Tight on Space - Mud Room

In the 'Little Red House' we are tight on space.

When the girls were little and each had a jacket, raincoat and two pairs of shoes - life was good.

Now I have to figure out how to store:

Two Book Bags
Two Lunchboxes
Two Dance Bags
Two Soccer Gear Bags
Two CCD book sets
Two Enrichment Day bags
Two Spring jackets
Two Raincoats
Two Hoodies
AND two each of: dress shoes, sneakers, Chuck Taylors, flip flops, boots...

This does not include Winter Gear.  And did I mention dog food?  OH the Mr. and I have jackets also.  Recycling bin, broom/mop...do I really need to go on?

How do we do it?  We have a tiny little mudroom that you enter our home through.  I had this system built in after I saw something similar in a Pottery Barn Catalog.

Talk about inviting you into my mess!

Even on it's best day  - it is overflowing. I hate that this is the first thing my guests see when they enter my home - so that motivates me to try to keep it organized.

We have a rule: EVERYTHING has its PLACE.  If you put it back in its place you will find it the next time.

I hung a canvas shoe bags on the wall which is great for controlling hats and gloves for everyone in the winter and holds sunscreen & bugspray in the summer.

Our shoe problem was solved by a shoe tree.  Most of the time shoes actually are on the tree and not all over the floor.

We are on week two of school and so far so good this year.  The bag system is really the only thing that works for us.  EVERYTHING stays in those bags.  Items go from laundry back to the bags.

The good news is this little room is due for a Face Lift! And I have already started!

How do YOU organize your small space with so much crap stuff?  Leave a comment!!