Daycare Storage, Lockers, and Finished Rooms

place Winnipeg, MB

A daycare has to work from the first coat on a hook to the last story at rest time. This project covers more than one part of that day. The locker wall is still the honest starting point for Phase One. Other rooms in the same daycare are already finished and in use, and those rooms belong in the story too.

The entrance lockers have not been rebuilt yet. What we can show now is the wall we are designing around, plus the finished classrooms, play rooms, and storage that already give children a clearer place to learn, rest, and put things away.

View the full daycare project post on Instagram

The locker wall we started with

The current lockers are a long run of beige laminate units. Closed doors sit at the top, a row of small cubbies holds papers and smaller belongings in the middle, and open stalls with metal hooks take coats and backpacks at child height. Extra bins and crates are stacked on top of the cabinets because the wall has already run out of room.

A second view shows how the storage wraps a small U-shaped alcove. Coats, shoes, and bags fill the stalls and spill onto the black floor mat. Close in, the hanging stalls are doing daily work, but name labels, trays, and leftover boxes on top make it clear the wall is past its comfortable capacity.

Daycare storage wall before renovation with upper cabinets, open cubbies, hooks, and temporary bins — Locker wall at the start of Phase One

Daycare locker wall before renovation, with closed upper cabinets, cubbies, hanging stalls, coats, and bins stacked on top — Phase One starting point along the locker wall

Daycare storage alcove before renovation, with beige lockers on three sides, stacked bins, and children's coats and shoes — The U-shaped locker alcove, still the before look

Open beige daycare locker cubbies in use, with backpacks, shoes, trays, and boxes stored on top — Existing cubbies, still the before lockers

Daycare classroom before the refresh, with toys, bins, a puppet theatre, and materials gathered on a dark blue carpet — Classroom before the finished layout

Our first priority for the lockers is function. In a busy daycare, storage should make arrivals and departures feel simpler for children, educators, and families. Each child needs a recognizable place for their belongings, while supplies that require adult access need their own sensible home.

As we develop the locker plan, we are thinking about how the wall is used at child height and how the upper storage can support the educators. More capacity matters, but so does making that capacity easy to understand. A well-organized wall should help everyone see where things belong instead of turning the morning routine into a search.

Finished rooms already in daily use

Other rooms in this daycare are already past that starting point. A reading nook now has a grey loveseat, a lace teepee, low wood bins, and a green grid rug under a sky-and-cloud ceiling panel. Beside it, a second view shows the same quiet corner with labeled white bins, a cloud pillow, and a window dressed with woodland decals.

The classroom is set up for the day, with child-size tables, a yellow bench, cubbies of red bins, and bulletin boards that hold the week’s work. A play kitchen in soft blue and cream gives the room a clear pretend-cook zone. The two-storey wood play loft has a puppet theatre, grey bins, a colorful rug, and a tree mural on the upper level.

New storage furniture is already in place against the tiled wall. Open cubbies hold craft paper, scissors, and labeled bins, with a small whiteboard noting the Georgia Home Design and Task Reno collaboration. This is finished storage in the rooms, not a rebuilt locker run.

Finished daycare reading nook with a grey loveseat, lace teepee, low wood bins, and a green grid rug — Finished reading nook

Finished daycare reading corner with labeled white bins, a grey armchair, a cloud pillow, and a window with woodland decals — Reading corner storage

Finished daycare classroom with child-size tables, storage cubbies, bulletin boards, and a window to the yard — Finished classroom

Finished wooden play kitchen in a daycare room, with oven, refrigerator, and sink units in soft blue and cream — Play kitchen

Finished two-storey daycare play loft with wood framing, a colorful rug, grey bins, and a puppet theatre — Play loft

Finished daycare storage cabinets with craft bins, paper slots, woven baskets, and a whiteboard on a tiled wall — Finished classroom storage

Colour, and the lockers still ahead

This space is for children, so practical does not have to mean plain. The finished rooms already use colour in a way that helps the day make sense: green bins, a grid rug, a sun on the loft, and a play kitchen that children can recognize at a glance. A splash of colour is still part of the locker plan as Phase One moves forward. We want that entrance wall to feel like a cheerful part of the same daycare, not simply a row of cabinets.

The exact locker finish is still ahead. Phase One is about confirming what the team needs, shaping the storage around real routines, and preparing the wall for the next stage. We are keeping the design flexible while those details are worked through.

We love a polished after photo, and this daycare already has several. Sharing the locker beginning matters too. Those before views record the real conditions we are designing around and give the finished rooms honest context.

The lockers have not been rebuilt yet. What is in place is a clear goal for that wall, and a set of rooms that already show how much better the day feels when storage, play, and rest each have a home. We will share the next chapter when this hard-working locker wall is ready.