Happy Friday friends!  So glad you are here!  Make sure to FOLLOW us on Instagram to keep up with all of our projects from start to finish!

I am in the process of giving my littlest one his new ‘big boy room’.  I have had so much fun with this room, and he loves it.  I won’t lie… Dragging him back to his bed 27 times in the evening isn’t the most fun, but it was time.  (I do miss the crib.  Lots 😉 )

One thing this boy has is toys.  Little toys.  Lots of them.  I was going crazy trying to find a way to organize them and keep them separated so he could play with them more.  I did a lot of searching and shopping for ideas and fell in LOVE with Ikea’s Trofast baskets. You can buy these online as well.   They were the perfect combination for me.  They are a great size, no small holes for things to fall through, and they are cheap!  That’s my favorite thing about them… Just can’t beat that $4 price tag.  I decided to build my own frame for these!  I prefer real wood at half the cost!  Plus, I could coordinate it to his room.  Here is how it turned out!

DIY Toy Storage Unit

Boys Room

I say organization can be functional and pretty darn cute at the same time… Agreed??

We have some GREAT news friends!  We are now offering FREE printable plans for all of our original Shanty2Chic projects!  You guys begged for them… And here they are!  Just click the button below to take you to them in another window.  Then, just click print or download and save them!

Free Plans Ikea Storage System

As always, we will still give you guys a full tutorial of tips and pics to help you tackle these plans!

This is a really simple build!  I broke it all down for you.  Here we go!

DIY Storage Idea Supply List

2 – 1 x 12 x 8′ pine or whitewood boards

2 – 1 x 12 x 4′ pine or whitewood boards

3 – 1 x 2 x 8′ pine or whitewood boards

2 – 1 x 3 x 8′ pine or whitewood boards

9 Ikea Trofast bins

Kreg Jig (optional and totally recommended)

Drill

Brad nailer

Gorilla Wood Glue

Wood Stain

DIY Storage Idea Build it!

I started by making all of my cuts to my big boards.  This is 1 x 12″ board, and you can buy it in different lengths.  An 8ft boards is about $16 and a 4ft board is about $7.  I went with 2 of the 4ft boards rather than another 8 footer because it saved me a couple dollars.  Every dollar counts, right? 😉

Wood for Toy Storage

Here is my cut list for the 1×12 board…

1 @ 53.25″

1 @ 51.75″

2 @ 35.75″

2 @ 33.25″

Now for the pocket holes!  I used my ever so handy Kreg Jig for this part!  Who doesn’t own one yet?  It’s time!  You can see the model that Ashley and I use HEREDIY Storage Idea !
  For those of you wondering what the heck a Kreg Jig is… You can check out our video HERE.  We really try to break it down and give you a very basic understanding of what it does and how easy it is to use.

I started by making my pocket holes.  I made 3/4″ pocket holes since that is the thickness of the wood I am working with.  I put my boards into my Kreg Jig like this…

Kreg Jig K5

You can see below where I put all of my pocket holes.  Before attaching them, I also added my 1×2 rails that will hold the baskets.  I cut 18 of these at 11.25″ a piece.  To attach them, I ran a line of wood glue on the 1×12…

Gorilla Wood Glue

Next, I used my Ryobi Airstrike Nailer with 1 1/4″ brads to attach each rail.  I used 3-4 for every rail.  This tool is by far one of my favorites!  It has all of the greatness of a pneumatic nailer (those are nail guns that hook up to an air compressor), but it uses the 18V battery… Too legit!  I use mine on nearly every project I create.  You can get these at Home Depot!

Ryobi Airstrike Nailer

You can see here where I lined up all of these rails.  You can also see the pocket holes.

These are the longer side boards.  I only put pocket holes on one end of each of these.

How to build Ikea Trofast

These are the shorter boards in the middle.  I put pocket holes on both ends of each of these boards.

Build Toy Storage

The middle boards will have rails on both sides.  Once I had the first sides attached, I flipped it over and repeated this on the other side.  Here is a profile shot of what they looked like finished.

Middle Shelves for DIY Toy Storage

Now to attach them!  I used 1 1/4″ pocket hole screws for this part.

I started by attaching my longer side pieces to my top piece like this.

Building a toy storage unit

Next, I cut my other long board that is my bottom 1×12 piece.  This board is slightly shorter than the top board.  I added 3/4″ pocket hole screws to the bottom side of each ends.  Then, I attached them to the long side pieces using 1 1/4″ pocket hole screws.  You can see that I set this board where the top is 2.5″ from the base of my side boards.

Attach pocket hole screws

Now to attach the middle boards!  I placed these each 16.75″ apart and also attached them using 1 1/4″ pocket hole screws.

