Organize your entryway for fall
By BETH BENCE REINKE
For Smart
Summer's out, school's in!
Back to the morning routine of packing lunches, stuffing book bags and searching for lost shoes and homework. One way to ease the transition is an entryway makeover.
In the morning and afternoon, the entryway serves as grand central station of your home, said Tammy Burke, professional organizer and owner of "Organize It All" in Dallastown.
"What happens after school is you have this flux of stuff coming in -- shoes, backpacks, sports equipment," she said. The trick is to provide spaces to drop essential items after school so that kids can grab-and-go the next morning.
Try these five simple steps to organize your entryway:
1) Declutter
The entryway should house only things that you grab on the way out or drop on the way in. Return anything that doesn't belong in the entryway to its proper place.
2) Purge
Sort through everything that's left in the entranceway and foyer closet. Get rid of things you don't use or kids have outgrown.
3) Reorganize
Keep only fall jackets out and place winter coats in bedroom closets. Make piles of
similar items -- coats, shoes and accessories like hats, gloves, umbrellas, purses.
4) "Containerize"
Create a space for each kind of item using containers:
• If you don't have a closet, use a wardrobe or coat tree to store coats near the door.
• Use stackable cubbies with doors for shoes. Cubbies with slide-in square baskets hide all kinds of accessories.
• Install hooks or pegs for backpacks.
• Create a "return basket" for library books or movies that need to be returned.
• Hang a tiered wall basket or other organizer by the door for keys and sunglasses.
5) Clean
Keep your entryway tidy with a quick daily check-up to return stray items to their containers.
One mom's story
A coat rack hangs in the entryway of Pamela Jones' home in York Township.
It's just one way that she keeps things in order.
Her motto: "Everything in its place."
Her two children -- Cassie Firestone, 13, and Landon Firestone, 9 -- keep their shoes and bookbags in their rooms.
Large baskets filled with toys are tucked underneath end tables in the living room.
A large trunk holds the family's cold-weather gear -- hats, scarves and gloves.
During the fall, she keeps jackets on the coat rack. Bulky winter coats stay in the closet until they're needed.
Jones said it's a lot of work to stay on top of all the papers the kids bring home from school, but she's vigilant about tossing anything that's not
necessary.
It helps, she said, that everything from report cards to homework is online now.
Why get organized?
It can save you money.
"People are seeking out ways to save money at this point because they understand that they need to be more efficient both with their space and their time. And by organizing their paperwork and avoiding late fees . . . as well as organizing their home, they can do what they need to do," said Tammy Burke of "Organize it All."
The biggest savings Burke ever found?
She found a $15,000 whole life policy for a woman who was getting organized.
"You never know what you have in your paperwork because you weren't looking," she said.
Entryway checklist:
* Wardrobe or coat tree
* Cubbies
* Hooks
* Baskets
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