You know the thing I love so much about organizing is there is no right or wrong answer. What works for one family may or may not work for another but that’s what makes it so exciting. Today I’ve compiled six different backpack stations that are each amazing despite being so different from one another. Perhaps seeing how other people manage an area of their home will give you some ideas for yours. It’s like mixing and matching for house accessories. Have fun!!
Thanks to all these organized ladies for letting us peek into their homes!
First up Debbie from Virtually Organized shows us her closet backpack station. I really love those fabric bins that really do hold a lot of stuff.
Next we have Amy from Mom’s Toolbox (great blog design by the way!). Below you’ll see that they did away with the closet doors in order to add some built in shelving to create plenty of shoe storage underneath the bench as well as in the cubbies above all the hooks. Amy just recently reorganized this space and you can see her before photo here.
Next Jen of Our Daily Big Top shows us her backpack station. I’m betting this makes her mornings run so much smoother!
One of my readers, who doesn’t blog, sent me these next two pictures of her entryway area. Julie dressed her backpack station up by adding some big name letters to avoid any fighting over the hooks. Great idea!
Here is the other side that includes a side table to house some trays for paper (one for each member of the family) as well as a magazine holder for all the magazines that come in and are waiting to be read. Love the mirror/bulletin board with the hooks as well.
Next Lori of She of 3 Angels shares her fantastic backpack station complete with shoe cubbies. Easy and inexpensive. Above the hooks she also has a terrific idea for keeping on top of the kid’s schedules. She goes into detail about that on this post. Check it out!
Finally, Jennifer of This Is My Munchkinland was kind enough to share these next two pictures of her entryway hooks and cubbies. I really do love how functional these cubbies are. You can purchase them at most department stores for reasonable prices and they really do provide you with a lot more space. Most excellent!
Happy Friday everyone!
Dave Fowler says
Hi Laura,
This is just the sort of inspiration I’ve been looking for.
I’ve recently become a Househusband / Stay at Home Dad, and I have a desperate need to get something like this in place before school starts again.
My current solution is UGLY UGLY UGLY.
The solutions you show above give me some hope that I can fight through the chaos.
Thanks
Dave
Niki says
I love to see what other mom’s are doing out there. I have to start thinking of implementing one of these as my oldest is starting pre-school. Thanks for the inspiration
Multi-Tasking Mommy says
There are some great ideas and amazing spaces there…I just wish I had room like that in my house.
Beth (A Mom's Life) says
Thanks for all of the wonderful backpack station ideas! Now I’m off to look around my house to see what might work for me!
Lisa says
GREAT ideas!! I’ve book marked them for the new house [if we ever find it!]
Dawn says
Those are some great ideas…I still need to put up something for them to keep notes or things that need to be returned to school…Thanks for all the creative ideas.
Catherine says
Wow! I love these ideas! I just wish I had a large enough area to do some of these!
Susanne says
Those all look so well done! We’ve never ever had a backpack station.
Alyssa says
Laura,
Can you give us some links of some places to purchase these hooks, shelves, etc. I live in a rural area and don’t have stores that carry these type items.
Tamiel says
Thank you! Your website is a life savor! We don’t have a mudroom and I could not figure out where to have a backpack station but these ideas are PERFECT!
Heidi Boos says
Ooh! Every time I see your pictures of backpack stations, it makes me wish I needed one, but it will be a few more years yet. I should be thankful for that, right? Thanks for sharing what works for others, too.
much more than a mom says
Oooh, that second pic with the closet doors gone? FAB! I intend to borrow that idea some day…
Organizing Mommy says
These are great ideas, thanks
Marcia "HDMac" McFar says
These all give wonderful ideas.
Mama of 2 says
I have been considering doing something along these lines myself. More of a command center rather than just a backpack station. Thanks for givng me some really cool concepts to model.
Mandi says
Great ideas. I just finished up mine today. Was really inspired by what the other moms are doing. I was so tired of searching everywhere for things.
Virtually Organized says
Thanks for including the link to the closet backpack station. I actually created this for a client last year, and she still uses it for her 4 kids. What you can’t see in the picture is that the top shelf actually goes around the inside corners. Mom has a bin on one side and Dad has a bin on the other. These top bins hold out-of-season necessities for each member of the household. The matching bins below store their shoes. Even the 2-year-old knows which colored bin is for her to put her shoes in!
Thanks so much! I LOVE your site!
Debbie
Shynea says
Thank you so much for posting this. These entryway storage spaces is exactly the kind of inspiration I have been needing to get my own son’s school things in order. I don’t have enough space in my tiny, tiny home to do something in the entryway, but I can definitely figure out another place to put and organization station in my home. I like how you have shown differnt options and features, and I really like how all of the displays shown are different. I am going to have to do a little something at my house very soon.
Aimee says
Great entryways and backpack stations! I have been away from the computer for a week and happy to see this when I came back!
My husband and I were just trying to diveise a backpack station in our kitchen for the three oldest kids. IF we ever get around to it this week I will post pictures.
Thanks for the inspiration!
Creative Triplet Mom says
Oh this was so neat. I just love that idea with the initials on the wall. So need to copy that one! I also love the box idea. I use those boxes for the kids toys in the toy room but I may have to incorporate that into my laundry room too. Thanks for sharing all these. It was nice to see them.
Jen says
Thank you for sharing such great ideas! I have been trying to find a solution for all our school stuff. We have an under used closet in our hallway….old coats to the goodwill, 2 new shelves and we now have docking stations and school bags are off the floor.
Aimee says
I put a picture up on my blog of our inexpensive backpack station-it is not asa nice as your samples but it works for us. Come on over and check it out if you like! Thanks again for the idea!!!
Adrian says
Thanks for sharing this. We kind of dropped the ball last year on home work, so our goal this year was to do a better job of it. I set up a hook from Ikea for my son’s backpack and I set up some file folders for him to put his homework and flyers in and created a checklist for all his chores and homework items.
Pip says
I just made a mail center for my kids’ home bags and various letters from school.
OK I made it a month ago and school’s been in for a week, I just hadn’t gotten around to writing about it hah!
Their backpacks hang on hooks behind their bedroom doors, 3m hooks of course!
Jill says
I’d love to know where Jen purchased her items. They are really nice!
alexdesouza says
Thanks for including the link to the closet backpack station. I actually created this for a client last year, and she still uses it for her 4 kids. What you can’t see in the picture is that the top shelf actually goes around the inside corners. Mom has a bin on one side and Dad has a bin on the other. These top bins hold out-of-season necessities for each member of the household. The matching bins below store their shoes. Even the 2-year-old knows which colored bin is for her to put her shoes in!
Thanks so much! I LOVE your site!