Remember last week when I mentioned I organized my entryway closet? Here’s a refresher:

Before:

After:

In that post, I had mentioned a product that I used that has changed my life.  Only one of you guessed that it was my hangers!  Yep something as simple as a hanger has made life so much easier for me, believe it!

Now I must be a little isolated here where I live because seriously I’ve never heard of the Joy Mangano Huggable Hanger until I received them to review. Up until now I’ve never really found a hanger that I love.  I’ve never been a fan of wooden hangers and I know Professional Organizers are gasping at me everywhere but I’ve always felt they were ugly and because they bow out they take up way too much space in a closet.  So I’ve been using plastic hangers which are fine except for the annoying habit coats have of falling off them.  Drives me crazy!  These Huggable Hangers are made of velvet-flocked material which means my coats no longer slide off…yipee!  Not only that but because they are thinner they allow you to fit more into a space.  Oh and as a bonus they prevent those horrible shoulder bumps as well….blech.

These were my coats before.  Don’t even ask me how many times I’ve picked up that one there in the middle with the red trim off the floor.  Seriously, what a waste of time!

Now I don’t have that problem anymore and I’m a changed woman!!  Coats stay put!

Love, love, love!

Now some other things going on in my closet to keep me organized are my bins on top which hold my husband’s ball caps, summer hats, bags, etc.  I still need to label them.  I blogged about where I purchased them here.

And then tucked behind the coats on the back wall I’ve hung up a four pocket organizer using a command hook.  Here I’ve got some extra supplies for the vehicle (tissues, wipes, etc) that are quick and easy to grab and go.

And then beside that I’ve got my shoe organizer that holds quite a number of shoes.

Finally the basket on the cubby shelf is home for all my Bella’s dog supplies.

Ahh isn’t she sweet :)

So there you have it my small but organized entryway and front door closet.

Giveaway:

Would you like to win a 24 pack of Huggable Hangers for yourself?  Simply leave a comment on this post prior to Tuesday, May 10th at 2:00 pm EST.  That’s it!

Good luck!!

My entryway and a Huggable Hangers giveaway! is a post from: I'm an Organizing Junkie

This week customers of Org Junkie’s Shop are eligible to win an Original Stash Organizer! (draw to take place Oct 31st….if you’ve already made a purchase this month–thank you so much!–you are automatically entered)

I love the Simply Stashed line of products so much that you’ll find them all in my shop.  You might remember the Mini Stash that I reviewed not too long ago.  I used it to house my office supplies.

Something I didn’t point out last time but should have because it’s awesome is that the door hooks that come with the Simply Stashed line of organizers are thin enough to still allow doors to close.  Very handy!

This same company also has another line called Gear Pockets.  I was stumped with what to do with my entryway in my new house as I have no floor space to store the kids winter hats and mitts at the door.  I have just a small split level landing.  Fortunately I have a garage door that enters right beside the main door so I decided to utilize some vertical space on that door.  The Original Gear Pocket Organizer came to my rescue here:

It’s working great!  You have no idea how happy I was to find such an awesome solution.  Since the Gear Pocket line comes with permanent hooks for the garage I just used Command Hooks to fix it to the door.  So easy to do and so easy to remove if needed.

By making a purchase from my shop anytime during October you are automatically entered into the weekly prize draws AND the final grand prize draw at the end of the month.

Don’t forget the GRAND prize is this amazing beauty below just in time to cook those yummy Thanksgiving turkeys:

Foldtuk Collapsible Roaster

This week on sale is a Collapsible Roaster and Collapsible Casserole Dish combo…purchase both for $69.00!

You can find more details of Customer Appreciation Month here.  Thanks everyone!  I heart you! :)

Velcro winner + Original Stash Organizer prize! is a post from: I'm an Organizing Junkie

Oh my goodness I may have swooned when I saw what Diane of In my Own Style did with an old dresser in her mudroom to provide some much needed organization.  I love that she picked up this old hollowed up dresser on the side of the road and transformed it into something completely functional for next to nothing.

Mudrooms and entryways require storage for so many things don’t they?  We need space for things like keys, sunglasses, hats, mitts, library books, handbags, wallets, electronics, sunscreens, the list goes on and on.

What Diane create here was a home for all of it.  She added some shelves to the dresser and some dollar store baskets and voila, storage galore!

Beautiful!!

