As a new doll collector, I’ve officially hit the point where this is a problem I have to contend with. Displaying dolls is easy enough- because I never intend to have a huge collection, a couple of wall-mounted acrylic shelves and doll stands did the trick perfectly, but when it comes to storing accessories and other items they come with… well, I’m running into trouble.
I’m a huge fan of dolls with multiple outfits and accessories, and I’ve mostly collected Monster High G3 dolls, with a few others mixed in/other lines I’m interested in. It’s lovely having extra clothes to change up their outfits and mix/match occasionally, as well as posing them with accessories, but I’m hitting a point where storing the clothes just feels like a lump of plastic fabrics, nevermind the amount of unwieldy plastic coffin-shaped cases from the Skulltimate Secrets line (which again, I liked because of all the extra clothing!)
I also only display one doll of each character at a time, partly because of the hugely varying quality of the dolls and partly because I don’t feel like the base dolls are all that different enough to justify taking up my limited space, but this begs the question… How do you store the dolls and clothing/accessories you’re not displaying?
I find that a lot of storage made FOR dolls isn’t very efficient as actual storage- which makes sense, prioritizing the cuteness and the gimmick of doll dressers and whatnot. I have the vaguest memory of my sister owning this giant suitcase with little straps that her Bratz dolls lived in, while all the clothes and shoes floated loose in the main area of it… but that sounds so chaotic to me. XD
I’d be super interested to hear this from both people in cramped living spaces like me, and people who have larger areas to devote to their hobbies.
I’d especially like to know what others do with bulky gimmick items like the skulltimate secrets cases- one or two is cute to keep around, but honestly I’ve just shoved them under my bed where my cat keeps knocking them around at this point.
Anyway thank you so much if anyone sees this and wants to respond! I’m really curious and uuuh hoping to use this to dip my toes into the community part of doll collecting, since I’ve been pretty solitary so far!
I’ve been trying to figure out the storage conundrum myself! So far my system involves wrapping dolls in acid-free tissue paper and then putting them into plastic storage bins, which then go into a closet. Accessories and clothes go into sorted ziplock bags. I’m still struggling to figure out what to do with big playset-like stuff–so far I keep most of that in bins as well but I’ve been trying to downsize that part of my collection lately because I find that I rarely display/take out/play with those sorts of items anyway.
Plastic bins has been my main plan for the time being, though the neat freak in me is utterly railing at the idea of not being able to sort it very well, so I’ve been considering some of those smaller like- interlocking style ones?
But the larger playset like items are absolutely the real conundrum- I avoid buying playsets since I live in a glorified shoebox, but in a few instances(mainly those dang skulltimate secrets coffins) I’ve had to get them to get the dolls. A part of me would almost rather just be rid of them, but I can’t really imagine who would want them on their own to take them off my hands.
Using tissue paper to keep the dolls safer (and probably keep their hair more in check!) is absolutely BRILLIANT though and something I’ll be implementing in the storage I do have for sure!
i like to keep extra clothes/accessories in bags according to the type & brand. like my MH clothes have their own bag, hard plastic MH accessories in another, Bratz shoes in one bag, Bratz clothes in another. i have the bags in a plastic bin with other doll stuff like stands, hairties, etc. obviously this would get more complicated the more dolls you have though. oh, and for the SS coffins i have them hung on my wall, with most of their extra stuff stored in the compartments.
I’ve seen a lot of people with the coffins hung on the walls and I always wonder how they’re managing that- is there a particular hook or shelf that you use?
I plan on keeping my collection small since my living space could probably be called a dollhouse itself it’s so tiny, so I’ve been eyeing using smaller bins used for craft supplies to store the clothes and shoes, because I am absolutely in the same boat of wanting to keep them separated by brand and type.
i use command hooks! you can find them at pretty much any big general store like WalMart or Target, they’re little hooks with a sticky backing you can stick to a wall, and they’re strong enough to easily hold up the coffins. you just have to measure the space between the holes on the back of the coffin to know where to stick the hooks on the wall, and they come off pretty easily if you really need to take them down 🙂
Ohh that’s clever- and a good way to avoid putting holes in your walls for renters. 🤔
I might hang just one or two of them, since even my walls have limited space.
(sorry for the delayed reply, uni ate me!)
I’ve gone through many display and storage iterations over the years, from having a whole room for dolls & crafts, to storing and displaying it all in mine and my spouse’s shared bedroom (current set-up). I copied the following from my IG post on the subject 🙂
So, I had all my doll & craft stuff in the spare (originally dining) room. But I want to turn that into more of a guest room/library, so I moved all the dolls and supplies into our bedroom. (Partner is fine with it.) It’s not as much display space, that’s for sure. And there are still some dolls in the spare room (Freak du chic, Reel Drama in their coffins, Mulan in her box). But honestly, I kind of like it that things are more condensed.
