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Post by maggie on Jan 16, 2012 9:52:47 GMT -5
I put a toy storage bin by the door -- the ones with bright colourful plastic bins set on a rack. I thought it would be perfect -- a compartment for each kid or each type of item. However, it's not working. My two oldest have big enough hands that they wear adult sized gloves, and the bins aren't big enough. Plus my husband just puts anything into the bins (machine parts, random purchases, whatever happens to be in his hands when he walks in the door), so there often isn't room for the kids' stuff. And I am not willing, at this point, to get into the fight it would take to try to get him to put some of his things elsewhere. Anyway, the storage bins are not working out. They aren't bad in the summer for sunscreen and sunglasses, but winter is no good. Too many kids, stuff too big. I'm looking for suggestions. Maybe a different kind of larger bin, but I'm drawing a blank.
I have had the thought that I should string a wire by the door and hang up mitts in pairs with clothes pins. However, that might be just one more thing that no one follows through on. Ack! I don't have a lot of room, either. We have a big family, and my husband has LOTS of outdoor stuff, and he does not take kindly to the suggestion that maybe some of it could be moved out of the way to make room for the kids (he legitimately needs more than average, since he works outdoors, but he has more than he uses).
Semi related rant -- just putting it in because I'm frustrated
There are two large, very heavy ikea boxes blocking a third of our coat hooks right now, and they are for his dresser that he said he would take downstairs a couple months ago. Not even when I finally said I would build it for him if he moved it. Grrr. So heavy, and if I wait it out, it's going to be at least a year before he moves them, assuming he stays true to form on the "getting things done in the house" front.
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Post by CourageouslyLion SeeksSerenity on Jan 16, 2012 10:16:29 GMT -5
I actually have a dresser by the front door.
It's in the living room and it's a dresser, but that's okay.
The drawers are all for "Things to be used when going outside".
One drawer has mittens/gloves/scarves/hats.
Another drawer has dog leashes, and bags for picking up dog poop.
Another drawer has boots and extra shoes.
Another drawer has maps.
Above the dresser, nailed to the wall, is a rack for outgoing mail. It has hooks on it for keys.
On top of the dresser:
This is where I place my purse/pocketbook, and anything else I need to grab (such as a library book to be returned) when going out the door. I sometimes set something down there when coming in the front door, but I don't allow anything but my purse/pocketbook to remain there longer than an hour.
I'm the only human in my household, so this system is sufficient for me.
You have a spouse and children, so you might have other needs. You'd need more storage space, and also you're dealing with family members who aren't following systems.
I just thought I would mention this since you said you have an unused dresser near your front door!
Perhaps you could use my idea but modify it? or use two dressers?
You could do the system of one drawer for each category of item -- this might work if everyone in your home shares hats/gloves/mittens/scarves.
If each family member has his/her own items, then you could designate one drawer for each person ... Each person puts all their miscellaneous gloves/hats/etc in his/her own drawer, and he/she isn't allowed to borrow from anyone else's drawer.
One disadvantage to the dresser drawer system is that the drawers are not transparent, so people cannot see what's in them ... and therefore forget that this is where their things belong. Some people offset this tendency by labeling the drawers with words or with photos of what goes inside -- as is done at preschools.
Like I said, I live alone. I'd be curious to read how people handle this who have household members who tend not to cooperate.
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Post by Script on Jan 16, 2012 11:34:49 GMT -5
As a veteran of 63 winters in the frozen north, I do not believe that there even EXISTS a solution to the hat-glove-scarf-earmuff-toque-mitt-balaclava dilemna.  That being said, I have READ about families where the kids had a bin in their own room for the DRY hat-glove-scarf-thingys. For me, the worst thing is getting stuff DRY after it's been outside getting wet [snowball fights, sledding, fort-making, whatever]. I drape the wet stuff everywhere, then it falls down and makes a mess and etc. Maybe you can turn your DH's dresser-to-be into a storage unit for everyone.....  |
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Post by momofgirls on Jan 16, 2012 11:46:55 GMT -5
I found the easiest way to move those Ikea boxes is to open them up and move each heavy piece one at a time. My husband is amazed by the things I have moved in and built from Ikea - he doesn't know this is how I do it.
I don't have a solution for the winter stuff, I just make the girls keep their hats and mittens in their coat pockets and keep the rest in a basket underneath the coats. It looks a little messy, but not too bad.
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Post by DJ on Jan 16, 2012 12:34:04 GMT -5
wire/metal bins like those swim locker baskets for stuff attached to a wall work fairly well.. a lot of them actually have a spot for a label for a name.. that they're open and allow ventilation gives stuff SOME chance to dry out.. when i was a kid one of my friend's mom did this... if the kids wanted dry stuff they could drape it over the edge and actually let it dry out. if they wanted partially dry/partially damp stuff and to gripe and be ignored they just shoved it all in. plastic mesh baskets work too but those wire mesh ones are realllly open and allow a lot of circulation and take a lot of abuse... i agree with script though, i am not even from a very cold climate and there's no one size fits all elegant solution to soggery winteriness... we don't get cold & snow but we have months of soggy wet weather... we have a plastic tray down for foot wear. we have a basket for each of us to empty our stuff into, and we have a larger cubby for bigger objects that need to leave our home, return to a store or a person, whatever... i grew up in the sticks so another awesome solution i saw for gloves/hats was one of my friend's moms had drying racks over their wood stove... for nuts & things like that.. the kids their threw their wet stuff on there to dry  . it always smelled like a wet sheep but stuff dried off and was so wonderfully warm. mom made a spot like that beside our fireplace at one point. having toasty warm things to put on was a huge incentive to actually put them away  |
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Post by amberwind on Jan 16, 2012 13:16:37 GMT -5
Since you're an IKEA fan, I'd go for one of their narrow CD or DVD towers. BENNO is the cheapest one that would work, at $40. It's open shelves, so things will have a chance to dry out, and takes up very little floor space since it's a tall tower.
