mounting it to the wall. That way the crate didn't also become a "garbage bin" or any other type of toy. It is only the animal zoo.

I have hopes of making a cute sign for it saying "Our Zoo" on it like in the link above, but for now, it's a plain old crate and the boys don't seem to mind. In fact, so far they love it! 

The whole project cost me $22 (wall mounts, crate and stretchy cord) which might be too expensive for stuffed animal storage but for my sanity and the freedom to throw away that giant cardboard box it was worth it! The animals have a home again (behind bars!)

** all links are just to show what other ideas I had come across, they are not affiliated with my blog and I don't make a dime if you click on them or buy the items mentioned.

A few months ago, I went through a purging period and got rid of William's dresser. This freed up enough space to get a play kitchen into the bedroom! I was very pleased with the change and I think the boys were too. There was, however, one aspect of getting rid of said dresser that I didn't even consider. . . 

The stuffed animals!

20+ stuffed animals made their home every evening on top of William's dresser for 4 years. And when I hauled it away, those animals lost their home and ended up living in a cardboard box for months. Luckily for the boys, we had received a giant box (big enough for William to fit in and hide) that acted as home to animals and huge garbage bin for lets-play-garbage-truck-again time. 

I cannot tell you how much I disliked that big box. It was always in the way, always being left in the middle of the room. Always emptied. Something needed to change! I started searching online and found a few ideas and even asked friends on FB what I should do. A few ideas I considered:

1. Animal Hammock, but I couldn't figure out the best place for it and didn't really want it to be above their heads at night (although much safer than bookshelves above their beds!) And I didn't want to have to be present to help them get them down like I was with the dresser. 

2. Stuffed Animal Chair, but again with the cardboard box, it would be in the middle of the room and most likely emptied . . .

3. Animal Zoo, I loved this idea and was amazed to see it on Amazon for over $100. Seriously, stuffed animals are not worth $100! 

I read a lot of DIY Pintrest posts/blogs about how to assemble my own animal cage but they all seemed a bit complicated for what I wanted. And then, one day I had lost my patience with the cardboard box and went to homedepot.com and purchased a wood crate for $18 (ship to store for free pickup). It's 27"x 12.5" x 9.5" -- just big enough to fit all our stuffed animals and small enough to fit in the corner of the room. When I went to pick it up, I also bought some stretchy cord to make the "bars" -- the idea is that the bars stretch so kids can easily get the animals out and put them back in without dumping them all out. 

I'd love to say it was put together then very next day, but I needed Chris's help with the power tools (because they are his and he likes using them) so it took a couple of weeks for it to reach the top of the to-do list. The other element we added was mounting it to the wall. That way the crate didn't also become a "garbage bin" or any other type of toy. It is only the animal zoo.

I have hopes of making a cute sign for it saying "Our Zoo" on it like in the link above, but for now, it's a plain old crate and the boys don't seem to mind. In fact, so far they love it! 

The whole project cost me $22 (wall mounts, crate and stretchy cord) which might be too expensive for stuffed animal storage but for my sanity and the freedom to throw away that giant cardboard box it was worth it! The animals have a home again (behind bars!)

** all links are just to show what other ideas I had come across, they are not affiliated with my blog and I don't make a dime if you click on them or buy the items mentioned.