If you're anything like me, the Hansel & Gretel-like trail of mittens is enough to break you. But, in the kiddos defense, many homes are not built for the way a family truly LIVES and there really is no place to store these cold weather layers.
For instance, let's look at my house. The house is relatively large and logic would indicate there will probably be more than 1-2 folks (and their gear) living here. Well, MY logic--clearly not the logic of the person that designed the house!
The main entrance for our family is through the garage. When you walk in, there is a wall 3 feet in front of your face and a 3 ft. wide hallway with a small niche and (thankfully!) a coat closet next to the niche. It's kind of tight when you're walking in with kids, keys, cell phone, purse, a backpack or two and groceries.
As I mentioned, it drives me cRaZy to have coats and backpacks haphazardly lying around all over the house. So, here's what I did:
- I measured the area and figured that I could fit 4 hooks along the wall opposite the garage door and one in the niche--with plenty of space for "stuff" to hang. I could've probably added another one but decided against it.
- I don't remember what led me to eBay but that's where I headed for hooks. (I had a 6-month old at the time--it's all a bit of a blur!) I'm partial to fleur-de-lis and was fortunate enough to find a set of these.
- I opted for the double hook for obvious reasons (read: we have lots of junk). This is what they look like in place.
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One of the (many) things on my to-do list is to add a custom built-in seat to the niche for additional storage, seating for putting on shoes and a more finished look for my faux mud room. One day.... |
Because my children are young, I also added hooks (mounted lower) in the coat closet so they could hang their coats. And I organized the shoe/coat closet with a shoe rack from Target. The closet doesn't stay perfectly straight but at least there's room for both kid's shoes and they're easily accessible. AND---they're contained! Are you seeing a theme of junk corralling around here?? After all, contained junk looks sooo much better than junk on the loose, don't you agree?
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I would have let you see into the closet for the Target shoe storage rack but the pics kept coming out really dark. |
Here's what fellow blogger, Emily Clark did for her little ones:
Photos from emilyaclark.blogspot.com
Here's an example of a double row of hooks by the back door. One thing to keep in mind is that this looks super-awesome with no coats on it...but... Are you going to have to squeeze in the door once you load it up with all your stuff??
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via pinterest |
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wholesomemommy.com |
I like this pic from pinterest that shows exactly how they made a "mudroom" in a walkway. I could live without the sheet metal but you get the idea.
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via pinterest |
If you do have a true space for your gear, stay tuned. We'll be featuring Jacki's mud room in a future post! You don't want to miss it. Serious.eye.candy.
What are you doing to contain the clutter/junk/stuff at your humble abode?
Love this post. I've thought about adding hooks above the bench in our kitchen/dining area to give us a place to hang things.
ReplyDeleteThose hooks have been a lifesaver in our house! I think I need hooks in every room :) Thanks for linking up!
ReplyDeleteNice post.
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