It’s one thing to find organization strategies that make it easy to store kid’s shoe piles, clothes, board games and tiny toys, but American girl doll storage is a whole new adventure! Finding American Girl storage ideas is important because otherwise, we may lose control of the entire house as the American Girls take over! 

In all seriousness though, the number of doll accessories that come with American Girl dolls is no joke. Sometimes they have more accessories than I do!

However, it is possible to organize American girl stuff. The best way to do it though is a way that works well with how your kids play with the dolls. If you carefully choose the storage space based on how they play, it will lead to it actually staying neat and tidy!

American Girl Doll Storage

American Girl Storage Ideas Based on how your kids play

I remember playing with American girls growing up, back when there were only 5 of them from different historical periods. Oh, how times have changed!

When I would play with my friends, there would be clothes, shoes, and accessories everywhere. We wanted to change them into multiple outfits, and have them do various activities. I want to make sure I don’t take that joy away from my daughter. Kids really do enter a different world when they play pretend, and it’s good that we help foster that as much as we can. As pretend play offers so many developmental benefits to our kids. However, the mess is enormous and the amount of accessories can get out of hand. So, what are some great American girl doll organization ideas to keep the clutter to a minimum?

There are three major things to keep in mind when planning out American Girl storage ideas:

1. Easy access
2. Clear
3. Simple

Make sure that whatever you use for storage is very easy for the kids to access. If they can access it, they can put it away! It also helps to teach them about organizing. Also, keeping boxes or containers clear means the kids can see exactly what they are looking for, which means they won’t be pulling out items just to find others. Keeping it simple helps them keep it up!

American Girl Storage Ideas 

1. Using a Dress-Up Tower 

Using a tower that is normally used for dress-up can be a great way to store American Girl dolls. There are two ways to do this. 

• If you take a dress-up tower like this one to use for storage space, the side has cute storage baskets that can be used as storage bins for smaller accessories.  (Or, it could be used to store smaller baby dolls such as Barbie dolls.) The American girl doll clothes can be hung at the top, and the dolls can go at the bottom. Make sure to grab some doll clothes hangers too!

• If you want to go the DIY route, you could do everything above but also add a built-in shelf below the clothes to store the dolls. That way, the bigger, bulkier items could go at the bottom.
• Another DIY option is to create your Dress-up tower (a simpler version). You could use a rectangle wardrobe box for the frame- decorate it however you choose. Hang the doll clothes, cut a window/door out the front (vertically) so you can see inside, and place the basket on the inside bottom, and Voila! Cute doll displays that are cheaper than any American girl storage Ikea has.

*ps: Remember to ensure the stability of the wardrobe box with a few pieces of cardboard or foam in weak, bendy areas.

Using a dress-up tower can create multiple storage ideas that work best for your children and your family. Leave a photo of your kid’s tower in the comments (i’d love to see them).

Here’s a cute example from The Magnolia Mamas

2. Creating the American Girl town underneath their bed with a loft

If you’re working with small spaces, or your child is ready for a new bed, consider a bunk bed without a bottom- the ultimate loft space! You could end up creating a whole American Girl Doll city underneath the loft bed. 

This would be a way to store everything neatly without having to throw everything in a plastic bin. 

3. Under-bed storage

Creating storage under any bed is another one of our favorite ways to store American Girl dolls and their accessories. It is almost like having little drawers under the bed!

Create drawer storage under the bed by buying thin clear plastic containers– the ones with wheels are excellent! Use a label maker to label which container is which. 

The reason under-the-bed storage is a great place is that it is an easy way to find a rightful place for each American girl doll item without using any extra room in the house. You could also use different colors for containers instead of a label maker. This will also be easy storage for your kids as they will be able to reach it without any issues.

4. Cubed shelves 

You can almost never go wrong with cubed shelves or storage cubbies with little girls in the house. If it’s not American Girls now, it will be something else in the future. It is also a great storage area for other kids’ toys, such as action figures or even nail polish.

5. Door shoe organizer for American Girl Doll Storage

When in doubt, use the door! The back of the door can avoid using wall space for storage. A hanging closet organizer is a great storage solution that kids can use for a long time. Perfect for apartments or rental homes as it’s just another way to keep holes out of the walls.

All you do is grab an organizer for the bedroom door, such as a shoe organizer, and use it for the American Girl dolls and their accessories instead. This is especially great because almost all of them are clear, which makes it easy to find the small items. (Bonus if they have younger siblings because the smaller items can truly be out of reach!)

I often recommend door shoe organizers for stuffed animals and small toys, but door organizers are great as a storage area for everything American Girl. I call the back of the kids’ door the “American Girl doll shop!” 

6. Kids Art Storage

Look at kids’ art storage without looking at the art supplies. You’ll find a large collection of organizational items for objects of all shapes and sizes- I love this tiered art caddy! Its perfect for dolls of different sizes and all of their accessories. Just pop in a few small containers to keep the small pieces separated.

Or, use Kids’ art storage like these with drawers of different sizes, knowing that art supplies come in all sizes, so it is usually great to turn them into American girl doll storage.

7. Toy chest

This sounds like an obvious one, but there are adorable toy chests out there that can be used when you’re certain your kid won’t organize their American Girl items. If it’s easier to throw it into a chest at the end of the day because it gives you and your kid more time together, so be it!

Melissa & Doug have an excellent traditional white chest, but you could always go for the color of your choice as well. You may just have to remind your kid that it is for American Girls only, not for their other favorite toys.

8. Stackable shoe boxes

Another fun way to store items is stackable shoe boxes. They are usually clear, which makes them easy to grab for your kid.

9. Peg Board Holders- American Girl Doll Storage Ideas

The top recommendation for American Girl Doll storage

This may surprise some people, but my number one recommendation for American girl storage ideas is to take a trip to the local dollar store!

Here’s why: American Girl dolls come with items big and small. The type of storage unit you’ll need for your child’s dolls may be very different from another kid’s. Some have a lot of bigger toys for their dolls, while others have buckets of small pieces. 

Before you spend money, the most inexpensive way is to start at the dollar store to see if there are clever ideas you wouldn’t have thought about before. You may be surprised by what you come up with when you go to the dollar store with the intention of organization. You’ll go from having a “bunch of American girl doll stuff” to labeled bins, wicker baskets, and beyond!

Conclusion

The best part about these 5 American Girl storage ideas is that they are also general toy storage ideas and can work for stuffed animal storage, action figure storage, and loads of other kids toys. I believe that there are always ways to create extra space and make any room the perfect place to play and let imaginations run wild- without losing control of your entire house!

What is important though is giving a sense of ownership to your kids. Even though we all want our homes to look like Better Homes, we want our organization ideas to match what our kids are capable of doing. If they are able to keep it organized, they will take a sense of pride in it and continue to clean up after playing.