Even a tiny entryway closet can hold all of the winter gear you need. With a little decluttering, coat closet organization, and creativity, it can be simple to grab what you need.
Coat closets: one of those areas that you swear will never get cluttered again after a makeover. And then…it does. Now don’t laugh, but this is our coat closet’s third makeover in the 14 months we’ve lived here. That sounds pretty awful, but it definitely had a lot going against it. Like a toilet. Yes, inside of it. {You can see what that looked like HERE.}
The second makeover was one step closer to getting it to where it needed to be. We were settled in more and realized all that needed to be stored in one tiny closet. {That makeover can be seen HERE.} But a year later and we might be mistaken for hoarders by the look of our coat closet.
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BEFORE
Let’s chat about what’s going on in here. Way too many coats for each person, cleaning supplies, grocery bags, returns, and winter gear. And quite literally, the vacuum hose would fall on you when the door was opened.
COAT CLOSET WINTER ORGANIZATION PROCESS
As we head into what is usually a very cold and snowy few months, my kids need easy access to their winter gear. Each one of us keeps one in-season jacket hanging up in our hallway. The rest of our winter organization needs to happen right in here: our only closed storage on the first floor. {Click HERE to see our coat hooks right outside this closet.}
The first step to any type of makeover or organization project is to empty the space out. That’s just what I did. {And yes, that is a wooden shutter in our coat closet. The other side is our basement steps. Honestly, we don’t know why it’s there but we’ve laughed ourselves silly about it because…remember the toilet? Yeah, we’ll just leave it there.}
We each went through our items and decided what we wanted to keep, what we could donate, and what needed to be thrown away.
COAT CLOSET ORGANIZATION TOOL
Using a few organizational tools, I was able to set up our coat closet to make it quick and easy for my kids to grab their winter gear.
PEG HOOKS / DOUBLE COAT HANGER HOOKS / UTILITY HOOK /
COAT CLOSET AFTER
Turning the shoe shelf in this direction has been a great solution for floor space. {Everyday shoes are in our entryway…click HERE.}
The first thing we added was this wooden peg hook. We ordered a long one and James cut to it size for our closet door. And I decided to hang the kids’ winter mittens here.
MITTENS / CAFE CURTAIN ROD / DRAPERY HOOKS
I kept the original system we were using for organization. But this time, I added a few more hooks, along with downsizing the amount of hats and thin gloves we were storing.
Most of our scarves are now being stored on one hanger, next to our spring and fall jackets.
Adding three hooks under the light is my solution for snow pants.
Tucked behind the snow pants is our vacuum. Since this is our only hidden storage on the main level, storing it in here is my only option. To keep the hose from falling over, a simple hook was added to keep it in place.
WITH THE LIGHT ON
We don’t use this light often, but once in a while it comes in handy. {Oh and the mop and little vacuum ended up in our basement staircase. We used a wall mounted mop holder to get them up off the ground. Click HERE for what we used.}
This coat closet winter organization might not win any magazine cover award. But, this is real life. I have 3 kids and I live in the North. Dealing with all the mess in here means that my family can come and go easily and without frustration. That’s a win-win in my book.
Oh and is it weird that I keep opening the door and peeking in? I’m just so happy with how a little time and a few hooks have changed how well this coat closet functions.
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Peeking in to an organized space is not weird at all! I organized my pantry the other day, and I showed it to every family member who walked in. 🙃 I keep looking at it myself!
The hook for the vacuum hose is so exciting. Nothing worse than being clobbered in the head by a vac. Great idea!!! Well done!
Leigh you utilized the space well. Love the idea of using the hooks. I need to do this to most of my closets. Love they way yours looks.