How do you organize your families' winter hats/scarves/gloves..etc?

[artvandalay]

I've got all 5 family members' hats, gloves, mittens, scarves in one giant wicker basket in the hallway closet, and it's a mess. I can't stand digging through it whenever we need a second set of gloves or something.

Is there a better way of organizing?

UPDATED with pic in #10

[azazela]

I have one of these organizers (http://www.amazon.com/Richards-Homewares-Inc-Canvas-Organizer/dp/B000A64AUU/ref=sr_1_2?s=home-garden&ie=UTF8&qid=1321050762&sr=1-2) hanging in one of my coat closets. You could get one with more shelves. It works for us. :D

[hillview]

I have a bin for each kid and then a large drawer. It isn't ideal but it works better than just the drawer we were using.

[g-mama]

I don't know if this will work for you, but I use a shoe organizer with clear plastic pockets hung on the closet door in my laundry room/mudroom. It has worked out wonderfully. Each kid has a row of pockets (5 across) and dh and I have our own rows at the top.

[Twoboos]

Well, DDs have wicker baskets in our bench by the back door. This barely works, everything is mixed in together, it's hard to find matching sets.

In our coat closet I have what is supposed to be a closet shoe organizer like this http://www.bedbathandbeyond.com/product.asp?SKU=130119 that would work better if the pockets were somehow labeled with names for each person. Right now stuff just gets stuffed in at random.

I've been looking for something like the Metal Cone Storage Baskets on PBK, (sorry for no link, it goes right to my cart!) I would have one for each kid and hang them one one of the coat hooks in our mud room. Don't know if I'll pull the trigger for $37ea though.

[roseyloxs]

Nope. We just use a big bin too. There isn't much room for anything else in our entryway.

[kristac]

I don't know if this will work for you, but I use a shoe organizer with clear plastic pockets hung on the closet door in my laundry room/mudroom. It has worked out wonderfully. Each kid has a row of pockets (5 across) and dh and I have our own rows at the top.

This is what we do too.

[KrisM]

I have a mesh shoe organizer hanging on a door in the mudroom. It works well.

[AngelaS]

I have a mesh shoe organizer hanging on a door in the mudroom. It works well.

:yeahthat:

[artvandalay]

Updated:

Here's a pic of my closet... it's a mess. I do have two hanging shoe things for my boys that they use 75% of the time. We have a hanging thing on the opposite wall with a few cubbies and hooks, so the majority of coats go there.

As you can see, up on top in the big wicker basket is where we keep all the stuff... lol at the lone glove trying to make an escape!

http://pic100.picturetrail.com/VOL1099/13265991/23888854/399459222.jpg

[artvandalay]

I don't know if this will work for you, but I use a shoe organizer with clear plastic pockets hung on the closet door in my laundry room/mudroom. It has worked out wonderfully. Each kid has a row of pockets (5 across) and dh and I have our own rows at the top.

That sounds pretty ideal, but we've got those folding doors that swing open, so we couldn't utilize the back.

I think I might be able to squeeze in one more of the hanging shoe organizers like the ones my boys are using. It never dawned on me to use one for anything other than shoes.

The way we've been doing it, with the one big wicker basket, is a pain because the boys can't reach it so either DH or I need to pull it down and rummage through all the other stuff to find them their stuff. DD's shoes and hats/mittens are in the cubbies on the opposite wall.

[g-mama]

Like this:

http://www.amazon.com/Over-Door-Clear-Organizer-Storage/dp/B000IXOH7G

Kids don't have to go into the closet. They can see it easily b/c it's against a white door so bright and easy to see what's what.

ETA: Never mind - just saw your post about the type of doors you have. Sorry! :(

[artvandalay]

I have one of these organizers (http://www.amazon.com/Richards-Homewares-Inc-Canvas-Organizer/dp/B000A64AUU/ref=sr_1_2?s=home-garden&ie=UTF8&qid=1321050762&sr=1-2) hanging in one of my coat closets. You could get one with more shelves. It works for us. :D

Hmmmm... I like this one. I could designate each shelf with a kid and then use the dreaded wicker basket for DH and I since we're the only ones that can reach it. Now I have to see if I have room to squeeze that in!

