Organizing your mudroom
Today I’d like to welcome guest blogger, Beverly Coggins from 1-2-3..Get Organized. Beverly is a Professional Organizer in Ohio and you might even remember her from the review I did not too long ago of her fabulous organizing mini books. Welcome Bev!
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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
Let’s bust a move on our entryways….
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:
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!!
Storage Star ~ Organizing the mudroom
Oh my gosh are you in for a treat today. Right now I have two friends in town that would like some assistance putting together a mudroom and when I saw Lisa’s pictures I found some great inspiration! Take a look at this picture and see why Lisa’s mudroom is Storage Star worthy.
Isn’t that incredible! Honestly she has thought of everything when creating this space. Each kid has their own bin in the mail sorter for school and sport papers, the red bins hold sports uniforms and accessories and the white bins on the bottom contain shoes and perhaps even an I’m Outta Here Shelf. The backpack cubbies provide ample space for the necessary daily items with everything right there at their fingertips. My own backpack station pales in comparison let me tell you. For further details and pictures of this fantastic space please visit Lisa’s blog Take 90 West.
Lisa I love the thought and attention to detail you put into this space and I can totally see why this mudroom has saved your sanity. Well done!
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If you could design the mudroom of your dreams what would you include?
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