I use a ikea step/tiered 5-binTrofast unit: dolls not on display (3 bins), some customization supplies (2 bins), and fabric (1 bin). I use one of those rainbow drawer shelf carts for clothes, little accessories, and stands. Some of the little accessories are in thread organizers inside the drawers. I use a hardware box with 4 pull-out drawers for shoes. Project dolls are in a drawer under the bed, and I’m using half my dresser drawers to store AG dolls, bigger props, and various craft supplies.
I’m certainly not a minimalist by any strict (or loose lol) definition, but I don’t have a lot of clothes/bags/jewelry/makeup/other things that people might normally store in their dresser or closet — so why not use my storage for the dolls?
I’ll try to make a post here in dollect about about it, so I can add pictures! (You can also go to my IG and scroll back aways for a pic; I’m rosiwalks there too.)
Oh man I took a peak and your setup looks so lovely (also I love the custom piercings you’ve given some of your dolls, especially EVA!)- and I love that the tiers of the bins allow for space to see all the dolls, too.
It’s absolutely something I’d love to copy if/when I’m able to move somewhere with more space, thank you so much for sharing! (and I totally agree having it in a post here would be very cool!)
Thank you! Yes, I love giving my dolls piercings heehee
I’ve made the storage post for dollect; just waiting on it to go through 🙂
It definitely makes me want to try it out on some of my dolls too, because there’s absolutely a few who could use a bit more edge!
I’m sure a lot of folks will find it useful to see once it’s posted!!
The multi million dollar question. Most all of the dolls I have gotten in the last year are on display, but some are still in boxes either waiting to be opened or displayed in Box. I have 2 Mainstay shelves from Walmart and other various tables, dresses, and a couple of doll houses for display. The shoes are all in multiple plastic cases I get at the dollar store as are other accessories. Some clothes are in a binder, think old school CD storage with the plastic sleeves and separate envelopes. Some outfits are in little closets and some are just rubber banded together in tins. I think I like the binder best, but not sure. If the book gets turned wrong, some of the clothes will fall out. I need to get a trapper case to put the binder in I guess.
Oh my gosh cd sleeves for the clothes is INSPIRED- absolute galaxy brain thinking, though I see where you’d probably want a case that zips closed to hold them if they slip out of place for sure.
I like using the binders for clothes too. Holy Yaz did a short on it where she used adhesive velcro to keep the top of the pocket closed.
Also, I will legit buy a doll for it’s clothes and donate the naked doll to the thrift store, or buy the outfit pieces second hand. It saves on space. I’m trying to figure out a setup where the appropriate binders get stored under their dolls so it is easier to change my dolls clothes.
My doll room is a mess! I’m getting it organized this winter, but it is slow going
I wanna try out customizing, so the dolls I liked the outfits for but not as much the doll themselves, or if I have too many of a specific character doll to justify KEEPING more, I’ve been turning the bodies into blanks to use for customs- just actually STARTED on my first one recently. But the bigger plastic pieces like the MH skulltimate coffins… Those are probably gonna see a donation bin before long.
My dolls have to share a room with me, so I’ve just got like- a couple shelves worth of space for them- I love seeing people’s doll rooms tho, like the thought that goes into them is so cool, I hope you’re able to get yours in the shape you like!
(sorry for the delayed reply, uni ate me!)
I actually use an old Caboodle for my doll clothes! If I had enough doll clothes I would get different Caboodles for each brand to sort it better but for now I’m content putting shoes and accessories in the top compartment and then all the fabric clothes in the bigger bottom part
Omg I had to google Caboodles bc I absolutely HAD one but never knew what it was called- that’s such a cute way to store them! I’ll have to search around- I suppose an art supply bin would be pretty similar, but gosh the Aesthetic!
Ironically shoes are what takes up the most space for me rn, because MH has a lot of chunky boots and the like, but something like this would probably be pretty flexible as the collection changes! Thank you so much for sharing!
(also sorry for the delayed reply, uni ate me!)
Most of the dolls I own are from my childhood and those are in various plastic containers sitting on the top shelf of my closet. The out of box MH dolls I display are in one cube of my Ikea 4×4 shelving unit and on top of a solid wood set of drawers. I keep boxed dolls on top of the Ikea cube shelves leaned against the wall. I only have one SS doll currently, so the plastic locker is just standing on top of shelves. I’m actually going to run out of room for all my MH dolls pretty soon, so I’m not sure how I’ll be rearranging my collection. As for MH accessories, if I can’t fit something that came with a doll on it, then the pieces goes in a ziploc bag and put in a cloth basket in the Ikea cube shelves. I realize this is probably difficult to picture in your head, so I plan on making a blog post in the future showing my collection.