Organized Winter Outwear…Or Is It??

Snow. I absolutely love it! We recently got close to a foot of snow in a few days time. Now considering that the last few winters have been so mild with no snow in Minnesota until January - this is awesome!

Along with the snow comes outdoor activities. I have four kids and between them, the dogs, and I we spend a lot of time outside. Dress appropriately and one can stay our for hours! Well, that's where the problem comes in - the appropriate dress. Hats, mittens, scarves, snow-pants, boots, etc.

Now I can handle the whole organizational part of the clothing prior to it being put on. I rotate out the winter stuff and put the summer stuff into storage. Check. The kids are all assigned hooks and drawers for their stuff. Check. Hooks and drawers are labeled. Check.

Then they put the stuff on. And go out. And get wet. And come in. Now what??!

I live in a mid-eighties (bi-level) split entry house. I'm not sure why entry is even in the name because there is far from a usable entry anywhere in the house. I'm sure everybody living in this type of house can attest to this. My entry is a six by six foot square, it has two staircases attached - one leading up and one leading down. Both the entrance doors are directly across from the stairwells - one out the front door and one into the garage. There is a coat closet that can fit about two coats and two pairs of shoes.

There are no hooks - nowhere to put hooks, no shelves - nowhere to put shelves, no place to set anything down - nowhere to put anything to have to put things down on, no place to sit to put on shoes or boots - nowhere…you get the idea.

So imagine 4 kids, 2 adults, 2 dogs, 2 cats, 2 guinea pigs, 1 parakeet, and a handful of fish living in this domestic castle of mine and trying to get in and out of the house (OK, the littlest pets aren't going in and out much…). (The only other exit exists in the kitchen. You can easily get to the sliding glass door after you climb over the kitchen table, shimmy through some chairs, trip over the dog water, and then you only have to go down one flight of stairs just to get into the back yard.) Let alone trying to get in and out with winter paraphernalia on!

As the kids stand there trying to get out of their stuff, watch out! Stand too close to one of the doors and whack! Stand too close to the stairs and tumble-smack! Stand too close to the closet door and pinch! What's a mom to do?!

So we put some shelves just inside the garage entrance for boots. We put some rolling carts with drawers on the other side and assigned one to each family member for their hats and mittens. We took over the hula hoop and pogo stick hooks and hung all the scarves. Jackets and snow pants are in the closet under the stairs on assigned hooks. Once the kids come in all wet, they are required to traipse down through the downstairs hallway and family room leaving wet and sometimes muddy footprints to get to the laundry room so their stuff can dry. They also need to remember a bit ahead of time to bring their boots, mittens etc in the house from the garage to warm up. It only takes one or two times of frosty fingers and toes to remember. But try to even walk through the entry way when everyone's stuff is in to warm-up and you'll trip and fall down the remaining stairs.

Now is this all convenient? Not in the least! Is this clutter control? Yup. Everyone knows where to find their stuff and where to put it back. Can it be organized more efficiently? If anyone has any ideas - I'm all ears. I've tried many different things and there is just no way to have everything all in one place in a six by six area that six by three is taken up by door swings!

I'm just glad I no longer have infant car seats, kids that need help getting dressed, and dogs that want to bolt out the front door and run the neighborhood (we now have an Invisible Fence). That was a nightmare. I'm surprised I made it through with any sanity intact!

Posted January 4, 2008, filed in How I de-cluttered, Clutter Control Products, Clutter Hacks