DIY Board Game Storage Tutorial

Are you tired of the tangled pieces and cluttered shelves that come with board game collections? Let’s transform those chaotic game shelves into a beautifully organized space with my latest DIY project. This simple, yet genius, storage solution keeps your space organized for family game night to ensure you’re ready to make memories without the mess (& missing pieces).

Board Game Storage Dilemma

We love pick out our favorite board game and having a family game night. It’s the perfect way to connect as a family and get some screen free time together.

As the kid’s have started showing more and more interest in board games, our collection has been growing at a rapid pace, and we now have a large board game collection. It became a bit of what I call “board game clutter.”

As much as I love playing the board games, organizing and storing board games is a different story.

In our last house, we had a shelf in the garage that was the perfect storage space for all our board games. We had plenty of room for the bulky boxes which meant I never worried about storing our board games.

Board Game Storage Trials & Errors

However, since we’ve moved, I’ve struggled to find the perfect space for our games.

I tried a “game closet” in the playroom but only a handful of boxes fit in the space. Then I was left trying to figure out another space for the other boxes and I didn’t want them in different areas of the house. It just felt too chaotic to me.

Plus, my younger two could easily find and dump the boxes before I even saw what was going on which led to a lot of missing pieces.

My solution was to store them in our dining room on the bottom shelf of my potting bench. This potting bench serves of kind of a catch all. I use it for any need I have, plus my houseplant collection.

This worked for awhile but at Christmas time I gifted each child a new board game to keep our love of board games alive. This led to more of a chaotic scene and I knew I once again needed to make changes to how I stored our board games.

Finding Solutions

I did what all mom’s do when they need help, I started browsing Pinterest.

I loved the look of the plastic containers to store the board games. However, if you’ve played kid’s board games, you know they’re not always flat. This means those beautiful plastic flat containers were not going to work for our family.

DIY Board Game Storage

My Board Game Storage Solution

After a lot of research, I finally decided to try these mesh plastic bags to hold our board games. It was such a great solution.

Why I Chose This Storage Solution

1. I ended up opting for these bags because they are able to support a variety of sizes, and shapes, of kid’s board games which is a HUGE plus for me. In addition to the large bags, I also purchased smaller bags to keep the game pieces together within the larger bag.
2. Since we move frequently, I was honestly worried that pieces would go missing or fall out of a box if I kept them in their original boxes. These zip bags ensure that all the board games, and small pieces, are kept together and we don’t risk the chance of things falling out of boxes during a move.
3. The bags are also a budget-friendly solution. You can have storage for up to 12 large board games for under $40.

**I should note, I did consider just using ziplock bags but with four kid’s I knew a ziplock bag would easily be destroyed and they couldn’t really accommodate a variety of board game sizes.

Step-by-Step Tutorial

Materials

1. Mesh Zipper Pouch, 16.9 x 12.4 in (pack of 12)
2. Mesh Zipper Pouch, 9.2 X 4.7 in (pack of 12)
3. Packing Tape
4. Scissors
5. Rubber Bands

*You can find all the materials linked here on my Amazon Storefront for your connivence.

DIY Tutorial

Step 1: Gather Materials

Gather all your board games and materials into a designated work space. You’ll want to organize your bags, scissors, tape, and rubber bands.

Step 2: Let’s get our games into the bags.

I like to put the biggest piece into the large pouch first. Then if there are any cards, I use a rubber band to keep them together. The small pieces all go into the smaller zip pouch and then placed into the larger zipper pouch.

**If you have card games, I stored these individually in the small zipper pouch and didn’t waste a large zipper pouch.

Step 3: Labeling

Once you have all your pieces into the zipper storage pouch, you’ll use scissors to cut the label off the original box.

After you’ve cut out the label, use the packing tape to tape the label onto the storage pouch, as pictured above.

Step 4: Storage Basket

Now that you have all your games nicely stored in these zipper pouches it’s time to find a basket to house them.

I lucked out and found the perfect wicker trunk with matching baskets at Home Goods.

When you’re looking for a basket make sure you measure it and it’ll be large (wide) enough to house the large zipper pouches.

If I wouldn’t have found my trunk, I had planned to do a more traditional woven basket that would have allowed us to view the tops of the labels on the storage pouches.

Step 6: Recycle

Once you finish your project, make sure to recycle the original boxes.

Extra Tips to Know:

• Small Pieces: If you have a game that has a lot of smaller pieces, consider using several smaller ziplock bags to keep them separate and organized within your large mesh zipper bag.
• Rubber Bands: I didn’t have rubber bands on hand but had those little plastic girls hair bands, and they fit perfectly on our smaller decks of cards to keep them together.
• Basket Storage: I found my trunk basket at Home Goods and it ended up being the perfect size. You can check your local Home Goods, TJ Max, Target, Walmart, or thrift store to find a basket that fits your personal style to house the mesh bags.
• Alphabetical Order: I ended up organizing our board games into alphabetical order. This was we can easily grab the game we want without flipping through the bags aimlessly.
• Game Size: You are probably curious if all our games fit into the plastic mesh bags. The answer is “almost.” All our fit into the boxes with the exception of Operation. This game board was too long for the zipper bags. I almost got it to work but I didn’t want to break the board or the zipper bag which means I left it in its original box. I’ll be keeping this one stored behind my trunk basket.

Alternative Storage Ideas:

• Hanging Closet Organizer
• Plastic Storage Containers
• Storage Shelf
• Board Game Elastic Bands
• Zippered Block Bags

You can find the curated list of alternative storage ideas HERE.

Thoughts?

Let me know below in the comments if you have tried this method and how it worked out for you!

If you are in your cleaning era right now, check out my Cleaning Schedule too!

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