It’s all about taking the resources we have available to us and making them work for our needs.  This just goes to show you that not all solutions have to cost a lot of money.  I love it!  I also love the way she labeled each of them.  Go on over and read her post for the details :)

Thanks for letting me share your post and pictures with my readers today Diane, you definitely deserve today’s Storage Star!

Have you ever taken trash and turned it into clever storage?  I’d love to hear about it!

Storage Star ~ Mudroom organizing is a post from: I'm an Organizing Junkie

Are all you cow-girls (boys?) ready to rope in your entryways into the Mr. Linky below?  (sorry, totally couldn’t resist :) )

Don’t be shy, we can’t wait to see what you’ve done.  So whether you’ve made a big change or a little change, it’s all good.  If something is working a little bit easier for you with some changes you were able to incorporate then let us celebrate that with you.   Please link up below to a post on your site that shows us both your before and after pictures and remember to use the direct link to your round-up post and not to your homepage.  That’s helpful for those of us who might not get a chance to take a peek at your post until later.  * Also, as a courtesy, if you are going to participate please be kind and link back to this post within your post.  I noticed quite a few blogs that didn’t do this last time. *

I want to give a big shout-out to our August/September sponsor, The Organize It Mom!  If you haven’t had a chance to check out her products then you really must.  I wrote a review over on my review site which you can read here.  Laurieann will be giving away a $60.00 prize package to one of the round up participants who enters in either Aug or Sept.  Entering in both gives you two chances to win!  Need more time?  Not a problem, you have until 3:00 pm PST on Sunday.

For more info on Org Junkie’s Monthly Round-Up and to visit previous round up entries go here.  Interested in being a future sponsor?  E-mail me!

Thanks all!  Next month we are moving on to our home offices.  Yikes!

We are rounding up the entryways today! is a post from: I'm an Organizing Junkie

This is the last week of getting our entryways organized and I’m getting excited about it as I’ve had a sneak peek at a few of them and they are awesome! I’ll be putting up the Round-Up Mr. Linky on Friday so please come back and enter your link to your entryway then.

Today I have some most excellent entryway links that I think you’re going to like and may also provide you with some additional inspiration. Enjoy and then get to work :)

I got my dream mudroom ~ Just Beachy

Mudroom closet ~ The Shabby Nest

Are you handy? Make your own mudroom storage bench

Only have a small space available? Make your own mini-mudroom

Create your own organized home entryway system ~ Declutter It!

Organizing entryways ~ video

Front door hooks ~ video

photo courtesy of freakgirl

Sponsored by The Organize It Mom! who will be giving away a $60.00 prize package to one of the Round-Up participants!

Link-Tastic ~ The Organizing Entryways Edition is a post from: I'm an Organizing Junkie

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!

Back to School with a Backpack Station is a post from: I'm an Organizing Junkie

And here it is today:

Okay so not that much different but it amuses me to see the basket shuffle in action :) Who doesn’t love a good basket shuffle? It’s fun to try new configurations to see what can be improved on. I’ve been able to add some pretty wicker baskets this time (they became available from my son’s room when we took down his change table). Of course I’d love it if all the baskets in this closet were decorative ones because the doors are left open so often but that will have to be something that comes gradually over time. Believe me, a good wicker basket on sale is worth the wait! Finding them at the thrift store is even more sweet.

Let’s take a peak inside one of those baskets now. This is where I store entryway essentials like chapstick, hairspray for last minute touch-ups, tissues, change jar, etc..

The other wicker basket holds my purse.

The very top long shelf of the closet organizer holds our extra bags like our carry-ons for when we travel, that kind of thing.  Things we don’t use too often.  The top white basket in the first cubby holds all my hubbie’s ball caps, the next cubby basket is what I call my entrance way junk drawer (can we say catch all!) and the clear container under that holds all our sunglasses.

We try and leave the hanging space on the right free for our guest’s coats when they visit.

Here’s a better view of the entire entryway:

I got the little hat tree by the door through some mail order catalogue ages ago and it makes it so easy for the kids to throw their hats on when they come in the door. No more picking them up off the floor!

So that’s it folks, doors closed.

I hope you enjoyed your peek into my entrance way today. Now I’m off to see if any more of my baskets want to dance with me :)

My Entryway Closet revisited is a post from: I'm an Organizing Junkie

Since that time though my backpack station has evolved somewhat to accommodate a third child and more shoes! This is why organizing in an ongoing process, circumstances change and we need to be able to adjust with them in order to keep one step ahead of the chaos.

