14 beneficial Board Game Storage Ideas

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Family game night is only fun if you can actually find your games. In this article we’ll look at 14 board game storage ideas so you can quickly and easily find your favorite game.

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How to store board games? – 14 Ideas

Below are various ways you can store and organize your board games. I share the way we currently store our games in the last picture. (Though some of these other ideas I’ve researched are really inspiring and take up less space.)

Adjustable Board Game Shelving Units by BoxThrone

Do you have a large collection of board games that you’re proud of and want to display?

If you answered yes, you’ll want to check out these dedicated board game storage shelves by the company BoxThrone.

These adjustable shelving units will allow you to store lots of games, be able to see and quickly grab the game you want, and they look awesome!

They can be customized to fit games of different sizes and allow your storage to grow with your collection.

BoxThrone sells various sizes of shelves in addition to accessories like storage drawers to fit their units.

If you like the look of these, click here to check out their website.

Coffee Table with Storage

Coffee tables with built-in storage are a good solution for storing your board games.

A table like the one above from Sauder will keep games handy – yet hidden – so your living room won’t look cluttered.

If you already have a coffee table with a shelf underneath, you can get some baskets and store your games in the baskets.

I snapped the photo below showing some of my daughter’s games in a basket under our coffee table. (I usually keep the games elsewhere, but it shows this storage option “in action”.

Game Closet

Transforming a spare closet into a game closet can create a special space for your board games.

The picture above is from the blog ThePolishedHabit.com The owner of the site Melissa took a cluttered hallway closet and turned it into a great board game storage closet.

Check out how she stored the board games vertically like books upon shelf. Cool idea. And the drawer system on the bottoms works well for smaller games like card games.

And if you can put adjustable shelves in your closet you’ll be able to accommodate games of different sizes and shapes.

Worried they’ll open if stored vertically? Check out these box bands

When I first saw the games stored vertically I thought about, “What if they tip over and open up?”

This wouldn’t be a concern if you have the shelf packed tight with games because they’d have nowhere to tip.

But if you’re concerned about this, you can actually buy elastic box bands to make sure the lids stays on.

Or you could use large elastic bands or elastic headbands if you have some extra ones around your house.

Plastic Storage Project Cases (stackable)

One of the biggest problems about storing board games is the bulky, original boxes they come in. And the boxes are various sizes making it hard to stack or organize them.

But who says you need to keep the original box?

You can remove the game contents from the original box and store it in something like these plastic project cases instead.

These are thinner and uniform in size.

Most of your board games will be able to fit into cases like this, and just keep the few that don’t in their original container.

Once you’ve got your games into here, you can label them then stack them or file them like books upon a shelf or under the bed.

The blogger Stephanie from SomewhatSimple.com did this with her board games and you can see the finished result in the picture below.

Plastic Zippered Pouches

This is another option that allows you to ditch the clunky original boxes and store your games in plastic pouches instead.

The positive thing about this is that it reduces the size each game takes up. You’d be able to store these pouches in a filing cabinet or tote.

The downside to this option though is that it’s a soft-sided pouch – so your game won’t be protected from damage the way it was in its original cardboard box.

As you can see I did this with one of my kids’ games called “Tummy Ache.” It’s a great game for kids and it has been through a lot of wear and tear. The taped-up cardboard box was in rough shape.

So I took the game board and pieces out of the box, put them into the envelope and then cut out the front of the box and slipped it into the pouch too. This makes it easy to identify the game.

But I only did it with one of our games.

I don’t know why, but I felt bad cutting up the boxes. Maybe it is because I like the colorful designs of the boxes.

If you don’t have any issue cutting up the boxes, this may work well for you. I bought my plastic envelopes at a local dollar store. If yours doesn’t have these, Amazon sells the ones in the picture below.

These particular pouches come as a 12-pack, so you’ll be able to organize a large collection of games.

