Returning to indoor living as the seasons change presents a golden opportunity to evaluate how to use your domestic spaces. As fall activities like school sports and work projects gain momentum in the run-up to the end of the calendar year, being inside again doesn’t have to cause more stress. Making a deliberate investment in organization for just one space in the house won’t go amiss as you juggle day-to-day duties. Shelfology recommends you look at 5 spaces where you can easily bridge the gap between fully functioning and utter chaos.
Entryway & Mudroom
Entering the house at the end of a long day shouldn’t mean dodging a minefield of piles and paraphernalia. Let your entryway welcome you instead of making you feel like the day is too long already!
Transitional spaces like entryways need thoughtful preparation to make them work. As a pass-through space often seen by other rooms in the house, you can’t afford to skimp on style or design. Choose shallower shelves incorporating hooks, like the Shelfology Tromso Coatrack, to allow traffic to flow easily. Pick individual hooks hung with the heights of family members and weights of heavy backpacks and sports gear in mind. Use colors that appear in nearby rooms to tie together spaces into a cohesive color palette.
If you live in a place with a ton of snow and rain, which sadly we do, chances are you’ve grown an appreciation for the utilitarian room that keeps the rest of the house spic and span: the mudroom! The mudroom plays a central role in keeping coats, shoes, and gear ready to grab and go.
There’s nothing worse than trying to go out the door and not being able to find something that “I just saw here yesterday.” According to the American Demographic Society, Americans waste more than 9 million hours each day looking for lost and misplaced articles. Don’t get caught in that loop! Maximize space with thoughtfully placed hooks and hangers. Small shelves and storage cubes can make categories of necessities- such as hats, umbrellas, and dog leashes easy to find. The strategic use of closed and open storage puts seasonal items front and center and hides pieces that won’t be needed anytime soon, reducing wasted time.
Command Center
Often adjacent to the entry and mudroom is a command center. Whether it’s as small as a one-shelf drop zone or as big as a wall of organizers, managing the comings and goings of the Autumn season is a necessity worth looking into.
Messages, mail, and movement are all hosted in a command center. Mosey Magnet boards can hold coupons, scribbled notes to “remember to water the plants,” and the latest homework with an A+ ; a snapshot of the goings-on of everyone in the home. Calendars schedule upcoming events and can give you the peace of mind that comes with planning. Mail and bills can be placed in bowls or bins on shelves until they can be sorted and paid later.
Making a command center doesn’t have to be complicated. The three elements above can come in all shapes and sizes. Shelfology provides made-to-measure custom cut and built shelves that can slot right into whichever nook you choose. Mix and match with key-hooks, magnets from your latest trips, and pics of your best friend’s wedding and it becomes personal and delightful. Knowing where to find the details of each day can’t be underestimated. According to Simply Productive, 23% of adults pay bills late and incur fees because they can’t find their bills, and 80% of the clutter in your home is a result of disorganization, not lack of space. So setting aside even a small space for mail can save you money: Cha-ching!
Home Office
Whether you’re working from home or creating a dedicated study space, your office setup can help or hinder your tasks. Studies show that using the correct organizational tools can improve time management by 38%. Creating a clean space around your desk and seating is key to allowing focus and accomplishment to thrive. Reclaim your walls and move books, pictures, and office necessities up and within reach.
Reclaim your walls and move books, pictures, and office necessities up and within reach. Shelves are perfect for displaying favorite decor or professional certifications. The warm woods in Aksel Floating Shelves and Bart Wall Mounted Shelves pair perfectly with books to create a cozy desk space. Use a Mosey Magnet board to display vacation photos or write notes about upcoming tasks. A workspace should encourage your ability to get things done! Make it easier to go to work by creating an environment you actually want to hang out in!
Kids Rooms
What an absolute bummer the end of summer is for kids returning to school-centered schedules. If the struggle to get homework done, keep legos off the floor, or just to have a place for quiet creativity is real in your home, think about what a refresh would do for you!
Start with organization. An easy change is to provide more places for things to go, and to put them on display instead of on the floor. Hooks come to mind first, and easy grabs like the Doohooky can hold anything from dress-up costumes to heavy high-school backpacks. Fat Lippie Picture Ledges can put picture and early reader books within easy reach for your littles or hold a display of 90’s vinyl for your budding enthusiast.
Study spaces can always benefit from sturdy shelving options. If you’re planning on building a space to grow into, the Aksel Radius with rounded corners can make a stellar bookcase that can grow right on up with your little human. And bonus: No sharp corners for small people to bump into!
Peace and organization are within reach with a little time and thoughtful planning!
Play Spaces
Balancing home life and work in the fall can feel overwhelming as the opportunity to go outside for recreation shrinks. Children are especially affected by the move back indoors. A dedicated play space can be just the thing to keep little hands busy each day. There’s no need for a whole room of play space if you don’t have the square footage available. Toy organization can happen in a corner, nook, or part of a room. Making time for play is as essential as making space for it according to LSIS:
“When it comes to playing, many of us start strong when our children are young and in their primary years, but somewhere along the line life gets busy. School and daily to-do lists take the forefront, leaving out any time for play. The truth is playing is part of what makes life joyous and worth waking up. Teaching our kids that it’s essential to enjoy their days is a skill that takes practice, yet it is one of the most loving actions we can gift to our kids.”
If you’re determined to make a place for play, then reading, imaginative play, and room to build or create can be managed in a big or small space with some creative thinking. A display of loved toys or books can go up with the Fat Lippie Picture Ledge, or build a gallery above that tiny art table with Mosey Magnet boards. Use Maggie magnetic bookends to hold collections of books on a bright Bender steel shelf deep enough to hold bins with small blocks and figures.
A bigger space can even branch out into more physical play with the Randle Monkey Bar +Wall handles. Imagine being able to let your busy little monkey’s loose to swing and climb. Expending that extra energy could be a lifesaver when the days shorten!
No matter what your family looks like, taking time to think about how you come and go during Autumn can be beneficial and bring you a renewed sense of peace as you implement changes that flow with your busy lifestyle!
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Take Empty Corners from Awkward to Awesome
Take Empty Corners from Awkward to Awesome