4 Easy Ways to Avoid the Winter Clutter That Drives You Crazy

With October over we are definitely starting to feel the cool days of November, which means I'm reaching for gloves, hats, and scarves more often.  Before long, we'll need to bundle up from head to toe in warm fuzzy accessories just to go out the door.  

The biggest issue I have at this time of the year is with keeping all the gear organized and still having it easily accessible when we need it.  I have a small entryway and I just can't stand the clutter.  It really drives me crazy! 

These tips are how I organize our winter gear so as to avoid the clutter that seems to happen just by having kids.

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5 Easy Ways to Avoid the Winter Clutter That Drives You Crazy

Missing Mittens and Gloves

It can get pretty frustrating keeping pairs of mittens together. With three kids, let’s just say making sure gloves stay paired together is not high on the kids’ priority list. Plus, if you have girly girls like me, those mittens or gloves generally end up being pink and sparkly and princessy. It’s pretty obvious when the match is missing.  Add a boy into the mix and there’s no way he’s wearing the girly gloves when he can’t find his own.

My solution? Dollar store gloves and mittens in neutral colors. I buy several sets that can be mixed and matched. If one glove is missing, it’s easy to grab another. Plus, they are cheap so it’s no big deal when they inevitably get lost.

Tip #1 to Avoid Winter Clutter

Keeping Mittens and Gloves in One Place

In our entrance way, we have a bit of space so every fall I bring out the winter baskets. I keep the baskets by our front door but you could have them anywhere that’s easily accessible like the hall closet or mudroom etc.

All the mittens and gloves go into one basket. On the way out the door each day, the kids just grab what they need.

The baskets don’t have to be fancy.

I use this style.  I also really like this stacking basket idea. If you’re a Pinterest gal, a quick search will reveal a ton of great ideas.  Check out your local thrift store too! You can find a variety of baskets at much lower prices.

The key is encouraging the habit of putting the gloves back into the basket when the kids come in.

I try to make sure that they don’t throw the wet gloves in but in case they do I add a cotton ball with a few drops of Purification essential oil to help eliminate that musty smell of wet or drying mittens. This is where I buy my essential oils.

Purification Essential Oil

Make sure you go through last year’s gloves and get rid of all the gloves missing their match, gloves with holes, and make note of what you need to stock up on.  Then when the winter season is over, I simply stack the baskets back into the back of the closet.

Tip #2 to Avoid Winter Clutter

Hats and Scarves

I have a basket just for hats and scarves. I used to have all of the winter gear together but I found that the kids would end up digging through an entire bag of stuff just to find what they needed.  This meant that it ended up going all over the floor.

Now I separate them and it keeps things tidy.

Don’t forget: Your babies are constantly growing so you’ll need to go through and pull out anything they’ve outgrown.

This basket idea also works for the “big kids.” I don’t know how many times my hubs goes looking for his gloves or hat when he’s going out to shovel snow. Now if I could just get him to put them back in the right spot!

Tip #3 to Avoid Winter Clutter

Drying and Storing Snowpants

While it may not snow a lot where I live, I like to keep the snow pants handy.  I used to have them stored in a tote in the garage, but when a snow day would hit I’d have to dig them out.

I decided to hang them up by their suspenders on hangers in the closet.  This works great!  The snow pants were easily accessible. I also used the hangers to hang wet snow pants up to dry. Just hang them on the shower curtain rod over the tub to dry out. When they’re dry, I simply transfer them back to the closet.  Easy peasy!  Once winter is over I transfer the snow pants to the less used closet downstairs so they are out of the way. 

Tip #4 to Avoid Winter Clutter

Winter Boots

There’s nothing worse than wet boots dripping all over your floors.  If you have space, the best option is to have a drying tray set up where the boots can be set.

The tray will catch all the drips and contain the mess. Once the winter season is over, the tray can be put away.

This year, I’m hoping to DIY a pebble tray like the one made by Martha Stewart here.  It will jazz up the boring old boot tray and keep the boots out of the melting snow while they drip dry. There are a ton of DIY boot tray ideas on Pinterest. An easy solution is to place a couple bags of dollar store craft river rocks in a boot tray. You can make that in a snap. 

Those are my tips on how to avoid the winter clutter.  Do you already do some of these?  Share your tips for avoiding clutter in the comments below.