Closet organization can make your life easier.
If you have ever wasted time digging through your entryway closet for your coat, umbrella or even the dog's leash to later realize you left it somewhere else, you know from personal experience how frustrating disorganization can be. Life sometimes has a way of getting overwhelming, but your home should be a sanctuary of peace and happiness. Instead of spending every free moment cleaning and straightening, resolve to keep your days off reserved for relaxing. Learning a few simple organizational skills and providing a place for all of your household items should keep the clutter down and the free time up. Does this Spark an idea?
Instructions
1. Make a list of the items you feel should be in your entryway closet. Think about which door you use to enter and exit your home everyday and what items you usually have with you. For example, if you always enter through the front entryway, the entryway closet is a logical place to store your jackets and coats. If, however, you primarily enter through the garage on the other side of the house, perhaps the entryway closet is best reserved for seasonal storage such as the front door wreath.
2. Remove everything currently in the closet and separate into several piles. Decide which items should be moved to other locations, which should be tossed or donated, and what items need to remain in the entryway closet. Measure the interior closet space and record the dimensions. You should include height, width and depth. If there are already closet rods or shelves in the entryway closet, make note of their spacing as you may need to change the configuration later to better suit your family's needs.
3. Shop for shelving and bins to support the new planned usage. Think about how you and your family members best function and choose appropriate storage. If you a more visual person, open shelving may work best. If you have lots of small items to store, baskets with labels or pictures of the items meant to be stored inside may be a better option. To keep everything organized, you should take into account how many of each item you have and plan accordingly. For large families, an entryway closet may need to hold only coats in order to stay organized since one of the most common causes of clutter is lack of space.
4. Install shelving and rods. If you have small children, make sure the shelves are low enough for them to use. Baskets or bottom shelves may be reserved for rain boots or seasonal gear. Making sure the children can reach their items helps encourage them to put items back where they belong and ultimately keep clutter to a minimum. Place all of the items you had originally determined belonged in the entryway closet back into the new space.
5. Use the new configuration for several days or weeks to ensure the new system works for you. Periodically review your system to ensure it still works for your lifestyle and make modifications as you experience changes. Some things that may change is the addition of a new pet that needs to be walked. This may require you to add a hook to the inside of the entryway closet door to hang leashes. As your children grow up, you may want to remove a lower rod that is no longer needed to hold toddler coats. Regardless of what lifestyle changes you encounter, as long as you have a home for your items and the discipline to return it after use, you should be able to stay organized.
Tags: entryway closet, enter through, items should, keep clutter, stay organized