A house with school-aged children is a space that serves many purposes. During the summer months it may be a place to play, but during the school year it is a place of work.

Tame your house with these school year organization tips in your home’s busiest rooms.

Laundry Room

If there’s one place work gets backed up during the school year, it’s the laundry room.

Label laundry baskets with children’s names or with labels like “light”, “color”, and “bulky” to keep clothes separate for washing and folding. A shelf above the washer and dryer will keep baskets off the floor.

Consider using a wall-mounted drying rack to keep the hang-dry laundry from molding or alternatively piling up on top of the washer and dryer. Just fold the rack up and away when you’re done.

A slim cart can roll between a washer and dryer to store detergents, softeners, and even a lost sock jar or a place for lost pennies. No room? An over-the-door rack could be an alternative.

Is your laundry room exposed to the rest of the house in a hallway or near a kitchen? Dryers can be loud while studying. Close off your laundry station with a set of barn doors with windows, so you can still keep an eye on the wash cycle.

Entry Ways & Mudrooms

Shoes, books, and backpacks often pile up here, but these rooms are also a passageway to the heart of your home.

Get creative with wall and door-hanging organization options to keep things off the floor. Hooks, magnet boards, and wall pockets can hold artwork, calendars and papers for Mom to sign.

A bench with baskets underneath can be both a place to sit down to put on shoes but also a place to tuck backpacks away. Those shoes can be hung on pegs to keep them from being kicked across the floor.

Though it’s often impossible to close off your entryway, if these school year organization tips don’t improve your mudroom, just close off the space with a simple but beautiful barn door. Out of sight, out of mind.

Workspaces

We naturally prefer different spaces for different types of work we perform, but they all need to be organized.

All purpose work stations should have a catch-all cup for pens, pencils, and scissors. Computer stations should also have cable organizers to keep cords out of the way. Don’t forget to put a trash can nearby.

Don’t have a workspace? Convert a hall or linen closet into one. Remove old doors and mount shelves on the back wall of the closet. Make sure the bottom shelf is deeper than the higher shelves, so it can be used as a desk. A small profile rolling chair will slide all the way under the desk when not in use. Then hide it all away with a chalkboard barn door.

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