Here is what it use to look like:

And here it is now:

Again just a little change but it makes a big difference in terms of my sanity. These stacking shoe racks are awesome and fairly inexpensive. They can be purchased at most department stores.

Do you have a backpack station? I would love to put together a post of backpack station pictures if there is interest. If you’d like to be featured please email me a picture along with your blog address and I’ll get busy :)

Tomorrow I’ll post how my front closet has changed since last year. Gee exciting times around here or what LOL.

Related Posts:

My front door basket storage

Back Pack Rack

Back of door storage

I’m Outta Here Shelf

Backpack Station revisited is a post from: I'm an Organizing Junkie

******************

I love mudrooms! They corral clutter before it enters your home! If you don’t have a mudroom, you can even create one in your garage.

Whether your mudroom is inside your house or in the garage, the idea is the same – you want to have a dumping ground as your family enters the house. Start with pegs or hooks to hang backpacks, briefcases, coats, scarves, etc. Add a bench with storage to sit on while taking off shoes. A chair will suffice, too.

The bench can house sports equipment if you have athletes in the house. Or choose another receptacle for sports equipment. And finally, shoe storage – a shoe rack, shelves, etc. A rug from the bench or chair to the door is a nice touch, if your mudroom is in your garage. If the members of your family are slipper wearers, they could keep them in the mudroom and slip into them after removing their shoes.

By creating such a mudroom, your house doesn’t look like it has exploded when family members come home. It takes a little training to get everyone to put things on hooks or in the shoe or athletic storage, but it is worth the effort! Every few days, have a shoe exchange where everyone picks up an armload of their shoes and takes them to their closets.

Whoever invented mudrooms was ingenious!

photo courtesy of dennace

Organizing your mudroom is a post from: I'm an Organizing Junkie

Well here we are into August already and moving on to getting our entryways and/or mudrooms organized. Before I jump into that though I have some unfinished business to clear up from the previous two months…the prize of course! Thank you to everyone who entered in either June (playroom) and/or July (bathroom), it was a great success. I have gone ahead and selected one lucky winner (via random.org) to win the prize package from Organize Magazine. That person is:

Thea from I’m a Drama Mama!!

Congratulations Thea!

Alrighty then, now we are moving on. Those that participate in either August (entryway) or September (office) will be eligible to win a most awesome prize package from The Organize It Mom! valued at $60.00. If you’ve not heard of The Organize It Mom! products be sure to read my review here. Very cool!

The entryway is the first room you see when you come into your home and whether you have a big one or one on the smaller side you are sending a message to everyone who enters (including yourself) about the nature of your home. When you walk in your front door does it say welcome to those who enter? Do you see a chaotic scene with shoes and coats thrown about? Do you find yourself tensing up as you maneuver your way around obstacles dropped at the door? Do you find yourself wanting to turn around and leave again?

What would you rather it say?

Having an organized entryway is important to me as it is to my husband. Because I know this I always try to make an effort to tidy up the entrance way before my hubby comes home from work even if the rest of my house is in chaos around me at the time. I want him to walk in and at least have that first impression of peacefulness and serenity. I want to set the right tone to welcome him home. That goes for my friends as well.

Having said all that I know that these front entrance ways are rarely big enough for all they need to encompass. Gosh we need room for the backpacks, the hats and mitts, the coats, the keys, the sunglasses, the shoes, the boots, the purses, an I’m Outta Here Shelf, the umbrellas, the wallets, etc. The list goes on and on. Let’s take it one step at a time. Start with your plan. Make a list of everything you need to house in this area and then set about finding designated areas for them. If you have a small space this may require some thinking outside of the box, a little more firmness in the purging and a little more creativity but it can definitely be done. There is a system that will work for your family.

Do you want to get tackling the shoes that seem to multiply overnight? I did a post some time ago on shoe storage solutions for small spaces that you might find helpful.

And of course many of you will remember my absolute favorite mudroom found over at Lisa’s of Take 90 West. Love, love, love it!!

I’ve also got one reader who has already completed her front entryway with a simple shoe solution and it looks great. Check out her site, Roots & Wings, for some inspiration!

Got a burning entryway question? Fire away in the comments. Have fun!!

Let’s bust a move on our entryways…. is a post from: I'm an Organizing Junkie