Ziploc Bags

If you don’t want to buy zippered pouches, Ziploc bags are a budget-friendly way to store your game pieces, cards, and puzzles.

They keep everything together, making it easy to store them in a drawer or bin.

This method prevents game pieces from getting lost or mixed up by keeping each game in its own bag, but it won’t protect against damage like a box does.

Store your Games on Wall Shelves

The blogger Keri from OneMamasDailyDrama.com used these simple shelves to create efficient storage for her family’s board games.

This is actually inside a closet, but you could also use the same idea on an open wall.

Ottoman with Storage

Ottomans with storage compartments are excellent for discreetly storing games. They blend into your living room decor while providing a hidden space for your board games.

Plus, these ottomans also serve as extra seating or a footrest. And you can also use them to store throw blankets or pillows for a cozy family game night.

Over the Door Organizer Pockets

I haven’t personally tried this but I’ve heard of people using hanging organizers like this to store their board games.

Will this work for you? I think it would depend on how large your board game boxes are, and how many games you have in your collection.

Looking at the manufacturer’s listed dimensions, it looks like the plastic envelopes I bought from the dollar store would fit into these pockets. So that could be an option for you.

Below is a picture I took showing how you could store some small games – mostly CARD games – in a behind-the-door shoe organizer. It’s an efficient use of space, and your games would be organized and easily accessible, but obviously size is a limiting factor. (This is actually the organizer I’ve just recently put in my pantry to for pantry storage.)

Portable Board Game Bags

Do you bring games to your friends or family’s house regularly?

If so, there is a padded board game storage bag that is designed for people just like you.

Plastic Drawer Storage Carts

Imagine your board games in here instead of clothes.

Plastic drawer carts are a versatile option for storing board games, but you’ll likely need to buy a “wide” unit like this one from IRIS.

The inside measurement of these drawers are 18.5-inches long by 14-inches wide.

I measured our old Scrabble game box and it is about 16-inches by 10-inches so it would fit in here. And our Monopoly box is a 12-inch by 12-inch square so it would fit as well.

The transparent drawers help you see what’s inside so you can quickly grab the game you want.

Hanging Closet Organizer (how we previously stored our board games)

We used to use this hanging closet organizer to store some of our board games.

The shelves sagged slightly but since we were storing the games in their cardboard boxes this wasn’t a big issue. (The boxes were basically self-supporting.)

I think it is a good way to store board games, but longer boxes like Scrabble do stick out of the front a bit. (As you can see in the picture above, Scrabbles sticks out.)

We started accumulating more games so we needed another storage option. We switched to using an IKEA KALLAX cube storage unit. (Which you can see below.)

Store your Games in an IKEA KALLAX Shelving Unit (our current storage method)

This is our current board game storage system. The KALLAX shelves work well to store the games.

But we do need to go through these and get rid of the ones we don’t play. (I don’t even know what half of these games are or where they came from!)

In the picture above you can see the games stacked on top of each other.

I was inspired by some of the pictures I came across while researching for this article, so I decided to try storing the games vertically like books upon a shelf.

You can see the results in the picture below.

Some of the heavier games – like Cranium – I kept them horizontal as you can see in the bottom left cubby.

I like the colorfulness of this option. It helps brighten up the room.

This option works well for us.

If you don’t have an IKEA KALLAX unit then other cube furniture or a bookcase would work well too.

Thank you for checking out the article. I know I was inspired by some of the storage options I saw while writing this, so I hope they help you too.

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Do you have Barbie stuff everywhere? (Join the club.) Check out these Barbie Storage Ideas for inspiration.

Thank you.

Tim from LearnAlongWithMe.com

Tim worked in construction for a few years before going to university. Then he worked in a pharmacy for 10 years and now works as a full-time writer and online publisher. He has experience in several different, far-reaching lines of work.
“I sincerely hope you find the articles helpful and informative.”
Tim from LearnAlongWithMe.com

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