Things to Think About Before Purchasing a Child's Toy Chest

There are so many ways a parent can store their child's toys today, but the simple toy chest is making a come back!  Different types of toy chests abound in the marketplace and range from a carpenter's box to a fine piece of furniture. When deciding on which toy chest to purchase, one should think about several things. Three of these things include (1) the place in the home where you plan to put the toy chest, (2) the structure and safety quality of the toy chest and (3) the potential future plans for the toy chest.

Location

Will the toy chest be placed in the playroom? Will it be placed in a child's bedroom? Or perhaps it will be put in the living room, recreation room or even the kitchen? A playroom or child's bedroom are often the preferred locations. These locations are often decorated with a theme which should be considered along with the child's dreams and interests. For example, a girl with a love for tolls would do well with a doll-themed toy chest while a boy who dreams of being a musician would love one with a music theme. Almost any type of theme can be found with a little research. If another room in the house is the planned location, keeping with the decor of that room is a good approach. A toy chest in a cherry or oak wood finish that matches other furniture in the designated room is often an ideal selection. A living room with whitewashed wood decor, for example, would be a great location for an antique, whitewashed finish, bench-style toy chest.

Quality Structure and Safety

While wooden toy chests offer the most robust structure, sometimes less durable plastic or even collapsible canvas units are all that is needed. Certainly, a toy box that will be a fixed asset in the home is best selected among the more robust, wooden products. However, some rooms in the home are open to plastic or even collapsible type toy boxes. If a parent wants to teach a child respect and responsibility for their treasures and possessions, a toy chest that can serve as a special place for a child's special items can help teach that child at an early age that special things have a special place and require special care taken. That said, a parent would only want a special place for their child's toys if it was safe. Best safety practices for include a slow closing hinge, a gap between the lid and sides of the box to prevent little fingers from getting caught. Parents should avoid any chest that locks to avoid a child being trapped inside. Finally, the sturdier the material with which the chest was produced, the less likely it is that the toy chest will collapse or fall over.

Future

When choosing from the many toy chests available today, one final consideration is this: what does the future hold for that chest? Will the toy storage product remain in the same home or will it be passed down to the next generation when the child starts a family of their own? Toy chests that remain with the parents can often be re-purposed as a storage chest of some sort. A blanket chest, a toy box for grandchildren, a pet toy container, or even a tool chest are all real-life examples of what a child's toy chest became. Chests that remain with the child as they move on can either be passed down to the next generation or can also be re-purposed for other uses like a hope chest, a dorm storage bench or even a storage box for not-yet-needed wedding gifts or other supplies in a storage-less, small apartment. When making the original toy chest purpose, at least some thought should be given to what the future use of the toy storage unit will be once the child grows up.

While there are other considerations when purchasing a toy storage product, this article discusses three of the key considerations. Location, structure and safety and the future are important things to think about when buying a toy chest for your child.