organized entryway

i recently mentioned that we had done a bunch of projects around the house during my husband's vacation and wanted to share one of them with you. with the start of the school year approaching i really felt the urge to organize my entryway for several different reasons. 1} i cannot function when there is clutter everywhere. if the shoes and backpacks and paperwork are strewn about the house it becomes overwhelming, and i know my husband feels the same way. 2} we wanted to give our kids a central area where they could be responsible for putting things away and also getting things themselves if needed. so this is what we came up with.

there's a diagonal wall next to our entry way table that was blank and useless. we decided to put some low hooks (easy for little arms to reach) and baskets there. it wasn't my first choice for baskets and hooks because the coat closet is around the corner by the kitchen. we also don't use the front door as our normal entry, we use the garage. the coat closet is about halfway between those two areas and it seemed that that was were stuff was being dumped. 

once i purchased the baskets and hooks, i realized that they just wouldn't work on that wall, so this wall had to be plan B. i'm actually pretty happy with how it turned out. i just have to be really intentional about reminding the kids to put their backpacks where they belong. the baskets are from Cost Plus World Market and the hooks are from Target. 

its still so hot that as soon as my son gets home from playing hard at school, he peels his clothes off and throws them all over. i'm working on getting him to neatly put them in a pile (maybe even FOLD them) on one stair so he can take them up the next time he goes to his room. 

shoes are still somewhat of an issue. we have an over-the-door-shoe-pocket-thingy in the coat closet and the rule is to put your shoes in there as soon as you take them off. but that only happens half the time. 

we're working one it. i want to be consistent with them and give them responsibilities and ways that they can contribute, but i also don't want to be barking orders as soon as they walk through the door. 

anyway, so what do you think? 

love, tara