Mudroom Mayhem

My mudroom has been heavily used and abused during this arctic Chicago winter. With 3 children and all of the garb they bring in and out, along with backpacks and boots, not to mention all of their friend's stuff that comes and goes, it really turns into quite the mess! I'm grateful to have built a home when my oldest was 8 so I knew how important having storage for all of the school stuff and winter gear was going to be. First and foremost, you must have accessible hooks for everyone coming and going. Don't think for a minute that kids are going to hang up their coats on hangers in a closet every time they come in the door, getting it on a hook is the best you can hope for. This does not mean that every coat must be on a hook, only the coat that they're currently wearing. My daughter who is 5 likes to have a different coat for every outfit, so I know the struggle of keeping only what you need in the room. Plain and simple, if she picks a different coat to wear, then she must get it and hang up the one that was previously on the hook. I keep a hook at eye level using Command adhesive hooks available at The Container Store . They are perfect for this because as she grows, I can change the height of the hook. Next are the boots and shoes: this too can be a problem when you change shoes with every outfit (much easier for the boys). The same rule as the coats applies, however in the winter, one pair of boots per person is also allowed to be stored on the mudroom floor. As far as hats, mittens and scarves go, if you have the room to store them all and everyone can get to what they need quickly, great, if not, you need to stay lean and keep only what your wearing in that spot. Frequently go through and determine what to keep and what to weed out.

Every home is different and if you don't have room for all of this, you need to create space somehow because if you don't, you'll be dealing with shoes and boots in the way of opening the door. In my last house, I did not have a mudroom and my rear entry was very small. I still kept eye level hooks on the wall for the kids coats, but I had a laundry room at the bottom of the nearby stairs. When my kids came in with all their garb, I had them go straight downstairs to get situated. I created a place to keep boots, shoes, backpacks, hats, gloves, mittens, whatever was needed. Remember, you can't fit 10lbs. of potatoes in a 5lb. bag! Keep what you need and help your family create habits that are easy to maintain. This will help lighten the load and help bring your Chaos to Order.