Thanks everyone for your responses:D

[artvandalay]

Like this:



ETA: Never mind - just saw your post about the type of doors you have. Sorry! :(

Oh, that's ok ;). It's a really great idea! Perhaps it will help someone else reading this thread.

[hellokitty]

I hang a mesh bag (handled, not drawstring) on our wall coat rack and put things in there. However, once we get into the thick of winter, where the kids are consistently wearing the same accessories. As long as the items are not wet, I have them stuff their hat and scarf INTO the arm of their coat. That way, their stuff is with their coat. We use mitten clips, so I don't take those off of their coats.

[WatchingThemGrow]

We have container store multipurpose bins- one for each of us.

[acmom]

I don't know if this will work for you, but I use a shoe organizer with clear plastic pockets hung on the closet door in my laundry room/mudroom. It has worked out wonderfully. Each kid has a row of pockets (5 across) and dh and I have our own rows at the top.

We do this too. The kids can get their stuff and put it away independently and everything is easy to see. It works well for summer stuff too (baseball caps, sunglasses, sunscreen etc.) I even keep extra travel packs of wipes, tissues, etc. in the top pockets so I can grab those on the way out too.

[Melanie]

Excellent thread! I've seen some great suggestions, but none seem to work for our situation...
We have a hall coat closet, but it's near the front door and we don't go through our front door. Basically it's serving as storage for some coats and jackets (and other things - but it's not a big closet). We could put our daily use coats in there, but somehow don't.

We exit through the garage and the hallway into it is small and not conducive to hang anything (it's basically the width of the door and not much longer.

I have a stacking shoe cubby right outside the door in the garage where the kids' shoes go. There is some space in the area that is awkward, but could be re-arranged (we have a just-barely two car garage but enough stuff in it that only my car fits).

And suggestions for coats/hats/etc? Right now they float around the house or car until put away in Dc' room. They each have drawers for their hats in their rooms, and I generally have a small plastic tub with the off-season hats in their closet to trade out as the drawers aren't that big. Their coats hang in their closets when properly put away.

PS - those clear shoe hangers are awesome for craft supplies!

[Simon]

We have done a few different things lately.

A: each family member had their own basket at the bottom of an Expedit placed near the front door.

B: kids kept hats and mittens in the sleeves of their coats. Dh and I used coat pockets. Extras were in one main basket

Currently,
C: We have the same shoe organizer as in your pic (vertical hanging) and we dedicate a self to mittens and one to hats per family member. The shoes were moved to a wet mat on the floor or in an organizer that sits on the floor.

[Nyfeara]

We have a small mudroom type area with a small bench (fits one person). Shoes go in the bench (seat lifts up) or under the bench. Then DH & I built an organizer that fits baskets inside and on top, with a row of coat hooks underneath. We couldn't find anything in the stores to fit our space, so we took a stab at building one. It turned out well for us. We typically use a medium sized basket for each person and we have 1 large basket where the off-season stuff is stashed. Once summer hits, the winter gear will go into the larger basket and the summer hats, etc will go into the medium baskets again. Works for us for now.

[artvandalay]

We have a small mudroom type area with a small bench (fits one person). Shoes go in the bench (seat lifts up) or under the bench. Then DH & I built an organizer that fits baskets inside and on top, with a row of coat hooks underneath. We couldn't find anything in the stores to fit our space, so we took a stab at building one. It turned out well for us. We typically use a medium sized basket for each person and we have 1 large basket where the off-season stuff is stashed. Once summer hits, the winter gear will go into the larger basket and the summer hats, etc will go into the medium baskets again. Works for us for now.

That sounds really ideal! I wish we had a mudroom. We rarely use the front door, we come straight in from the garage and it would be nice to have an area like a mudroom.

[mackmama]

We have a basket for each person. It's still a mess, but I can't figure out a better way.