Guest Blogger: How to Organize your Fall Home for the Upcoming Winter

Guest Blogger #254, Entry #758, November 13, 2011

We spend a lot more time indoors once winter hits, so it’s important that you take advantage of the space you have. Here are some tips to organize the areas of your house that get hit the hardest in the winter months.

Prepare your home this fall for the winter

Image via: BHG

The Garage

The summer months can leave many people’s garages bursting at the seams. The winter items have been shoved to the back while your grill and lawnmower have been pulled in and out all season. Maybe you got lazy during the summer and started parking in the street as the garage filled up. Either way, cleaning out and organizing the garage is something everyone dreads, but if done seasonally or even just yearly it isn’t as daunting of a task. You’ll be glad you have your garage when it gets cold and you drive past your neighbor who is still scraping his windshield.

Prepare your garage for the winter

This is an area where aesthetics are less important, so you can really maximize storage. Take advantage of storage-friendly garage items like work benches, tool boxes and extensive shelving. Hooks, bars and racks are your best friends here. I think it’s a good idea to go ahead and create more storage than you need while you’re at it. If you create a space for all the items you have and then add something a month later, your area becomes cluttered again.

Entrance Areas

We don’t normally think of these spaces as rooms. But in the winter every entryway instantly becomes a dressing room. Especially with the addition of snowy shoes, sleds, ice scrappers, heavy boots, coats, scarves, etc. These transition areas can quickly become cluttered. The best way to keep your entryways clear is to add a little intention to the space. If you have a bench or stool then guests are much more likely to take care of their snowy shoes there and not track sludge and salt through your house. It’s even better if this bench has a lift-up lid to accommodate overflow. A nice umbrella stand can really help with wet umbrellas but also wet ice scrappers, etc.

Organize your entryways with helpful hooks

Coat hooks are key. Winter coats are too bulky to keep close, but people invest in them and shouldn’t have to throw theirs on the ground. Install a line of coat hooks. There are plenty of funky ones out there that bring just as much form as function. These will keep all your hats, gloves, scarves and coats off the floor.

The Kitchen

These days the kitchen is becoming more and more of an entertainment space. Many times, guests want to be near the hub of activity, which can bring them in your kitchen, even if you want them out. It certainly doesn’t help that all winter holidays are very food-centric. Because kitchens already feature so much storage space, maximizing it can be fairly straight forward, even though it is a huge task. However, you should resist the urge to put absolutely everything away. Many items in the kitchen are just as beautiful as they are handy. A festive teapot left on the stove, wintery serving platters and decorative napkins can all pull your kitchen together and really say, “Happy Holidays! You’ve found the food!” which every guest wants to hear. Think of it as “staging” your kitchen and not just leaving things out.

Organize your kitchen for aesthetics and function

Image via: Be Interior Decorator

For those who are truly proud of their design-directed dishes, a cabinet-less motif really makes a statement. Beware, this is equally the dream and nightmare of an enthusiastic organizer. Open shelving should not be attempted if an off-center item has the power to keep you up at night.

Have fun being creative with your organization and you are sure to love living in your clutter-free home!

Holly Watson is a full time student who enjoys blogging for Sears and other great brands she enjoys. She is an avid runner and bookworm.

For more home organization ideas on Stagetecture, click here.