Nerf Gun Storage Battle Success!

My love/hate relationship with Nerf is equal to that of Lego. Lego is awesome. Builds patience and creativity as well as fine motor skills.... until you step on them. Then the patience is gone, the only creativity is 'how will I destroy this thing that brought me to my knees' and the only motor skills used are to pick yourself back up and throw the stinkin piece in the garbage.

Right?

Nerf is fun. I've engaged in many battles with the kids. And, sadly, with my own adult friends too. The Trucker has taken them to work and attacked coworkers (they thought THEY had the big guns, six darts. HA!). And I will admit that I was slightly disappointed when I heard there was a Nerf battle at the office of my old job and I wasn't invited. Maybe they knew I had massive artillery at my beck and call.

So, there you go. I love them. I do not regret purchasing any, and have happily driven the boys to the store when they had money of their own to buy more. 

But MAN. They are so big. There are so many. 

I've looked all over for ideas on how to store them. Nerf storage is not easy. Especially when you own so many big ones. I've had many suggestions given to me, from using wrapping paper bins, hooks or hangers in a closet, or even pegboard. There are tons of ideas online too, but none that fit my house. My kids don't really have closet space and I'd need space to put the wrapping paper bins too. Peg board is out, I didn't really have a wall I could put it on, plus we rent. Don't think the landlord would be too happy.

I'd had them in a bucket style toy bin before, tucked behind a door. Frankly that was not a solution. They were constantly falling out, since the bucket barely made it half way up the guns. Plus, having the darts in there meant they always fell to the bottom and the boys had to pull almost everything out just to get loaded. And they rarely picked up the mess. I can't even say it was functional while it lasted. It really wasn't. It was awful.

 

Thanks to a broken bed, I ended up with the ideal solution to my personal dilemma.  Angel Baby destroyed the bunk beds, much like she totaled her crib. Oy. I'm in need of a new bed for Macboy eventually, since I've moved the kids bedrooms all around. For now, I've been able to just remove one bed and use the unit as a single twin. This left the rails above open and kind of useless. (Read: annoying and ugly). 

Until Now

 

I used wire hangers to create S-hooks (of sorts) to hang the big guns up. They are above the side and the foot of the bed, but the head is clear.

There are two that are bigger, the Vulcan, that I can not hang. They are just too heavy and large to fit above Macboy.  But now they are the only big ones left and I have space for them above his bookshelf. 

For much of the summer I've been listening to the griping about never being able to find any darts. Which was interesting because I've been putting them in the same spot every time I come across them, and that is where I found most of them during my heavy week of cleaning. Of course, I should not be surprised. My kids almost never look in the places things belong. They just assume if they left something on the floor and now it's gone, either Angel Baby ate it or it's just lost.

I have a fabric bin that fits easily under this bed, now full of darts and clips and belts. The few smaller guns fit in there as well. Everything has a home and it's actually pretty easy to put back.  They don't have to make a mess to get the darts from the bottom. It's all accessible and easy. 

Which is good, because they're boys. 

This was only one part of my massive project in this first week of not working. But it was a personal highlight. It's been driving me crazy for a very long time. I'm reclaiming my home and returning the office to personal space instead of work space. I've recovered from switching the kids bedrooms around. Things are looking good. 

I am also going to promise you-all you wonderful people who still follow my adventures here even though I haven't been posting often at all-that I now have the time to return to a more regular posting schedule. AND I have so many things I want to share. (Like how weird it feels to leave a work at home job.) Grade 7 is starting for Macboy, Art is heading into grade 3 and Angel Baby is going to benefit from some Mommy Play School and be ready for kindergarten for sure.

I have some little side jobs to keep some extra money coming in and am hopeful that my new stay at home life will last at least another year. We'll see. Wish me luck. Make sure you've clicked those pretty links up above to follow me on Twitter and join us on Facebook!

Tell me... 

What is the one thing in your life that you just can't seem to organize?