Mom's Visit = Another Awesome Project

I have a couple of enemies around my house: clutter and disorganization. Seems we are locked in a neverending war. Fortunately, my mom was here for 2 1/2 weeks and was able to help me out with at least one of my many battles, just in time for winter.

I'm embarrassed to show the before picture, but here it is:

GROSS! How have we lived like this for so long? Everyone takes their shoes off here in the garage. Owen and Sammy would sit on the step which would block anyone trying to get in and out the door. This often led to them getting kicked in the head, stepped-on fingers, etc. The accordian hanger to the left of the door was pretty much useless, as the pegs to hang things on were straight and therefore didn't hold coats of any weight at all. The big blue tub on the floor is where all the hats, gloves and scarves were kept. Digging through it was always a lot of fun! Basically, this area was a MESS and I hated it!

So here's how it looks now:

My mom built boot boxes for the boys. There are two of them with hinged lids to put all their shoes and boots in and they double as benches for them to put on and remove their footwear. GENIUS! We went with our measurements to Lowe's and they cut the plywood for us so she just had to put them together. The boxes sit on the floor of the garage with no bottoms so that I can just sweep underneath them if I ever need to. My mom put some varnish on them and VOILA! Organization - FINALLY!

I bought those white milk crates to go on our shelving unit for the mittens and hats. My other contribution was the idea for name plates with hooks for the kids' coats and backpacks. When they cut the plywood there just happened to be 4 extra little pieces leftover so it worked out perfectly. I think they turned out really cute, don't you?

Thanks, Mom! You're the BEST!