Winter Hang-Ups

As the weather is getting colder, I'm reminded of last winter's hang up....

Help! My entryway is overflowing with jackets, mittens, and hats. The kids manage to put their jackets and hats into the entryway closet (or somewhere close) but everything is just in a pile. It's hard to find matching gloves. Where did the baby's jacket go? Occasionally I'll hang up the jackets, but its inevitable that they all end up back on the floor. The kids can't reach to hang up their own coats. And let's face it, I'm a little lazy. Why hang it up when I'm going to need it in a few hours?

 

But then I walked into my friends house, who is the hostess. She had a nice shelf with hooks to hang up all the coats and jackets. What a great idea!! I asked her about it and she said she had gotten it on sale. I looked it up online - $80. I showed my husband the picture and we brainstormed. Here is the solution he came up with.

The great thing about building our own coat rack/shelf is not only the money we saved, but also we got exactly what we wanted. I needed something a certain width and depth to match our entryway. I also needed plenty of hooks, as well as shelf space to organize hats and gloves and such. The top part could be used for displaying pictures or knick knacks.

So, my husband measured the distance between the closet door and the end of the wall. He made two shelves, to fit the boxes I had picked out. He put six hooks to give us plenty of places to hang up all our stuff.

One box was filled with hats and gloves. Another held raincoats and an umbrella. The boxes I choose were from jugs of bottled water, cut down to be a little shorter. I decorated one box with my kids' artwork/handprints and then covered it with clear contact paper. The other box I decorated with plain white paper and stenciled some scripture and then covered it with contact paper.

We mounted it at a level where the kids can get down their own jackets and hang them back up themselves. The gloves and such are now organized so that they aren't lost in the mess. My husband enjoyed the wood-working project and I enjoyed decorating the boxes and displaying some family pictures and other special items.

Problem: how to organize the winter wardrobe in a way that is accessible to all members of the family and in a way that can stay neat

Traditional Solution: buy a coat rack type shelf for $80 (maybe less if you find a good deal), that may or may not fit your house

Creative Solution: Make your own shelf with minimal cost, designing to your specific taste and space and can fit your storage needs. Supplies we used: 2 1”by6” pieces of wood, hooks, boxes, paper, contact paper. Minimal tools needed: skill saw, speed square, screwgun and screws. Sanding and routing will give it a more finished look, but it is not necessary. Add shelves to fit your storage needs.

How to keep a shelf or drawer organized can be a challenge. Small things get lost among larger items. Items spill over into areas that are supposed to be for different items. How to keep everything in its place and have a place for everything – the cliché of organization.

This is where my box collection/obsession comes in. You could buy drawer organizers and shelf organizers and cutesy containers and boxes. However, I choose to use boxes and containers that I already have (mostly that are free) and put them to good use.

Organizing does not have to be expensive.  It just takes some forethought and creativity.

Here are a few examples:

Organize the bathroom cupboard/linen closet. My towels and handtowels and washrags were always getting mixed up. Big towels would spill over on top of the smaller items and they would then be buried. So, I took a box from a 12 pack of soda and cut it to where it only had three sides, with an open top side. I could then nicely stack washcloths inside. I used this box to separate the towels from the handtowels. This simple box has kept my closet much more organized and neater.

Organize the sock and underwear drawer. I took some cardboard from a soda can box (two or three sides, but not a whole box) and used them as dividers to separate underwear from bras from socks.

Organize other items on a closet shelf. My husband does not have a dresser. Most of his clothes are hung up, but the rest are on a shelf in his closet. For awhile it was just a mess of piles of clothes. Now, I took some boxes (from 5 dozen eggs) and cut the tops off. These boxes now help separate his clothes – one for socks, one for t-shirts, one for underwear. Then, other items, such as work out clothes and shorts can be in its own pile, but separated from the other clothes. The key to organizing clothes in this way is to find boxes that are shallow enough to not loose things in the bottom and big enough to actually hold several items of clothing and that will fit into your designated space.

Organizing the kitchen cupboard. I have used some boxes from 24 pack sodas to separate some items on the cupboard shelf. For example, one box has baking items such as cocoa, baking powder, sprinkles, etc. Another box has rice and beans. Another box (this one a more sturdy box) has canned goods.  I also have a small shelf on my counter, with boxes of various sizes for various things.  A box for my husband's snacks and teas.  A box for candy and gum.  A box for produce - like potatoes or onions.  These boxes have helped tame the clutter on the kitchen counter, but still keeps items easy to get to, so they are not lost.

My dresser always manages to collect clutter.  Now, it's a little better, with a box for my lotions/deodorant/etc, two containers for my hairclips and scrunchies, and a coffee cup to collect all the pens and pencils near my bed for any nighttime journaling. 

Similar boxes (a cut down cereal box, for example) are used in the bathrooms to collect hair clips, personal care products, etc.  I found a small vase around the house and used it for the kids toothbrushes.  Another basket for toothpaste, floss, etc.

Diaper boxes are good for organizing kids toys on a shelf - one for blocks, one for small stuffed animals, one for random toys.  I also like to use empty wipes containers for items on our craft shelf - one for crayons, one for glue and scissors, etc.  

I take large boxes and cut them way down as drawer organizers.  I have a place for pens/markers/pencils in my drawer.  Another small box for medical items I like to keep handy - the thermometer, a few ointments, etc.  In a different drawer, there are small boxes and containers to manage the clutter - a place for batteries, a place for loose change, a place for office supplies like tape and wall tacks, a place for extra keys we have, etc.  

I collect boxes of various sizes and shapes to find just the right one for the right items.  I intend on decorating many of them, to make them more appealing and fit the decor of a room or shelf.  For decorating ideas check out some of my other posts about my box collection.