Storage Star ~ Mitten holder
I’m happy to give today’s Storage Star award to The Happy Housewife!
If you live in winter climate you know keeping track of all the mittens, hats and scarfs can be a real frustrating dilemma. I love this solution though that she came up with. Using a fairly inexpensive shoe holder she was able to create enough space to house all the winter stuff right on the back of a door. I like that the pockets are clear because it makes it very easy to see whose stuff is whose with bigger kid stuff on the top, smaller kids on the bottom. It also wouldn’t matter so much if it got wet.
You can read more about how The Happy Housewife came up with this great solution and see another picture of it on her blog. So clever!
What do you do to corral all the winter gear?
(If you’ve done a post on this in the past please feel free to leave the link in the comments if you’d like)
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I like this idea… I will have to remember it for when/if I move to an area that has winter.
This is how I store our winter stuff. It’s a great way to keep everything sorted out and easily accessible.
What a neat idea!
Super “neat” idea.
Actually, I use a…
…shoe holder on the back of the door! I just blogged about it in the laundry room redo!
Mine is mesh so that if it’s still wet when it goes in, it can “breathe”.
We have a very small entrance way. The kids are expected to keep their winter hats and mitts with their coats… but I do have a fairly large stainless steel garbage container with a lid that I store all the extras in. It works great.
I love it! Our porch is sooo small, this is a perfect idea!
I “discovered” the organizational prowess of the over-the-door shoe holder some time again. I use one of mine in the sewing/craft room. The door is within arms reach of the sewing machine and is a dream for all those little (but not so frequently used) sewing and craft tools. Now I can spend time working instead of searching! 🙂
What a wonderful idea!! I currently have all the gloves and hats in a basket in the coat closet, and we have to dig around to find matching gloves, etc. It is extremely frustrating for everybody involved. I am getting this set up ASAP!!!
That’s exactly what we do, I love shoe organizers!
Hi to the other Jerri!
I like this idea very much. It’s so creative and could go on the back of the coat closet door that most of us have near the entrance.
Ah, yes, the shoe organizer! The inventor is due a standing ovation and hearty round of applause from mothers everywhere!
wow..this is just not a problem we have here in AZ! 🙂
Awesome idea though! 🙂
Wow! I did something that someone else uses!!! I’ve had this arrangement on my door for several years now. It’s the only “system” that’s worked for our winter gear. Of course I doubt her’s ever “also” features gardening tools, cat toys, empty soda cans etc that find their way into our organizer–esp in the “off season.” lol
Now how smart is that!
It is just me and my husband here in Vermont, so we don’t have tons of gloves, hats and scarves. Last year I bought two small and one medium cotton bins with windows from BB&B. We each have one for our gloves and mittens (okay, we have LOTS) and share a bin for hats and scarves.
I use my over the door shoe hanger in our bathroom closet to store “extras” like hotel shampoos and things I purchased in multiples. When I close the door, the room looks much neater.
I like this idea but when what if you don’t have a mudroom or a door to hang anything on?
With 2 kids and a hubby who wears a uniform we have LOTS of stuff at the door during the winter.
Check out my photo page and see the console I bought (Wal-Mart). We have one bin for each person (+ one for the uniform stuff). The spare bin contains packages of tissues, suntan lotion (summer) lip gloss, sunglass cases & cleaner etc – all that stuff you need just before you head out the door.
My mom stores the winter stuff like this too.
Personally I like for each person to have their own space for their coming and going stuff.
I like the idea. You might need drainage holes in the pockets, if the mittens are wet. You can really see who is picking up after themselves also!!
I feel kind of un-creative because I have just been using the shoe holder to hold shoes! 🙂 I have been really missing out.
I use those giant Ziploc bags to store the winter stuff out of season. They work great. You can squeeze all the air out, and they have a handle so I can store the bag on a hook. During the winter I just keep everything shoved in the sleeves of coats.
In our old house I used a shoe organizer for this purpose in the hall closet. I also had one inside each kids’ closet door, for baby things (toys, lotion, etc.) and bigger kid accessories (belts, shoes, etc.). In our new house we have narrow doors, so the ones I had don’t fit anymore. Might look for narrow organizers though.
I really like this idea.
Currently in our coat closet we have two open boxes – one for gloves, one for hats. That way it’s super easy to just toss them in when we come home or whenever I find strays. So far it is working for us – but we haven’t had any wetness this year yet.
