Nerf blasters.  If you know, you know.

We tried to hold out on the Nerf blasters as long as possible, but somehow one blaster turned into 6 or more plus a laser tag set overnight. (Thanks, Christmas!)

Suddenly, there I was completely overwhelmed without a plan for organizing or containing.  They were constantly laying out on the floor.  Or in a laundry basket.  We needed to do something.

I set out to figure out a better way to organize and store all these Nerf toys.  

Nerf Storage

My criteria for storage and organization of Nerf blasters was:

1) A designated home for all blasters and darts.  A pile on the floor is not an acceptable home.

2) Ideally, located out of sight.  These are not my favorite toys to look at so it would be great if they weren’t on display all the time.

3) Easy to access for play.  My 9 year old and his friends LOVE these, so I want to make sure they are accessible when kids come over to play. 

With that in mind, I tried three different methods to organize and store nerf blasters in our home.  All three actually worked quite well and fit my storage criteria.  And even better, they all work well for small spaces and in rentals (no hanging pegboards or drilling into walls needed!)   

Storage Idea #1: Behind The Door Shoe Organizer 

I picked up a very inexpensive behind the door shoe organizer from Amazon (under $10) and first placed in on the ground to figure out the layout.  The smaller blasters and laser tag devices fit perfectly in the individual pockets but the large and extra long blasters hung too far out of the pockets.  

To solve this, I grabbed a razor blade and cut a slit in the bottom of a few pockets.  This allowed me to slip a longer weapon through the pocket with a hole and down in to the pocket below.  The cut pocket worked as a sleeve to help hold the blaster.

Once I had a layout I liked, I hung the behind the door organizer on the door and placed all the blasters in the pockets.  In the very bottom pockets I added all the loose darts as a way to keep them together.

This would be perfect to hang on the back of a bedroom door or inside a closet.  It’s easy to access all the toys and it makes great use of normally unused vertical space.  A win-win in my book.

Storage Idea #2: In A Big Basket

Next up is an extra large lidded basket!  I’ve drooled over these baskets from Serena and Lily for YEARS and when I saw them go on sale for 40% off over the holidays I convinced my family that it was time to invest.  And boy did we invest.  I purchased the small, medium and large La Jolla Basket in natural and they are every bit as wonderful as I hoped they would be.  

Now, with everything organizing, it’s so important to measure to make sure your items will fit in your basket.  I measured our longest Nerf blaster and knew that we needed the large basket to fit the extra long length.  Let me tell you, this basket is HUGE but in a really good way.  All the Nerf blasters, darts and even a lightsaber or two fit perfectly inside.

And best of all, I can just close the lid and not have to look at them. It makes me feel like some sort of toy hiding magician!

Storage Idea #3: Under The Bed Storage Bin

In a small room, storage always comes at a premium, which is why under the bed storage bins are heavily used in my house.  I love to store extra books, Lego, hand-me-down clothing, toys and more under my kids beds and have plenty of plastic under the bed storage bins. 

Side Note: It’s always cheaper to buy these in store, since they can be expensive to ship.  But here’s an example from Amazon of what you should look for at your local big box store.

I pulled out an extra bin I had in my son’s room and gave it a try for the Nerf blasters and the length was perfect for housing all the extra long and extra wide blasters.  There was more than enough room for all the small blasters, darts and even the laser tag set.  All were perfectly visible when the lid was take off and the whole bin latched nicely and slid under the bed out of sight when play was over. 

Which works best?

All three methods work well in my opinion! But can you guess the winner in our house? 

It’s the big basket!  Mostly because I love that I can keep them in our basement in an easily accessible spot, but all I see is a beautiful basket when I look at it. Plus, now that we have a trio of baskets, I can store other bulky toys in the medium and small size (currently indoor balls and Barbie dolls). 

There you go. Three ways to organize those blasters!  Hopefully one of these ideas will work in your space and will give the kids in your life a place to store their treasured toys.  

Looking for more toy storage ideas? Be sure to check out these posts:

Organizing a Kid’s Closet (When They Have More Toys than Clothes!)

ORGANIZE TOYS WITH A TOY LIBRARY

ORGANIZING BOARD GAMES IN BAGS

You have to tell me, where do you store blasters in your home? Any other great storage ideas out there I haven’t tried? I love when you all share your tips with me!

In the meantime, I’ll be diving into organizing Calico Critters – yet another tricky toy to organize and store.  Wish me luck!