Organized Mudroom

I have no idea if this is normal, but I can’t function without some level of organization. I feel like my life is spiraling out of control if it’s not organized. The funny thing about that? Since having kids, life NEVER feels organized. That’s a trick haha. I have a list as long as my arm of all the things I want to do…. photo books, journals, toy storage, etc.

I hope I get to all those things someday, but in the meantime, I’m mainly concerned about organizing our day-to-day lives. With my oldest starting Kindergarten and my middle in preschool, we have a lot of “stuff” (I won’t use the term I really want to use) coming in everyday from school. Our mudroom has been such a lifesaver! I honestly don’t know what I’d do without it. It basically acts as a filter.

If I’m being completely honest, the filtering process actually begins in the garage. As a family of five, we have a TON of crap. My germ “issues” have lead me to keep backpacks outside… Anything school related is kind of nasty. I empty the bags and bring the contents into the mudroom.

We have multiple file “folders” for all the papers coming in. The one closest to the door is for receipts, to be used after one of my many shopping trips for home decor. I want those receipts to be easy to find if/when I need to return something. These wall folders are for papers that need to be sorted through and read. These stacks can get thick!

Once I have read through these stacks, the papers that are “current” and need to be accessible for quick reference are kept in this little set of drawers. I have assigned each of these little drawers to a family member or other category. The papers that have “expired” are tossed, and the papers that are old but need to be kept are moved to a stack I have for things needing to be filed.

This mudroom wall was a DIY/Ikea hack that my husband did when we first moved in. He mounted the cubbies from Ikea up above, and then he added the trim to the wall and painted it white to make it all look like one big piece. We kept our brown bench from our old home, but we may eventually update that to a white one down the line.

The baskets that are in the cubbies are swapped out each season. In the spring and summer, we keep anything pool related in there, such as rash guards, kid swim suits, swim diapers, sunscreen, etc. In fall and winter, we keep all our hats, gloves, scarves, etc in there.

Last but not least, our little Ikea shoe cabinet by the door. It does hold a couple pairs of shoes, but it mainly holds anything random I would need to grab quickly as I’m going out the door or coming back in. Lots of wipes, sanitizer, sunglasses, sunscreen. Stuff like that. We also keep some first aid supplies for easy access when we’re playing outside.

Anything to help keep us organized!