Advice on tall Ikea trofast storage please

**Lilyrock** · 05-02-2011, 07:21 PM

Hi, I'm new to the site, I am in the process of becoming a childminder. I wonder if anyone can advise me?
I want to get a tall Ikea Trofast storage unit but would the tall unit be a safety risk? I will fasten the unit to the wall but am unsure if children could pull the higher trays out on top of themselves? I dont want to spend money only to be told I shouldn't have them, but the taller units seem much better value. Has anyone got the taller units or similar and were ofsted ok with them? Many thanks.

**Happy Gardener** · 05-02-2011, 10:25 PM

I have the smaller ones, so can't personally help you re the taller ones. However I know a childminder who has them & presumably that was all ok re Ofsted? I would worry about children trying to reach the drawers that were inaccesible. Ofsted like resources to be accessible, but you would be able to rotate them on a regular basis, so maybe that would solve that problem. You couldput photos of the resources on the outside of the boxes so that the children could choose what they wanted.

**Mrs Pootle** · 06-02-2011, 06:58 AM

I nearly bought the Trofast storage for my playroom, it looked fab on the internet. However, after looking at it in store I became concerned about possible overfilling the baskets in terms of the weight of toys, and causing potential damage to the basket rim which in turn would mean they would not run smoothly in /out of the slots. This could then end up being a hazard etc etc.
Anyway, don't know if it is possible to damage the storage baskets in that way, but I have decided to get the Expedit range from Ikea instead. I was really impressed when I saw it in the store, it will fit perfectly in my playroom (fastened to the wall), and most of my existing plastic storage boxes will fit into the spaces without having to buy loads of inserts.
Good luck with whatever you choose, it can be a hard decision as neither storage system comes cheap.
I pick mine up from the store today, so very excited

DH & I will then spend the afternoon building it all, and then I can get to work on organising the playroom. Mindees won't know where anything is on Monday

**Paws** · 06-02-2011, 09:03 AM

I have one tall one and three of the small ones. OFSTED were absolutely fine about all of it. In the tall one, at the top are just light drawers full of craft (tissue paper, aprons etc). I get these drawers down myself and set them on the floor when we do craft.

**Cammie Doodle** · 06-02-2011, 12:07 PM

I have Expedit, in fact Hubby building ANOTHER unit as I type

I have looked at the door/ drawer inserts to add to some of my existing ones as at present I have boxes in all off the gaps , I just though some items could be out of reach in the cupboards/ drawers. Does anyone have these ?

**sweets** · 06-02-2011, 01:09 PM

i ahve the 5x5 expedit, it hold most of my toys in the bottom 3 rows then files, stereo, my stuff on the top 2 rows. i have 2 of the red cupbaord type things which are great for hiding away the jigsaws and puzzles etc, any they can be easily moved around to different positions on the unit (they are supposed to be screwed in but i havnt bothered as couldnt be easily pulled out when full!)

**rickysmiths** · 06-02-2011, 02:16 PM

Originally Posted by Paws

I have one tall one and three of the small ones. OFSTED were absolutely fine about all of it. In the tall one, at the top are just light drawers full of craft (tissue paper, aprons etc). I get these drawers down myself and set them on the floor when we do craft.

I am the same. I actually find it useful to have the higher boxes to put things out of reach. No problem with the runners and loading the boxes.

**Playmate** · 06-02-2011, 02:21 PM

We have 6 tall units, we have brackets to attach them to each other. All very stable and never had any issues in 5 years with them

**Beetlejuice** · 06-02-2011, 02:47 PM

I have two of the tall ones fixed to the walls and don't have any problems with them at all.

**Lilyrock** · 06-02-2011, 09:34 PM

Thankyou so much for all your replies. I think I will get a mixture of different units.
I think this site is great and love the way everyone helps each other out. Thanks again! xx

**samb** · 06-02-2011, 10:05 PM

I also have 3 tall ones and one of the "step" type ones. The tall ones are fastened to the wall. Mine are set out as follows:
Tall unit 1: bottom large - train sets; next up large - cars; next up medium- peg boards/baby puzzles; then a shelf with puzzles and fuzzyfelt. On top - some large boxed games
Tall unit 2: bottom large - instruments; next up large - dolls accessories; next up medium - few small sets such as playmobil and hello kitty marked with my dds name; shelf with board games on. On top - box of play-doh
Tall unit 3: bottom large - Peppa Pig toys; next up large - Fancy dress accessories such as hats etc; next up medium - fancy dress outfits; next up medium - My Little Pony. On top - Box of Sylvanian Families

Each box has a photo with examples of toys in on the front. They are attached with velcro so I can easily change them if necessary. I put things I don't necessarily want them pulling out in the higher boxes but they can still see and ask. The ones I have my children's names on are ones they have to ask for. My children like this as they feel they can have their own stuff sometimes too that is not shared. Most of the toys are stored in my children's bedroom so this was important for us.

I did not buy the lids for the boxes as I like to have the bits sticking up - there is a gap between each box so I felt it would have been a waste of space to put lids on. I have not had a problem with the runners. Oftsed were fine with them and liked the photos. She did suggest having extra photos in the living area so they could choose from another room too.