We're big game players in my house, and new games are always magically appearing. When the cabinet which houses said games recently reached capacity, I started looking for storage solutions.
We've blogged about using game boards as art before, but this clever idea from Infarrantly Creative takes it a step further by storing the pieces behind the frame.
Here are some other game storage ideas:
• Boxes take up a lot of room and tend to look worse for wear. Unless you're a collector, you can ditch the box and store the pieces in plastic baggies. Toss all the baggies in a single large storage bin or hide in decorative boxes on a shelf.
• Several game manufacturers, including Hasbro and Rio Grande, sell library-style versions of classic games which can fit alongside books in a standard book case.
• If you don't mind handling smaller pieces, travel size games take up a fraction of the space. For a more DIY solution, you can photocopy the board (there is a printable version of the Scrabble board on their web site) and store the pieces in a bag.
• Swap out your leggier furniture with a storage bench, trunk, ottoman or other multifunctional piece.
• If storing games out in the open is unavoidable, try mixing them with oversized books so they're less noticeable. Top with a decorative tray and you have an instant side table.
• Games with a large number of pieces or tiles look pretty displayed in glass jars. The boards can be stored separately in a drawer. This also works well for puzzles. If you like having the photos to refer to, simple cut the pictures out and store them in a binder.
• If you're lucky enough to have an extra closet, you can remove the doors and create a built-in style bookcase like the homeowner in the last image did. Large wooden boards are mounted on the wall using inexpensive curtain tiebacks. Older games are displayed as art with their pieces in decorative shadow boxes.
Where do you store games in your home?
Images: Infarrantly Creative, Real Simple, The Felt Mouse, Board Game Geek
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These are some great ideas! My hubby and I, however, had decided that we don't play enough board games to justify keeping them. To donation pile they go : (
i love these ideas! i've been considering beefing up my board game stash, and simultaneously looking for new wall art....never thought of killing two birds with one stone!
That fourth picture is heaven...I love board games.
I am not a fan of the stacked books as a table look. Hasn't that gone out of style yet?
The last pic is awesome. If I had enough friends that liked playing games my collection would look like that. Also, the cat in that pic is very cute :D
we have about 40 board games right now...and they're lining the top shelf of our living room closet.
we're big fans of entertaining friends for board game night...so i'm having my dad build me a 'built in' breakfast nook bench with removable seats for storage underneath. this shall be the new home of our board games...and probably our fine china for fancy get-togethers!
"...decided that we don't play enough board games to justify keeping them. To donation pile they go."
Indeed - I have games in my hall closet that have gone untouched for years...
...I think it's time for a purge.
Yea! This awesome!
I can't find the board games in the second picture. Can someone please help and clue me in?
Our games are stored on top of the book shelf and our favorite is stored on the console as it is made out of wood (decor and function).
In our dining room we have one credenza for the fancy plates and the other for all our board games, that way they are close to the dining table and we can bust them out (and put them away) on family game nights.
I don't know. For me, trying to get all the Agricola pieces to fit back into the box is part of the game.
We have a shelf in a 3-foot-wide closet devoted to board games. When the shelf starts to sag, we know it's time to get rid of a few. Inevitably we lose interest to some as new ones come in, so it's not that hard to keep a constant number. Some of the popular European board games have card-game versions that are just as fun and take up a lot less space.
My board games (I have something like 40) are all stowed away in my kitchen cupboards - I only need one shelf for my meager dish collection, and there's a cubby for dry food storage, and I don't have anywhere else in my apartment for them, so in the cupboards they go!
My friends and I play board games pretty much religiously every friday night! I disagree with getting rid of the actual boxes though, sometimes the box art is my favorite part of games! That and that awesome box fart you get when you open a well-made board game box, lol
to donkey: I get plastic boxes with curved bottoms to the compartments (they're made for storing beads in) from the craft store for games like Agricola and ditch the original box inserts - makes all that replenishing so much easier! However the cards don't fit in the box now, but with a couple rubberbands they live right next to the box so it's not too bad.
in a vintage suitcase which we also use as a sidetable. not a large collection though.
The games at my parents' house are either hidden in a back storage room or in long-term storage in the garage. Unfortunately, with the kids either out of the house or PS3 junkies, the games there have gone relatively unused!
Perhaps now that we've moved a majority of Mom's yarn to the new craft room (my old room - happy to donate it to the cause), there's open space on the built-ins in the basement. Maybe it's time to move a few of the games there.
I'm a fan of the framed boards with bags on the back! Way more effective and cool storage than a box.
Donkey! The Snapware Snap N Stack is perfect for Agricola pieces! The best part is that they have internal organization compartments to keep the veggies separate from the grain. ;-)
http://www.snapware.com/household.html
We have a lot of games. A few of the beautiful, smaller boxes sit on our bookshelf in the living room. The rest are in a linen closet.
I also have a collection of old boards (without pieces) and those are hanging on the walls of our guest room, similar to that last photo.
I stack my board games and puzzles on top of my bookcases with oversized books that I can't shelve. I don't like hiding them because if they were stored away I'd forget they're there, and guests wouldn't happen to walk by the bookcase and say, "Let's play the Dr Laura Game," which is just as messed up and weird as you'd think it would be.
Storing boardgames definitely requires some creative thinking. Our apartment is very tiny, and using leggy furniture to make the space look bigger means that there is less room for storage! Quite the dilemma.