Hide our private things from our precious little thing

February 12, 2009 12:13 PM

Looking for storage ideas for bedroom toys

I'm trying to find a small box (I think) for storage of personal bedroom items. The SO and I have a small collection of things we keep in a large nightstand drawer, but with a little one becoming more mobile I'm looking for some sort of shoeboxish size box to store them in (roughly 10"long x 7"wide x 3"deep). I was thinking this would be a funny valentines gift for my SO also, so maybe a frilly, decorated box.

So two questions:

Where would one find a box like this? I'm going to swing by Cost Plus, but I'm at a loss as to where else to look. I'm in the Sacramento, CA area and I need it for valentines, so online might not work.

Do you have other ideas for storage of said "bedroom items?"

posted by anonymous to grab bag (20 comments total)

We keep ours in a nice red metal toolbox under the bed, which has the advantage of being lockable in case of visits from nosy inlaws and the like. Sadly, this option doesn't really have the sort of Valentiney cuteness you're looking for-- but thought I'd volunteer it as an option.
posted by Bardolph at 12:18 PM on February 12

I know a person who keeps the assorted things that she would not want to be found in casual drawer scrummaging in a leftover red valentine's day style chocolate box. Maybe not everything would fit in it, but it's a place.
posted by redsparkler at 12:21 PM on February 12

We keep ours in a nice red metal toolbox under the bed, which has the advantage of being lockable in case of visits from nosy inlaws and the like. Sadly, this option doesn't really have the sort of Valentiney cuteness you're looking for-- but thought I'd volunteer it as an option.
You could decorate the red "tool" box.
posted by govtdrone at 12:24 PM on February 12 [1 favorite has favorites]

Ikea! The Minnen Toybox is extremely cute (although it's bigger than a shoebox). If you're not set on boxes, the Minnen Toybag might work.
posted by grippycat at 12:25 PM on February 12

You could make an industrial toolbox look less industrial with some nice paint and maybe some frilly patterns.

And if you're up for some painting, you could go to a thriftshop or general furniture store to pick up a less-than-exciting little box or drawer thing and re-decorate it.
posted by filthy light thief at 12:27 PM on February 12

My ex gave me a stuffed animal - a frog prince with a zippered mouth - which I use to store my "supplies." It zippers shut, so that it just looks decorative. It isn't locked, so it wont keep people out exactly, but I subscribe to the belief that if someone doesn't want to inadvertently find a dildo, an industrial sized bottle of lube and every kind of condom ever invented, they shouldn't be poking around in my bedroom.
posted by greekphilosophy at 12:29 PM on February 12

One of these, a French military first aid box? I saw one of these at an army/navy surplus store, and I still wish I'd bought it. It's slightly fancier than a plain shoebox, but cooler than a generic toolbox.
posted by MadamM at 12:37 PM on February 12 [1 favorite has favorites]

Fry's has several lockbox options in their toolbox section. Also consider Staples (or OfficeMax...I forget which one is the crappy one) or Home Depot.
posted by rhizome at 12:39 PM on February 12

Craft stores might have what you want, too. I keep my personal stuff in a cardboard box, about the size of a shoebox, with Christmas decorations all over it. I got it at Michaels for a few dollars, and it's incredibly cheesy.
posted by routergirl at 12:40 PM on February 12

You can also find plain wooden or chipboard boxes at craft stores that you can decorate. A wooden one might have a latch for one of those little jewelry box lock things.
posted by ersatzkat at 1:04 PM on February 12

a red toolbox sounds good to me, perhaps with some frills attached with glue! perfect combo of naughty and nice
posted by By The Grace of God at 1:08 PM on February 12

Anecdote: when I worked in the porn shop there was a guy who'd buy something new every week. One day we asked him where he put all these items. "On top of the TV," he said, as if it was the most natural thing on the world. We suggested investing in some gun racks but he wasn't having it.
posted by Atom12 at 1:14 PM on February 12 [1 favorite has favorites]

"In" the world. Sorry.
posted by Atom12 at 1:14 PM on February 12

An old cigar box like this would be cool. I bet you could find a good one on ebay.
posted by rmless at 2:07 PM on February 12

make a really big book safe? If you've got a bookshelf maybe find a hardcover copy of Shogun or War and Peace? I bet no one will ever open those up even if they are snooping. My booksafe is about as awful as a book can get.

A Caveat though, they might quiz you about the books so you might have to read them. Or even worse, judge you for having the book.
posted by Large Marge at 2:48 PM on February 12

Bombay Company sells lockable wooden chests of various shapes and sizes. They'd be pretty enough that you could leave it on your night stand and people would just assume it was a jewelry box or similar. But that might be a Canadian chain.

Still, you might find googling 'memorabilia boxes' or 'keepsake boxes' would give you more, nice options than you find looking for storage type things. I found "wooden keepsake box with lock" offered up some good possibilities on Image Search. There's a lot of obviously not right things like baby boxes or wedding boxes, but there are some plain wood boxes, as well.
posted by jacquilynne at 3:14 PM on February 12

One of these, a French military first aid box?

You want to watch, though, that a guest (French, military, or otherwise) doesn't think, hey, I remember seeing a first aid box in the closet of their bedroom, I bet that'll have something in it to keep down the bleeding from this vicious knife wound I just sustained cutting bagels. Because there are bad times to discover things and then there are BAD times to discover things...
posted by roombythelake at 4:39 PM on February 12 [2 favorites has favorites]

I use a couple of hat boxes like this to store things in the bedroom.
posted by Biblio at 7:44 PM on February 13

The Stockroom (www.stockroom.com) has several toy boxes priced from about $12.00 to a couple hundred bucks. Some of them are even discrete.
posted by faceonmars at 8:30 PM on February 13

"Do you have other ideas for storage of said 'bedroom items?' "

You could retrofit your current night stand with a lock. A circular mortise lock is dead simple to install; you just need to drill three holes. Alternatively Lee Valley also sells a hidden magnetic catch.
posted by Mitheral at 7:55 PM on February 18