Organizing the Kids’ stuff
Today I just want to share a couple of real-life solutions that have been working well for a Molly reader (my sister-in-law, actually!)
If you have daughters, you know how hair accessories can collect and multiply. I’d love to see ideas for how you organize and store them.
My sister-in-law has LOTS of daughters, and the system below has worked well for her for several years. Two sets of plastic drawers are stored under her bathroom sink, with a drawer for each type of hair accessory . . . one for headbands, one for barrettes and clips, one for scrunchies, one for elastic pony holders, etc.
By the way, I use two sets of drawers like this to hold school supplies. One is filled with markers, one with colored pencils, one with rulers, sharpeners, and hole punches, one with glues and tapes and binder-hole reinforcements, etc. It works like a charm as the kids just pull the entire drawer out and bring it to the table or their desk…and return it when finished. It’s kind of a one-step process to put away.
Another “hot spot” tends to be the entryway where kids come in and drop their backpacks. My sister-in-law has tamed this chaos by re-purposing a toy box into a catch-all for the kids school stuff. This way they have a designated place where everything school-related needs to be put away. This chest is tucked away just inside the garage entrance to the house. Again, it’s been working out very well for her. Love how the chest looks painted…and she is planning to write or stencil a favorite, inspiring verse on the lid (I think Ecclesiastes 9:10)
chest before…I don’t know what the blue tape is for…maybe an area to hang hooks or a chalkboard?
Here is the chest, painted, and at the bottom, a look inside.
After seeing her system, and hearing from her how well it works, I’m thinking of looking for a chest to put near my front door. We have a house rule that shoes come off at the door (makes life SO much easier) but the pile of shoes and boots that collect there is a real mess at times!
If you have any suggestions for organizing the entry area, or for storing accessories, I’d love to hear about them!
We also had a huge pile of shoes and boots. We took a small bookcase and put it right outside the side door(on our covered porch). Now all the shoes are easy to find and off the floor!
I have an empty space behind my door under our coat rack that would be perfect for a small chest to throw the shoes in! I am forever asking the kids to come and bring their shoes to their rooms. Glad my husband works in the furniture industry! lol! Thanks for the tip!
I would love to have a chest by our entryway, but the way our split level house is built, there is just no room. What I did this winter, and it has been working well, is to put up some peg type hooks on the wall behind the door at a level my three-year-old can reach to hang up her coat and snowpants. I used fabric tote bags (reusable grocery type bags) hanging from other hooks to contain hats, mittens and scarves. It’s been working great. We have a small shoe rack from IKEA for boots and shoes.
Oh, and we started using one of the plastic drawer containers for arts and crafts supplies: crayons, coloring books, markers, play dough, etc.
I have the no shoes rule in my house too and it really does make life so much easier when everyone walks around the house in stocking feet. We had the same problem with piles of shoes in the garage or on the front porch depending on which way you came into the house. I bought a nice 25 box shoe cubbie to put all our shoes in. There is always still a few pairs on the floor from guests or us but for the most part everything is picked up and organized.
posting a reader comment that was sent via email:
We live in Thailand where EVERYONE takes their shoes off before entering a home. Thai’s have “shoe racks” that look something like an open bookcase that stands about 2-1/2 ft. high and has three shelves. Most people keep them near the door entrance on the outside. However, shoes on the bottom shelves sometimes are found with large toads tucked inside from the night before!!
Bonnie
sharing a comment that was emailed by Monica. Thanks, Monica!
1.) Here is an item that really helps our entryway!: http://www.improvementscatalog.com/product/revolving-shoe-rack.do
We use it for our athletic and casual shoes we keep by the door.
Although it doesn’t hold the winter boots we need around here, it helps us gain valuable floor space in our entryroom! So we gain room for boots!
(Okay, I also confess I have on in our bedroom for my dress shoes!)
2.) Also, for hats/gloves/scarves/sunglasses….each person in our family (well, I guess I share with my husband) is assigned a drawer in a cart like this: (there are other colors and sizes) http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.do?product_id=13220032
These fit nicely even under a window, are easy to roll when you need to sweep under it, are a nice height for children, and are available in different colors (seasonally at our Walmart). They might not look like ritsy furniture, but the chaos they prevent is wonderful!! I find by assigning each child a drawer, they are less likely to have a conflict over getting each others things (on purpose or by accident).
I didn’t take time to do photos and uploading, but I did include links to show the products I’m refering to.
Our entry way is not heated and things get pretty cold here in northern Minnesota in the winter. A couple of years ago we had a youth group come for the weekend to ski and we were trying to figure out what to do with everyone’s outerwear. We bought an 8-foot length of conduit and hung it from the ceiling in the basement. Since we have two stairways to the basement, we just use the one by the back door to get down to the basement and then use the other one (dry steps!) to get back upstairs. It works so well that we just hang the pipe every winter and use it for us and guests!
Also, I looked at that shoe rack that Monica uses… That would be great for drying wet hats, mitts, scarves, and boot liners. If I had something like that I would put it by the wood stove in the basement to dry everything!
sharing another comment that was emailed.
From Jaime–a link to her blogpost on organization:
http://mamajamiah.blogspot.com/2010/01/nesting-novel-ideas-and-new-testiment.html
We put a nice looking dresser inside our front door and each person has one drawer for their shoes. The dresser also had 3 smaller drawers on the top that I put hats, scarves and gloves in for the winter.