Being organized saves time and money, creates a more peaceful environment, and reduces the stress that out-of-control chaos can produce. I pride myself on being a pretty organized person (just don't look at my office right now or you won't believe me), and over the years I've learned that staying organized isn't all that hard. It's getting organized that can be challenging.
Here's a simple trick that keeps all your winter essentials handy: an over-the-door shoe organizer for your entry or hall closet. Assign a row or a couple of rows to each person, grown-ups on the top and kids on the bottom for easy access. Use the pockets to hold gloves, hats, scarves, lotion and lip balm, umbrellas, and sunscreen (comes in handy on sunny sledding days -- we learned that lesson the hard way!).
We maintain two seasonal organizers, one for winter and one for summer, and we keep the off-season one hanging in a closet in our basement (but any unused door will do) and keep the current season in the hall closet by our front door. This way, we don't even have to swap out the season's essentials. At the start of winter, my kids try on all of last year's hats, gloves, and scarves to make sure they still fit. It's a quick way to assess what we need to purchase for the season.
Hanging shoe organizers are a great tool to keep similar items organized, especially the ones with clear pockets. If you like the idea (and you have enough doors), try using them for:
- Hair accessories: bows, barrettes, headbands, styling products, combs, and hairbrushes
- Fashion accessories: belts, scarves, brooches
- Crafts: coloring books, colored pencils, markers, googly eyes, glue, scraps
- Pantry: seasoning packets and other small items up top and kid-friendly snacks at the bottom
- Cleaning supplies: glass cleaner and microfiber cloths, dusting rags and wood polish, extra vacuum bags and carpet deodorizer
- Toys: Hot Wheels, card games, or anything with lots of little pieces
