Mini Mudroom Update

Oh my goodness! I so loved reading all of your comments on my 10 Naked Truths post. Seems like we all have a lot in common! And I love that. Today I am talking organization. It’s been a while! Do you remember a couple of years ago when I updated our little mudroom space? Well this little space of ours continues to evolve as our children grow. We really don’t have a formal mudroom or space to toss things when we come in and out of the house. This is it, my friends. But I honestly am so so thankful for this space each and every day. I don’t know how we would function without it. Today I wanted to show you how it has grown and evolved for us and hopefully you can use one or two ideas in  a space of your own. So for those of you who are fairly new to my blog, this was a coat closet by our back door {it is next to our garage}. We removed the pole that went across the top and decided to turn it into a mini mudroom. It may not be a beautiful space, but it is the hardest working space in our home. And nobody sees it but our little family! Well, and you! {Photo disclaimer: I had to use my cell phone as the post was already written and I deleted the photos from my camera card. I will update them shortly}. So most recently, we changed it up by hanging another shoe organizer on the inside wall of the closet. There is an existing one on the door to this space. It holds items such as sunscreen, flashlights, batteries, tape measures, small paint supplies, children’s gloves, swiffer cloths, and more. It really holds all of those little things you need but don’t have a place for. The new shoe organizer holds a couple of my daughter’s flats, extra camera lenses that don’t fit in my camera bag, some of my flip flops, extra kitchen trash bags, clean socks and more. I even have some empty pockets which is amazing. Underneath it, I store my little vacuum which I use almost everyday.   The school work bins above have been going strong now for years. They are my single best paper management tip. This is how they work. Each day, when my kiddos come home from school and are eating their snacks, I look through the papers they brought home. I think it’s important to do that with them. It helps validate their work and you can see if there are any mistakes or things they need to review. I make a pile for each child and when my husband comes home the children see him look through the work as well. Then I throw away things we don’t need to keep. {You don’t need 200 math papers from each school year!} and the things we might like to keep go in these bins. Once the bins get too full {about once a month} we go through the papers together and they pick the items that go in their portfolios {maybe 2-3}. It really has saved us from the big pile up and the kids feel that their work has been given the attention it deserves. This wall of hooks has been awesome. Each day after school they unpack their lunches and hang up their backpack on their hooks. My camera bag and any purses that are currently in rotation also hang here. We also keep one sweater or sweatshirt for each of the children so if we are running out the door to school, no one needs to run back upstairs if they need to keep warm that morning. And many moons ago, I had my handy husband bust through this wall. It is a big open space under the staircase and now it is home to all of our Christmas décor bins. It has been a storage lifesaver. He built the door and it just pops on and off so we can access the décor easily. The magnetic board also has our daily schedules for the children’s activities so they can see what time they go to their afterschool classes { I chose not to blast their schedules across the internet. You understand!}.  I added one more hook at eye level for the purse I am currently carrying. As soon as I come in the door, I can hang it up right here. Most recently, we added our most used craft supplies to a rolling cart. I LOVE this thing! It gets stored away in this nearby closet and we can roll it out to work at the table. Truth be told, it’s my daughter who uses it almost every day. She is crazy creative and is ALWAYS doing a project so she gets this out and then pushes it back in. I love it because I am not begging her to clean up the table before dinner each night. No matter how big or small your house may be, I highly recommend a rolling cart. Even if it’s out and in our dining room, I don’t mind the look of it. Everything is so nicely contained. I am truly thankful we converted this coat closet years ago into a go to spot for our family. And truthfully, each year that the children grow we are even more thankful to have this mini mudroom. Do you have a hard working space in your home? Maybe even just a row of hooks in your garage. I would love to know your tips and tricks to keep the daily clutter at bay. A few more of our favorite organized spaces: The Laundry Room | under the bathroom sink | garage & craft supplies In a totally unrelated note, a few of you emailed me about the white cardigan in my Instagram photo. I guess many of you didn’t know that it came in white. You can find it here! Have a great day, my friends.