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Post by mlb1985 on Jan 16, 2012 13:46:51 GMT -5
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Post by scribbles on Jan 16, 2012 14:57:08 GMT -5
Ikea has some toy storage systems with larger bins. Maybe one of those would work better than what you have now.
But keep the current bins there just for your DH. At least they keep his stuff corralled and out of the way, i.e. not all over the kitchen table or the couch.
Or you could use large baskets, one per person, on the floor. Each person puts all their hats/scarves/mittens in their own basket.
At my house, we have a coat tree for the most often worn coats, plus an accordian rack for hats, some hooks for scarves and some baskets for gloves/mitten on top of the little shelf unit that holds the snow boots.
My aunt has a large mudroom and she just sets up a drying rack and leaves it all winter. As people come in, they put their mittens on the rack and just take them off when they leave.
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Post by messymommy on Jan 16, 2012 15:38:14 GMT -5
I like IKEA, too. I don't know what kind of space you have available but here are some ideas I had: This rail I use as a pot rack: www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/50072645/ It comes in two lengths and it's very sturdy. I use these S hooks to suspend the pots from the rails: www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/70011397/They also fit onto the rails of this open shelf: www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/00011428/ I have these shelves in my kitchen and they are very versatile. If you have space, you could mount one or more of the open shelves and a couple of rails. Wet things could go on the shelf or be hung on the rails. The S-hooks would allow you to hang items from the rails or shelves. They are all stainless steel so they won't be damaged by wet stuff. Then maybe a wire basket system underneath for each person's gloves, etc. |
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Post by CaringFriend on Jan 16, 2012 16:43:52 GMT -5
I am a retired elementary school teacher who managed 25 - 35 children and their hats, scarves, mittens, coats, and boots. The solution that worked for us was to put one mitten in each pocket, the scarf pulled or pushed into one coat sleeve, and the hat goes into the other coat sleeve.
However, if those items are wet, you need an additional step. I like the suggestions of placing them near a warm source. Sounds heavenly! But if you don't have a warm source, how about one basket by the door for wet things only? Then after the last person arrives home for the day, the basket and its contents (remember, WET only!) can be taken to the laundry room and the items tossed into the dryer. Assign each child a day to do this new chore. Put it in writing on the fridge door to prevent arguments! Even a 6 year old can learn how to turn on the dryer. Make a timer part of the process and you might make it more fun for the child. I know my students LOVED my timer! When the timer goes off, the child can place the now-dry items back into the basket. The basket needs to be returned to its place near the door. If the items do not make it back into the respective coats, at least they are all contained and the kids can dig for them in the morning. May not fit into your decor, but it would work.
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Post by maggie on Jan 19, 2012 17:27:15 GMT -5
As a veteran of 63 winters in the frozen north, I do not believe that there even EXISTS a solution to the hat-glove-scarf-earmuff-toque-mitt-balaclava dilemna. You get the prize for best answer. Ha ha! As many of you pointed out, some of it comes in wet, so there is that on top of finding ROOM for everything. And with at least one of my kids, about half the time only one glove comes home. And I am not going to use string on the gloves. Tried it, hate it. I don't have a ton of space in my porch either. The freezers are in there, plus on top of the winter stuff, there are a couple of hockey bags in there all winter. Ideally I'd find a place to open those up and air out the equipment after every practice, but I can't even think where that is going to be, and at the moment, there is no way I'm lugging those suckers any further than I have to. This is my first year of actually bringing them in the house regularly instead of leaving them out in the truck and making the poor kids put on freezing cold equipment. Progress, I guess. Anyway, thanks for the ideas, everyone. |
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Post by howardsgirlfriend on Jan 19, 2012 20:12:08 GMT -5
Those tiered skirt hangers work well for keeping these items organized.
I also attached clothespins to a length of plastic chain to hang up my hat collection. Works great!
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Post by bluefrog on Jan 19, 2012 21:56:10 GMT -5
There are only two of us, so this may not work for larger numbers, but we hung one of those canvas multiple-pocket shoe storage things in our coat closet so that each of us has separate pockets for our scarves, hats, and gloves. When we come in soaked, we toss things in the dryer if there are a lot of them, or drape them over the umbrella stand by the door if there are only gloves or hats.
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Post by DJ on Jan 20, 2012 0:09:46 GMT -5
airing the hockey gear? i thought that was SUPPOSE to stink as an offensive tactic against the opposing team?
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Post by lizzie on Jan 20, 2012 0:12:12 GMT -5
www.ikea.com/gb/en/catalog/products/80189663/ see this kind of thing, can hang over a rail or somesuch - I have a number of these, in different shapes - the usual sort are circular with pegs hanging down from the circle, but I also have one which is a wooden coat hanger with holes drilled into it, and pegs attached to string knotted through the holes - makes hanging socks, underwear, stockings, baby stuff much simpler as you can attach stuff while still in the house and then just hang it on the line, and so fast to bring in if it rains instead of unpegging heaps of things. I also use then frequently for drying small stuff in the bathroom, just hanging one on the shower rail. But all of these things require that people use them, , the octopus one might entertain children
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