We recently tweaked a space in our home and I’m loving the added school storage in the mudroom. Our mudroom isn’t huge, but it serves many purposes, so it has to function well. With the kids being in 3rd and 2nd grades this year, I noticed there were more papers coming home, reading calendars to manage, spelling lists/notebooks, and one big, heavy math book coming home. Each child also brings home a planner and folder each night to go through (that has to be signed). This is all in addition to remembering library books every week! In years previous, we could keep all this stuff on the refrigerator or in piles in the kitchen. This year, I was OVER it! I love a clutter-free fridge, and I was feeling the need to upgrade our school storage and become more organized in the process. Excuse the bad, grainy photos…our mudroom doesn’t get any natural light!
So, we headed to Ikea and of course found exactly what we needed, in the form of shoe storage! These plastic bins come in white or black and come in a three pack for $40. They are large, so we only ended up using two. I think I’ll use the third one in the basement toy room in the near future.
These containers are large enough to hold all things school, with a lot of room left over. Drew’s is on top because he’s taller, and Kate’s is directly below his. They tilt down a few inches when opened and close back up easily. They stay open when needed, and stay closed until you pull them out. They are plastic, but not in a cheesy way. They look modern and sleek. I think they fit in just fine in our mudroom space. And, they are super easy to clean! Now, the kids know that all things school go in their designated bins. They check them every morning before school and transfer anything to their backpacks that is needed for that day. Who knew simple storage could feel so good! Ha!
I also got each of the kids clipboards for their reading calendars. This way they have a hard surface to write their minutes down each night. They each keep a pencil in their bins as well. I’m convinced will have these unit the kids leave for college! I love how roomy they are and love how everyone has their own space to keep their clutter.
In order to add these bins to the mudroom, I had to take down one side of the art display wall. Another thing with getting older is these kids do not bring home as much artwork as they once did. Insert tear here. I simply moved one of the rods/clips to the other side of the wall and made three rows, so essentially we only lost one row. The bins are hanging right on the edge of the mudroom/kitchen near the backpack/jacket hooks. Steve used anchors and screws to attach the bins to the wall so they are extra secure. I would highly recommend these for anyone who needs a catch-all space in their home (kids or adults)!
And here is a view of that whole wall (bathroom is the door in the middle).
I couldn’t resist putting up these “family rules” just above where they gather their things. 🙂
And here is our cubby station. Each of the four bins on the right hold seasonal items (flip flops in the summer, gloves and hats in the winter). The three bins on the bottom hold all shoes worn on a regular basis (Drew has one, Kate has one, and Steve has one). I keep my shoes upstairs in my closet! The hooks in this space are used by yours truly since I have about 6 jackets on rotation at any given time. Whoops! And this is where I drop my purse.
Opposite of the cubby space are the kids jacket/backpack hooks, white board, and chalkboard. This white board is hands down my favorite organizational tool in my home. I have blurred our schedule for this photo, but every Sunday night I update the board with daily events, “to-dos”, and items to “get” for the week. Everyone in the family knows to reference the white board if they want to know what’s going on on a certain day. The white board isn’t pretty, but I will always have one and will always do this!
It’s either amazing or really, really sad that a couple of plastic boxes could make me this excited!