Might have to think about switching to this system.
Thanks!
I omeschool my son and we use one to hold like staplersplastic pencil boxes with erasers in it ans so on, If you like I can post a pic 🙂
I’m totally using this idea! We have a back door that we never use in the winter, and it would be a perfect spot to hang something like this. I’ll have to look for the mesh one though, to corral the wet ones. Thanks for sharing!
We simply limit the number of mittens & gloves – no organizing solution needed! The currently “in use” mittens just get tucked in coat sleeves or pockets. We each have one extra pair, and it is stored in each individual’s sock drawer until needed.
I actually think that builders should make these shoe holders as a built it on every door in the house. The back of the door is totally waste space that needs to be used! I have one in the laundry room for the kids and one in the hall closet for the grown up stuff. Hats, mittens, scarves, slippers, flashlights are just a few things I store in my shoe bags.
Great post Laura!
Great idea! I don’t think my kids have ever worn hats or mittens though, we don’t have much winter here. I like the ideas for the shoe holders that others have commented about, I may have to get one anyway.
Great idea. So useful; for any loose items!
Alyzabeth’s Mommy for Eleven Weeks!
Visit my blog for a cupcake carrier giveaway!
I sent a photo of the holder we use for school supplies since I Homeschool, if youd like to see it, maybe laura will post it or link you to my blog, i posted it there to 🙂
You can also use it for ART supplies like drawing pencils,paintbrushes,water colors and so on 🙂
Thanks Renee, I totally don’t mind you leaving the link back to your blog. The versatility of this product is great!
http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/WhiteCottageinAutum/628996/
We do just the same thing. (And hm, this could work for office supplies in the home office too…)
Ok, that’s so funny. Here in Florida, our winter gear is a hoodie with our flip-flops. Maybe I could do that with flip-flops!
Yeah for Toni! I saw her post and wanted to RUN to the nearest store to grab one of these. I have “mountain” of winter gear spilling out of a basket by the front door. Very inefficient! This is the answer and I can’t wait to get it up and running!
Erin
I use this same thing. Here in MN we have plenty of mittens and hats. During the hot summers we store sunscreen, sunglasses and flip flops in the pockets. My 11 yo daughter also has a shoe organizer on the back of her bedroom door for hair stuff, little stuffed animals, slippers, bangle bracelets, nail polish…that kind of stuff. These work GREAT!
That’s a great idea!
We actually have a sweater hanging system in our coat closet so we just stick mitttens, gloves, scarves, etc in it. But, I really like this idea better since you can actually see all of it!
Great idea! I use clear plastic tubs I purchased at Fred Meyer. They stack neatly (2 sets, 3 high) on the shelf in our entry closet. Each one is labeled & holds different winter gear: gloves, hats, scarves, snow pants, etc. They’re light & easy to pull on/off the shelf.
I love this idea…we did if for our nursery with my first sweet girl. Since you get all kinds of toys, chew toys, body washes, etc, etc, I put them all in the shoe holder. LOVED IT! It’s a great idea. =) Thanks for sharing! God bless!
I love this idea! This way it will keep them together.
I don’t have anything but I am going to get this RIGHT NOW!! WONDERFUL IDEA!
I just blogged about organizing my front closet and did the same thing! http://flyinannie.blogspot.com/2008/12/saturday-flight-plan.html
Great blog, I’ve just found you!
We also use this idea but with 6 kids we have A TON of SOAKING WET mittens. I have to lay the all over our furnace vents or throw them in the dryer before putting them away or they smell so musty. Does anyone have an inexpensive idea for mitten storage that would help them air out better? Squishing them into a pocket just doesn’t work when you truely play out in the wet snow for hours! =-)
If you have the space in an entryway or mud room, just hang a piece of rope/clothesline/heavy string from one wall to the other and use clothespins to attach pairs of mittens/gloves. The gloves/mittens are easy to access and can dry, if they need to.
I am interested in buying this. How would I go about doing that? Thank-you so much! Kiley
Hi Kiley, you might be interested in this one from my shop:
https://shopopensky.com/orgjunkie/buy/the-variety-stash
or this one:
https://shopopensky.com/orgjunkie/buy/the-original-stash
Thanks Laura! I just bought one. Can’t wait to get it!