Home Organization Tips

1. Design your coat closet with low hooks for children to hang their coats and backpacks on. Place these hooks either along the side wall of the closet or along the back wall, and hang your longer coats on the other side of the closet, so that they will not cover your children’s hooks. Children should never be able to offer the excuse that they can’t reach the hanging rack (or, for young children, that they don’t know how to use a hanger). Teaching them to hang their coats now is a habit that they can take with them for life.
2. Alternatively, if you have no room for low hooks, consider placing a low shelf underneath your hanging area. (This may require raising your hanging bar an inch or two so that long coats don’t hit the shelf and obstruct your storage space). Put different baskets on the shelf- one for children’s coats and one for other winter paraphernalia, and allow children to just dump their things inside. It may not be quite as tidy as a coat hanger, but it will keep coats out of the way (and make room on the hanging rack), and keep accessories stored together for easier access. Additionally, when your children outgrow the need for low shelves, these shelves can be useful for storing sports equipment and spare travel bags.
3. Remove coats and jackets that you haven’t worn in a while to make room not only for your own coats, but for guests’ coats as well. It is always unpleasant to enter someone else’s home and have no place to hang your coat. Make sure that there is always room for at least a spare coat or two by keeping only the coats that you wear regularly in your coat closet. Blazers and sports coats need not be kept in your coat closet- they can just as easily be stored in your clothes closet, to make room for bulky winter jackets that are generally worn more frequently in the winter.
4. Discard all mismatched gloves and mittens. If you haven’t found its mate since last winter, you probably won’t. Donate or throw away any hats that are damaged, too small or that you don’t want to wear anymore. It’s always a challenge to find the winter accessory that you need when you need it. But it’s easier to find things when you have to rummage through less junk during your search.
5. Make space at the bottom of the closet for shoes that are removed when people enter the house. Get into the habit of putting your dirty shoes there when you enter the house (or better yet, carry them straight into your bedroom closet!). There are few things more dangerous and annoying than having to trip over other people’s shoes on your way through the front door.

Your mudroom or foyer is the first thing that people notice when they enter your home. Keeping it neat and orderly is a wonderful way to make a great first impression. An organized coat closet is also a great way to keep your sanity when you’re rushing out the door and need to find your coat or hat quickly on the way out.