A friend of mine is in the throes of renovating her beautiful new home and recently shared a few pictures of her kids’ bedroom. Three children share a huge space that has been divided into three areas, all decorated slightly differently but using the same color scheme. Simple, cozy, and uncluttered, the design is European in taste, and I think it looks perfect.

However, despite winning our unanimous approval, someone asked where she had “hidden all the unattractive things kids accumulate.” That got me thinking.  How do you strike a balance? Are we decorating for them or for us? Parental aesthetics aside, what fun storage solutions have designers come up with to keep our little ones’ rooms tidy and bring a smile to their face each day?

Here’s what I found…

Pilou Faces Storage Boxes by e-glue and Béô Design
Heads or tails? I can easily imagine kids having a ton of fun with these quirky toy boxes. Available in sets of two, each box has two different expressions that kids can change by turning the box upside down.

These can serve as functional friends for play and display, and they will even match your child’s mood of the day!

Play Storage System by Ana Babic
Designed by Ana Babic for Jasen, Play is a new wooden storage system for kids inspired by the cheerful world of playgrounds. It is composed of five wooden compartments, each painted a different color. I have a feeling that a few parents might like this, too!

Rocking Box by Egle Kirdulyte (also pictured at top of post)
Italian designer Egle Kirdulyte has imagined and designed an amazing toy box that can be used for storage as well as a couple of seats or rockers. Depending on how full the two wooden compartments are, kids can roll the storage box from room to room and separate them when they want to play.

Shark Laundry Basket by Uczarczyk
I haven’t shown this felt shark storage basket to my youngest son, Miles, but I know that he would absolutely adore it. Made in Poland by Jolanta Uczarczyk, this brilliant, fun design for kids is available through Etsy and has been designed to keep your little ones laughing for hours. Watch those fingers!

Face Boxes by Ferm Living
Kids love funny faces, and I am drawn to the simplicity of Ferm Living’s storage boxes.  I’m certain these will add a striking feature in any modern child’s room, and parents will appreciate the original color palette used on this painted trio.