Hi All! Fall is happening in Northern Virginia! The air just smells delicious. Even with a 30 degree temperature drop to the 30s this past weekend, my favorite part was sitting around a fire pit, snuggling under blankets, and roasting s'mores with my family. This season is short but oh, so sweet.
Today I'm excited to share that we've got brand new toy-shelves! We were previously using the IKEA TROFAST toy storage system. It ended up not being the most practical toy storage for our family. The stacked bins made it really hard to see what toys were where and as a result I felt like the kids weren't enjoying playing with their toys as much as they should. Then it hit me - if the toys were out in the open, perhaps they'd be played with more!
Before, with the IKEA TROFAST storage system
Now, with custom made, open shelves
After running the idea by my husband Matt, and getting one thumb up, I was ready to begin! I measured the wall space where I wanted to build shelves, and went out to buy a couple 1" x 12" shelves, (which I cut to 60" myself at home), and brackets. I stained the shelves in Hickory wood stain and then got to work with hanging!
Matt was kind enough to help me with this project so I could take pictures of some of the steps. Since we don't have studs in the particular section of wall we used, I think this is a good opportunity to address how to hang heavy shelves without using studs, (well, I did have one stud...get it...)!
Measure and mark with a pencil where you want your brackets to hang, then mark the holes where your anchors and screws will go.
Make sure you use a level several times to make sure your brackets are lined up straight.
These drywall toggle anchors are not jokin' around and are what you want to use when hanging anything substantial into drywall.
Check em' out!
No electric drill needed for this project! Just a regular screw driver gets the toggle anchors securely into the wall.
Screw them into the wall until they are flush with the surface.
Once your toggle anchors are in, place the bracket over the anchors and screw the screws into the anchors.
Again, a screwdriver is all you need for this job, no electric drill needed!
Then lay your boards on top of the brackets and use shorter screws to attach the boards to the brackets, (from underneath, as seen in the picture).
All done!
Those toggle drywall anchors are what dreams are made of - no more worrying about studs or tossing projects out just because the studs aren't lined up where you need them! These babies hold up to 100 lbs each! Not too shabby.
To round up some of the smaller toys I found some old metal containers at the Old Lucketts Store, (rt 15 North in Leesburg, VA).
Looking at these shelves, you would never know we have a daughter, too... But, this new 'system' of keeping everything out in the open has been a home run for us! The kids have been playing so well and creatively together - something I thoroughly enjoy watching or being a part of myself!
And if I have any work to do, I get to sit right there with them in our little built in office!
View as you come down the basement stairs. So grateful for this space to play and kick back!
(If interested, I've added the rest of our basement onto the Spaces page, seen in the menu bar!)
I know not everyone is looking for toy storage solutions, but hopefully this post is useful to anyone needing to hang shelves into stud-less drywall! I was pretty excited about this discovery - it's like a whole new world opened up!
Thank you all so much for stopping by!
