Who would design a house without coat closets or linen closets?  Whoever built ours back in 1915 did.  A few decades later, a previous homeowner put an addition on the back of the house and didn't include a closet by the back door or a linen closet in the bathroom.  Our "foyer" is a three-by-three area hemmed in by the staircase on the left, the archway to the kitchen opposite the door and the archway to the living room on the right.  Jackets hang from hooks above our staircase and shoes pile in the doorway and spill into the living room.  We store our towels in plastic bins underneath our beds.  Chris and I bought the house knowing the lack of closets would be a big inconvinience, but as our family grows, finding a place for everything has become more difficult. 

 

Chris and I are determined to remodel the back addition in the next few years.  Our dream plans will get us an enlarged master bedroom, more closet space in the bedroom, a full bath and, of course, a linen closet.  And we're going to get a whole mudroom instead of just an entryway closet.  But those are just remodeling dreams for now. 

 

Until then, I'm left getting way too excited about organizational fixes like this. 



 

 

We mounted an over-the-door shoe organizer on an unused wall space leading into the kitchen where we store hats and gloves.  Chris made a coat rack, which he mounted at child height so Oliver and Soren can hang their jackets up by themselves. 

 

We'll still be tripping over shoes every time we enter the house and are living like college students with our bath towels stored in bins underneath our bed, but at least we solved one organizational challenge.