Need ideas/system for jackets and backpacks upon entering the house

[JustMe]

So, I have no foyer/entry way. You walk right into my living area, which is really one big room that includes my living room, "dining area" (if you call it that), and kitchen. When dd and I come home from school/work, we are tired and she is really demanding/needing my attention. We are both usually carrying several things, btwn work, school, afterschool, dd's need for "transitional" objects, etc. We generally throw these things on the small couch that is right next to the door. I get really frustrated with this, as it looks awful and then takes a lot of time to take care of as things accumulate really quickly. We do have a closet near the door, but it is small and dd cannot reach the hangers. I tried to just do it for her, but this did not work for reasons I cant remember. I tried to put hooks up for her, but none of them end up staying in place...and my skills in terms of doing something that involves drilling holes, etc, are non existent...so, having gone through the whole summer without this issue (no backpacks and jackets), i am trying to figure out what to so. I have a couple of ideas, but none thrill me. If anyone has a better idea, or can tell me which of these you like the best, that would be great. Here are my ideas.

-One of those standing up things to hang jackets and backpacks...the problem is there is no great place to put this. It could go in the corner of my living room or possibly on my stairs (hard to explain, but where they turn/twist, there is a carpeted area about 3 stairs up that could easily fit this...you would still see it when you entered). Anyone know where to get an inexpensive version of this, if this seems like the best idea.

-Keep one of those big container things in the corner...dd's things go in there.

-Clean out the closet and keep one of the container things in the bottom of the closet...dd's things go there.

Oh, I guess one of the drawbacks to the above, is that it rains a lot here, and jackets are often wet...hmmn,

thanks for any help!

[justlearning]

Is there any wall space to hang a peg rack or a decorative hook rack? Even if you don't feel like you could hang it up, perhaps someone else could help you hang it. Also, do you have a main-floor laundry room with any space in it?

We have a laundry room off of our entrance from the garage. We have a peg rack hung at the kids' level and they always hang up their coats and backpacks right there. For shoes, we have plastic organizers (5-high with drawers) and they immediately take their shoes off and put them in their drawer.

If you don't have any room in the house for this, do you have a garage? You could hang a peg rack there for coats and backpacks and have shelves/drawers/whatever for shoes.

The standing-up coat rack may work for you, but I could forsee one toppling over on a child once a heavy backpack is hung on it or the coats are unevenly distributed, etc.

And if they're wet and you don't want them dripping on carpet, a laundry room or garage may be a better spot anyhow.

If you do want a container to throw everything in, you can get one of those nice looking plastic round ones with handles so the wetness wouldn't matter.

[KrisM]

We have decorative baskets in our mudroom. Each kid has their own color and shoes go in there. No stacking, sorting, etc, just dumped in. Even the 3 year old gets hers in.

http://orgjunkie.com/ has lots of nifty ideas, like:
http://orgjunkie.com/2009/08/command-center-ideas.html
http://orgjunkie.com/2008/08/back-to...k-station.html
http://orgjunkie.com/2007/09/product...pack-rack.html

She also has challenges and people post links to their answers, so you could search backpack and get a lot of ideas.

[JustMe]

Thanks for the replies. I dont have a garage. My laundry machines are in my downstairs bathroom and there is no room in there...there would be if the cat litter box was not in there...I am off to look at the organizing junkie website...it looks great, I suck at organizing, so this could be very helpful to me. I do have a plastic container for shoes upon entering, and this works well for us...its everything else that doesnt.

[bnme]

My entry is into my living area but it is off to the side and the floor is tiled (instead of carpet) so it visually looks a little seperate. We have a Potterybarn-like bench with baskets on the wall the door opens to. We got it at Target for around $100. It has 3 baskets. 1 for each kid, 1 for me. Their shoes, hats, gloves and other stuff like that go in them. I have a 6 hook rail right behind the door for every day jackets. The only problem is that they can't reach it right now so I tell them to leave their jackets on the bench. The backpack goes right in front of the bench, though I may get a larger basket to keep them in since I have 2 with back packs this year.

I like that things are accessible but mostly hidden and tidy.

Putting something on your stairs sound like a good idea, if there is really enough room. Do you mean like a traditional coak stand? A large wicker basket may be all you need. Her coat could even go in there until you hang it. Though I get how it is better for her to do herself. I know I have seen those over-the-top-of the door hook things that is like a series of hooks hanging down so that there may be one low enough for her to reach. It could go over the clost door.

[neeter]

We use the 3M Command adhesive hooks in our small closet - two rows of 3 hooks. The boys hang their jackets there, and can retrieve stuff from the lower hooks easily. No drilling, and the adhesive is pretty strong.

[caleymama]

I put one of a closet rod like this in our front hall closet a year or two ago because I was so tired of the girls not being able to hang up/get out their own coats. It's been great! Ours is not from The Container Store - I'm positive I got it at Walmart, Kmart, or Target. Probably Walmart. If you were able to get one of these to work out for you and DD, could you put a Command hook up on the inside of the closet door for your DD's backpack? No drilling required . They have some decorative hooks that are actually quite pretty.

As for wet jackets, I just hang them on a doorknob til dry and then transfer them to the closet later. Not a perfect solution, but they've got to dry somewhere!

That closet is fairly wide so I was able to put a set of bins from Walmart (like this but ours is only 2 drawers) in there for the girls' "stuff" when not in use. That's where they keep their backpacks, other misc. bags, baseball/sun hats, DD1's Girl Scout bag, and any other stuff like that that they use on a regular basis outside the home. I have not had good luck with the plastic drawer storage carts from big box stores. I find that the drawers stick or get out of alignment easily and that DDs have trouble opening and closing them smoothly. These bins, however, slide really easily and also come all the way out and can be carried easily if we need to sort through them.

I don't know what style of entryway organizer you might be looking for, but check out Home Decorators and their outlet site. Much of our living room furniture is from there and I'm pretty happy with it. Got some great deals on the outlet site. I haven't ordered in a while, but when I did they were with ebates too so don't forget to check that.
http://www.homedecorators.com/Furniture/Entryway/
http://www.homedecoratorsoutlet.com/Furniture/Entryway/

Good luck! This was a big frustration of mine before I found a solution that works okay for us.

[ellies mom]

I have two 3M command adhesive hooks hung low on the wall behind the door and a small basket on the floor. One hook is for Ellie's jacket, the other for her backpack and the basket is for her shoes. It isn't beautiful but it functions, takes up almost no room and was cheap. The husband is always trying to get a hook rack thing but I figure the 3M ones are removable so I won't have to touch up the wall and repaint when we no longer want/need that set-up. Now that the youngest can climb up on the table, I'm going to put a few more of the 3M hook inside the closet door to hang other things that we need to keep out of reach.

[JustMe]

Thanks, those 3M hooks sound really good and I may end up buying some too. I ended up buying the backpack rack (over the door) that I found from the links on the organizational site. It can go over our downstairs bathroom door. I am hoping dd can use the lowest 2 hooks for her backpack and jacket.

I also ended up buying the fridge file I saw on the site. Looks like a great way to organize my waiting to do something, but not quite yet papers.

[KrisM]

Thanks for the replies. I dont have a garage. My laundry machines are in my downstairs bathroom and there is no room in there...there would be if the cat litter box was not in there...I am off to look at the organizing junkie website...it looks great, I suck at organizing, so this could be very helpful to me. I do have a plastic container for shoes upon entering, and this works well for us...its everything else that doesnt.

I really love that website and hope you find some good things. I am not an organized person, but she has so many different ideas, I've been able to find some that are really working for me, which is the key of course.