Ikea Trofast DIY

Now to trim it out!  I used my 1×3 boards for trim. I started by adding my side pieces to both the top and bottom of the piece.

How to build toy storage

To attach these pieces, I used Gorilla Wood glue and my cordless nail gun again… Easy peasy!

Building toy storage

My final step was adding the long front trim pieces.  Measure this before cutting.  Mine was about 54.75″, but it’s best to measure here to make it perfect!

DIY Toy Storage How To

The sides will look like this…

How to add wood trim

That’s it! DONE!

After building it, I stained the whole piece to match his bed and nightstands I made him.  It’s Varathane Stain from Home Depot and I used the color Kona.

To stain, I work in small sections and brush it on.  After a couple minutes, use a wiping cloth or old t-shirt to wipe off any excess stain.  It’s easier than painting I promise!  And, this stuff dries in under an hour!

Here it is all finished up!

DIY Ikea Trofast Toy Storage

Boys Room

DIY Toy Storage

DIY Toy Storage Unit

DIY Ikea Trofast

To create the chalkboard labels on the front of these, I used Chalkboard Contact PaperDIY Storage Idea !
I buy mine on Amazon HEREDIY Storage Idea
!  I also use a white wet-erase chalk penDIY Storage Idea
for neat lines and it keeps the kids from smudging it all up.  I LOVE these pens! Just cut the contact paper and  stick it on there!

Ikea Trofast

I hope you love this as much as I do!  I love functional furniture pieces, especially in my kiddos’ rooms.  Now to make sure he puts the toys into the baskets…. 😉

Thanks so much for stopping by!  I would LOVE for you to share and PIN this with all your friends!

Remember, you can access the full set of FREE printable plans by clicking HERE! Thanks so much to Jay from Jay’s Custom Creations for putting our ideas into plans for our readers!  Jay is an awesome guy with some great project ideas… You guys should check him out!

And for those of you that may ask…

You can check out the paint color HERE!

You can check out the DIY bed HERE!

You can check out the DIY nightstands HERE!

The quilt is from PBTeen!

~Whitney

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53 Comments

  1. Thanks for the free plans…just what I’m looking for to organize my son’s lego! I too love the Ikea Trofast system but didn’t want to have to pay for the shipping online.

  2. Hey Whitney and Ashley, I have a question. I definitely need to add this plan in my home (to the many of yours I have already completed) for all my miscellaneous items with nowhere to put them. I will have to put this in the guest room so it will need to double as a media chest. Do you think if I used the top middle space and closed it in to put a dvd player/cable receiver/etc. it would look tacky? I would need to add a back to it then?

  3. looks great! what size containers did you use to fit? I want to see if I can use what I have or get similar ones locally.

    1. Are the Trofast bis you used Red or Orange? While looking online, Ikea doesn’t have a red option (which I prefer), only orange. If the orange leans more red, that’ll help my choice. Thanks!

  4. I made two of these this weekend. There’s a mistake in the printable plans — it says to cut 20 lengths of 11.25″ 1×2, but the project only uses 18.

    Also, you could cut 3 of the 11.25″ lengths of 1×2 and one 54.75″ length out of the same board, only requiring a 54.75″ and 11.25″ out of the other board, leaving you with one longer scrap piece for another project instead of two shorter pieces.

  5. Just curious if the wall behind the shelf is getting damaged at all with the in & out of the storage bins? I am considering adding a back to the shelf.

  6. Help! I’m stuck on my build…does the longer board go on top?? If not, the bottom bows out wider than the top. Please let me know ASAP! Thanks!

  7. I think there is a mistake in the post. You mention that you cut your longest board and attach it as the bottom 1×12. That won’t work though since you are attaching it inside the side boards. Longest board goes on the top.

  8. Love it!! Was wondering – do you varnish after you have stained or just leave it at the stain?? 🙂

    1. These plans were perfect for our soon to be little ones nursery! I love that we were able to customize it to our colors. It’s ideal for keeping everything organized and the possible storage uses can be changed as he grows thanks to the chalk labels. We were also sure to anchor it to the wall so he can’t pull it down when he’s a toddler. Thanks for sharing and I’d be happy to include a picture of our final product if there’s a way to do that on here.

  9. do you know what the measurements would need to be if i wanted to make one of these the same height but only 3ft long? this is going to be my first furniture project but im clueless when it comes to coming up with measurements.

  10. That’s Ana White’s laundry shelf right? I only ask because I’m in the middle of that exact build! Looks really good!

      1. Oh, I meant, same concept. 🙂 But yes, the dimensions are different and the trim is a really nice addition – I think I’ll have to add some to my laundry shelf!

  11. Another great build! You girls are such an inspiration, I just L.O.V.E. following your blog! I think I see a kreg jig in my future! 😉 Keep up the great work!
    Jenna