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Marcia
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| Posted: Oct 02 2009 at 12:52pm | IP Logged
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What system have you found to be helpful for keeping these needed winter/fall items in a place that easy accessible, but not such a mess? With six of us you'd think I'd have this figured out by now...but whew. What a pile of things to sort through! Help?
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Marcia
Mom to six and wife to one
Homeschooling 10th, 7th, 5th, 2nd, PreK and a toddler in tow.
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mom2mpr
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| Posted: Oct 02 2009 at 1:45pm | IP Logged
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I have a smaller family and we have one of those rolling carts with drawers. Each person has their own drawer for mittens, hats, gloves, scarves, sunglasses(in winter because the snow makes the sun, when it shines, bright!))and swimsuits and goggles in summer.
This sits in our laundry/mud room and is so key to dealing with this stuff. When it dries out on the line over the washer it goes back into the correct drawer. I never have this stuff all over the house as it never needs to leave this area.
I toy with the bigger family system I have seen with a big box that just collects it all and the kids just dig through til they find what they need.
Another key thing for us has been to only have 1-2 pair of mittens/gloves and 1-2 hats and only one scarf per person. I have found that when one is wet, the other can be used and it again limits the mess for me. It also makes the kids responsible for making sure they take care of their stuff.
In the off season each persons things goes into a plastic grocery bag, is tied and thrown into the top of their closet. Of course, I have taken out things that don't fit and such.
We just tried on snowpants today. Sheesh, summer is just too short....
Anne
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Mary G
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| Posted: Oct 02 2009 at 2:06pm | IP Logged
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We put a sweater holder thingy in the front-hall closet ... sort the scarves/mittens/hats by age (or height  ) and they can all get at them. The boots are in a bin in the garage ... still working on that one!
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MaryG
3 boys (22, 12, 8)2 girls (20, 11)
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Waverley
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| Posted: Oct 02 2009 at 2:14pm | IP Logged
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I have 5 kids and we live in Minnesota where mittens, scarves, and hats are out a good portion of the year and have to be found when needed.
Depending on the layout of your house, I have a couple of suggestions. I always store our hats, etc right near the front door. That way there is less time to lose them on the way out the door.  Also, like Anne, I only have out 1 or 2 of each item at a time (even if I secretly have extras in the basement).
1. If you have room, put some shelves relatively low down (where shoes could fit underneath the shelf) and give each kid a basket for their things. Like Anne, in the winter the baskets store winter items, in the summer the baskets store summer items like goggles, soccer balls, swim towel, etc.
In one house where I could put the shelf in a closet, I just used plastic containers for the children instead of baskets. In another house, where the shelves were visible, I bought nicer looking baskets. If you use baskets, I highly recommend you get ones that are square (they fit closer together allowing more baskets to fit on the shelf) and that are lined with fabric that can be removed. I frequently launder the fabric and if the basket is not lined, it will start to break down and then I have little tiny basket slivers in winter hats.
2. purchase nice looking cubbies like the ones used at schools. I have seen some nice ones that are not industrial looking and not enormous. The cubbies can be put in an entrance way closet or lined up against a wall. Most of the cubbies I have seen allow use of a basket to hold mittens, etc.
3. use an over the door shoe organizer. This worked well for us when we had a door we could hang the organizer over. Each kid got 3 pouches - one for mittens, one for hats and one for scarves. It was nice because they could see if their items where there. It was a little more challenging for the littles because it was harder for them to get the items in the pouches than just dropping the items in a basket.
3. At one house I had a small weirdly designed space so I found some baskets that were made to hang flat against the wall (I have also seen some made out of metal). This worked well. I could also hang them up at different heights (my 5' 10" daughter could reach her higher basket) which enabled me to store vertically.
Gosh this has gotten wordy! Hope this helps.
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Waverley
wife to Dh for 19 years, dd (16), dd (11), dd (8), ds (6), dd (4), dd (9-13-1996)
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sewcrazy
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| Posted: Oct 02 2009 at 7:35pm | IP Logged
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We use metal milk pails. Each child has a double hook, one hook is for their coat, the other for their pail. I bought the pails at Farm N Fleet for a few dollars and each child decorated their own.
Over the hooks is a shelf for their dance bag, soccer bags, library bags, coop bags, etc. Under the hook is a milk crate for their shoes. Each child has their own milk crate.
All of this is located immediately inside the garage door.
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LeeAnn
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Tami
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| Posted: Oct 02 2009 at 8:31pm | IP Logged
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I've used the plastic drawer units. They worked well but we did not have much snow, the gloves and hats were more for cold weather.
Last year I had some success last year with a hanging basket - the wire/mesh type that you usually see in a kitchen for onions and garlic.
I wanted something that would allow air circulation around the wet things (Snowy climate here). It is in our tiny mudroom, right off of the garage. I'm thinking this year I will add another one if I can't find a bigger model. It was really too small for a house with lots of teenage males.
Mary G wrote:
| We put a sweater holder thingy in the front-hall closet ... |
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Um, Mary, I don't do well with technical terms. Can you explain what this is? 
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Mackfam
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I hang shoe organizers in the closet...something that looks like this.
Each person gets a shoe organizer. Each mitten/hat set gets a cubby.
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Jen Mackintosh
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JodieLyn
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| Posted: Oct 02 2009 at 9:48pm | IP Logged
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A small clotheline can work.. hang it hanging by one end only behind the door.. clip things to it with clothes pins.
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Jodie, wife to Dave
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Paula in MN
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My FIL built a bench for us with a lift-up seat for hidden storage. It sits right inside the front door and there is enough room for seasonal extras for the kids and for me. My husband needs a separate room for his belongings.
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Paula
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lapazfarm
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| Posted: Oct 03 2009 at 10:07am | IP Logged
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In Alaska we used one of those over-the-door shoe pocket things for hats, gloves, and scarves. It hung on the back of the bathroom door which was just off the front entrance. It worked very, very well. I never did find a good solution for the snow boots, mainly because our house was so tiny.We were always stumbling over boots in the hallway.
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Theresa
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CrunchyMom
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| Posted: Oct 03 2009 at 10:42am | IP Logged
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Lots of great ideas. I've been brainstorming this myself! We have a crate for mittens and scarves and hats right now, but that usually means that they get strewn everywhere in a mad dash out the door. I especially like the over the door show pocket idea which is what I thought Jennifer meant until I saw her link. Glad to see it worked for you, Theresa!
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Lindsay
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4Real Forums : Our Lady's Loom, Larder, and Laundry
Topic: Mittens? Boots? Scarves?
