Clear the Winter Clutter From Your Entryway
As winter swings into full gear, you’ve probably started accumulating all of the cold weather clutter – winter coats, sweaters, boots, hats, gloves, scarves. These items are necessities to brave the cold, but without a designated space to store them, they can take over your entryway. As you walk into your home, you want to feel peace and calm, not be overwhelmed from your winter clutter. Your NYC Professional Organizer has some tips to help…
Keep things dry
One of the most frustrating parts of winter is keeping the winter wet outside your home. Boots bring in snow and sleet and wet coats find themselves on chairs to dry out. A simple trick to keep your floor from getting wet is to have a boot tray in your entryway. There are many options, but something like the Yaktrax Boot Tray will do the job well. For coats, hooks hanging in your entryway will keep the coats off your furniture and give them adequate space to dry off.
Get rid of any unused items
It’s inevitable as you go through the winter season that gloves and hats will go missing or get stretched out, leaving mismatched pairs and mis-shaped headgear. You can clear out the extras periodically, throwing away things that have holes and can’t be fixed or used. Donate coats that are too small or extra hats and gloves that you don’t use. Not only does it clear out the clutter, but it makes finding your usable gear easier and faster.
Keep things separate
An easy way to keep organized is to have a separate hook or cubby for each person in your home. Kids can be assigned their own space and be responsible for hanging up their own gear. Separate cubbies mean space for the winter gear as well as backpacks, lunchboxes and sporting equipment. Hats and gloves can go into a bin and be stored into each person’s cubby, allowing for quick access and less confusion when it’s time to head out the door.
Find a seat
Keep your couch and dining table chair free of snow and sleet this season by having a seating option in your entryway. This could be a bench with storage underneath, or even just a simple chair near your front door. A designated space to take off and put on boots and gear will keep the rest of your home dry and clear of unwanted items.
Small spaces
Not a lot of space in your entryway? No problem! These same tips can be applied to small spaces, too. Hooks are inexpensive, easy to hang up in a corner adjacent to the front door and can be used for more than one coat or sweater. Individual cubbies may be out of the question, but one bin or basket can be designated in the coat closet for neatly storing all of the family’s hats, another for gloves, and so on.
Winter brings with it a lot of necessary gear to keep warm and dry, but you don’t need to let that gear overwhelm your home. Implement a few of these simple home organizing tips from your NYC professional organizer and keep your entryway dry and most important….clear of clutter this winter.