I have been drooling over the gorgeous school bag nook the Organised Housewife has created in her home, as well as the other inspiring spaces she shared on her blog last week. Although my house is a really good size, it is open plan, therefore not leaving many walls available to use for this purpose. Oh, how I would love a mudroom, or hallway that's not exposed to the rest of the house!
Seth and Eme are your typical kids. As soon as they walk in the door, they throw their school bags on the floor, kick off their shoes and move on, without giving much thought to the clutter they've just left behind. It's obvious that a school bag nook is an essential in our home to keep their school things organised. It had to be located in an area close to the front door, otherwise I knew it wouldn't work for them.
If you're in the same situation as me, and don't have much space to spare...here's the answer you've been searching for.
Most kitchen counters have a small overhang at the end. This is the perfect spot to house school bags. Just add a couple of strong hooks, and you're done! I bought a set of two Vippa hooks from Ikea for the low price of $6.00. They're strong and stylish, and highly economical. The hooks are large enough to hang their school bags, library bags and school hats together.
I like that their bags are up off the floor. You can see from this photo that their bags don't impede on our hallway space at all. Essentially this was dead space, that has now been made useful. The kids used to dump their bags there anyway...the difference is, now I don't trip over them!
I like having their bags in the kitchen. It makes emptying and packing their lunchboxes easier, and school notes can be placed on the bench top to be read and actioned. In two weeks time, the kids will be back to school, and this area will be used every single day. The next area I'm going to tackle to help with organisation, is a family command centre, which will also be in the kitchen. They say the kitchen is the heart of the home, but in our case, it's the brains as well.
It's amazing the difference two small hooks have made to our home organisational needs. How do you store your children's school bags?