We have an 18-month old who has lots of small toys, blocks, and books in our two stow ottomans from Crate & Barrel. Ours our lemongrass - http://www.crateandbarrel.com/furniture/ottomans-cubes/stow-lemongrass-17.5%22-leather-storage-ottoman/s653554

Love them! Now that he's old enough to play with blocks, I'm planning to rig one of the ottomans with a Duplo base plate then fill it with blocks so we can turn the top of the ottoman over and he can build on the under (tray) side.

We just had the same dilemma. We looked everywhere and couldn't find anything in the right size, style, or price range. We finally saw this on Costco's website and were sold on the size and the price, especially since it comes with bonus stools! Once it arrived, we were really happy with the quality and the appearance. Here's a link:

http://tinyurl.com/costcodrakeottoman

The lid fits very snugly so my mother-in-law suggested drilling some air holes in the bottom, in case our daughter or a sibling or friend ends up inside with the lid. We remove the lid and stash it in another room when she's playing with her toys, but I can see how climbing inside could appeal to an older kid!

We went on overstock and found some storage ottomans... we have a couple of dark faux leather cubes in the tv room. Pros - you can put your feet up on them, and they're wipeable for the inevitable mess. Cons - they're not the most attractive things in the world. But they're not bad, either. (similar to these, only in dark brown: http://www.overstock.com/Home-Garden/White-Leatherette-Uma-Storage-Cube/5899769/product.html) They have some options.

The only problem I have with the Ikea ottomans is that the twill cotton practically attracts lint. And they're not slipcovered. I'd honestly go for some kind of leather/faux leather, only because babies drool and you will spill a drink!

We have this one... yes its for video games, but the compartments are removable and can be used for a bunch of things and its nice and durable!
http://www.kohls.com/upgrade/webstore/product_page.jsp?PRODUCT%3C%3Eprd_id=845524892690092&pfx=pfx_shopcompare&cid=shopping3&mr:trackingCode=5F9D06B7-E4EC-DF11-AD70-001517B188A2&mr:referralID=NA

I had a custom one made at Bassett with in the "Domino green" fabric. It was a fortune but it is PERFECT!!

Oh and if you get a great fabric, consider a clear acrylic tray for the top. Get one with handles so it's easy to take on and off. Mine is from cb2

We have storage ottomans that have served us really well. They are faux leather cubes from JC Penny (I know). They are essentially the same as the ones on amazon and overstock, but they were $18 bucks each (after coupon codes and picking up at store). They are great seats for guests, our boy learned to pull up on them, and now at 15 months, the lids are light enough he can pull them off himself to get the toys inside. They are not "forever" items, but I'm hoping to get a coffee table once he's not so accident prone, so that's okay with me. They are also easy to hide and move from room to room.

Scroll down on this post to see them: http://www.twobedroomsandababy.com/2011/07/room-update-photos.html

Their placement here is to stop him from pulling the cords to the TV :) They now live behind the sectional return.

When we have guests who need places to put drinks (which is fairly rare these days since any drink at his height ends up on the floor), we put cool vintage hardcover books on the ottomans as "trays" to give them more stability.

@mama gigi can i ask where you got your brown leather sofa?? i love the style of your home btw.

I bought a really ugly one on overstock for like $30 and re-covered it in my own fabric. When it eventually gets too dirty I'll just cover it again.

We very seriously considered the storage ottoman from Ethan Allen. It isn't cheap, but is far from an eyesore. http://www.ethanallen.com/product?productId=852 The fabric they show it in is hideous, but you can get anything you want. We were thinking about leather.

As an aside, we ended up getting a butcher-block type thing from crate & barrel b/c we found a slightly damaged floor sample on sale. It doesn't have storage, but it's already taken a serious beating and still looks great.

Try the Monte design storage ottoman

I have that storage ottoman in white - it's plenty big and firm enough to use in a table like manner sometimes. I find the covers tricky to get off for washing (you have to undo some screws, one of the zips has broken) so keep meaning to sew a new replacement slip cover or two so I can keep it a bit cleaner. It's a good extra seat too.

We have this storage ottoman/coffee table from World Market, which is on sale right now for $200. It's actually real leather, unlike most of the "leather" storage ottomans you find, but is cheap. The corners are rounded enough that we thought it would be safer than our old wooden coffee table, and the lid is heavy and fits snugly, so we don't consider it a safety hazard. We love it, and it has good reviews. If you have a World Market store near you, you can pick it up and save shipping.

@lyndsea, our sofa is actually from amazon :)

I just went back to find the link and they are sold out, but I did find it on another site somewhere...plus someone on craigslist sold one in our area right before we bought ours, so they are out there :) Just search till your fingers hurt for brown leather sectional.

Thanks for the compliment!
Contemporary Brown 100% Leather Sectional Sofa<img src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=twobedandabab-20&l=as2&o=1&a=B001EQN4K2&camp=217145&creative=399369" width="1" height="1" border="0" alt="" style="border:none !important; margin:0px !important;" />

@mama gigi darn! thanks for the tip...the search is on!