DIY Toy Shelf

I should have said "shelves", since I planned to make two matching ones. But since I don't have time to make the second one this month, and the first one is so fresh and lovely, I have to post it now, standing there proudly, but very lonely. Don't worry, your twin brother will join you soon, I promise!
Well, I drew this plan in my little pocket book, like months ago. Finally got the courage to get started. Once the wood was cut, there is no turning back. Oh, I have to remember to post pictures of my plan for the shelves, and measurements and cutting plan to the original post. I measured all her toys, so even the big ones have their own spots in this new system. I love how crispy clean the white is, plus a couple of coats of polyurethane, it should hold pretty good. One thing I do regret is painting the inside aqua-blue. What can I say, mommy loves blue! Remember her room? It's blue! And the dresses I refashioned for her recently were also blue! But now seeing how many of her toys are blue, I should have just left it white, or painted it apple green? Anyway, I am getting some white plastic bins or baskets for the top shelves, so I can group toys, and it will look less messy. If I cannot find bins big enough, I just have to make some myself. To utilize every inch of the shelf space, I will need bins that's long and narrow, like 10" by 18". That's very odd measurement!

Here are the before pictures. It's hard to tell, but it's kind of messy before. Toys all over the floor, above and under her little table, so she got nowhere to doodle. And most of her smaller toys and stuffed animals are piled up in that big canvas bin. Of course there were toys in other rooms too. And do you see all those pillows on top of the sofa back? No one sit in that corner, it's taking up too much space, just to hold some pillows and toys sometimes. Yeah, it was our fault buying such a huge sectional sofa for such a small room. But it didn't look so big in the big bright showroom! We didn't even have space for a sidetable or shoe rack! So, to make space for the twin toy shelves, I removed that corner sofa! Look how much space we got! That metal shelf came out of little caterpillar's closet, and it's there only temporarily, holding the space for the second toy shelf. We also got more than enough space for a shoe cabinet! No more piled up shoes in front of the door. And we still have enough sofa for 3! OK, take another look at my new 'old' shoe cabinet!
It holds so many pairs of shoes, ours and little caterpillars. The door stucks a little, so you have to wiggle it to open. But it can be a good thing, so little caterpillar won't open it all the time and pull every single one of them out. I got it from my best friend, who moved away two months ago. It's still in good shape, but just dingy. Nothing some fresh paint couldn't fix. Now we have a spot to put our bags. And I am eyeing the narrow wall next to it for a cute coat hanger, so our coats and jackets won't pile up on the sofa again. OK, there is still much to be done for this room. Some are simple, like hanging some more modern arts, but others are very big job, like reconfiguring the living room closet. Those will be posts of their own, one day. For now, I just like to sit back and admire my handy work. Oh, did I mention this before? Little caterpilalr loves this new arrangement, she can get to all her toys now.