Hellobee Boards

@Mrs. Confetti: Agreed! We have a 2x4 Ikea Expedit and it's perfect!

you could anchor the expedit to the wall, and put larger toys on the top of it (when tipped to be horizontal, of course)

I think that people worry too much about something being 'montessori'. All montessori furniture means is that it is at their level and fully accessible to them at all times. My montessori house is mostly a bunch of cheap-o old ikea bookshelves securely anchored to the wall.

@Mrs. Sketchbook: have you considered looking on your local craigslist for people who want to build things? There are always people on our local CL who are looking for jobs.

@mrs. Sketchbook - $173 still isn't cheap...but this one might do the trick: http://mobile.walmart.com/m/phoenix#ip/Wood-Designs-Contender-Baltic-Bookcase/23434741?type=search

@Mrs. Sketchbook: Yes, you can screw them into the wall (a friend of mine had them floating about a foot off the floor. You can also paint them (so they don't look so goofy). There are lots of people that do paint them.

@Mrs. Sketchbook: I hear you about that. Replacing my bookshelves isn't even on my radar in terms of home improvement, when we'll just move out of this house in a few years.

We are getting this for our living room:

http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/40245741/

We can put books and things for us on top, and we're going to put bins on the bottom for toys. I don't know how it's going to work yet, but I have high hopes!

@Mrs. Sketchbook: LOVE that. And you can strap anything down to a wall to make it safe. Really pretty. For shelving, I go either totally cheap, or heirloom level nice. Since I'm in a rental, it's cheap all the way for now. That's a great option.