Anyone else feel desperate to get your house in order this New Year’s week? Luckily, Jennifer Bardorf, a professional personal organizer and owner of Neatspaces, in Wellesley, MA, is here ALL WEEK LONG—yay!—to solve common family organizational dilemmas. She’ll tackle one HHK reader dilemma each day this week. Check in every morning as we transition from 12 Days of Christmas to 5 Days to Organize—I promise you’ll be inspired.
Q. With my kids playing various sports, we have numerous sport bags/backpacks. For my daughter: soccer, lacrosse and swimming. For my son, baseball, football. They each have cubbies in our mudroom but not enough space for all these bags! Any suggestions? —Julie, Malvern, PA
A. Lots of people try to cram sports gear into the mudroom cubbies, and it’s usually a mistake. I’d suggest keeping only bags used on a daily basis, like school backpacks, in here. It will simply get too crowded if you try to keep anything else in these tiny nooks, and you need easy access to school supplies and outerwear to keep mornings running smoothly.
Elfa system, The Container Store
I suggest hanging a designated row of hooks in the garage, basement, mudroom, or your child’s room—wherever there’s a big portion of free wall space— for sports gear. I really like the Elfa system from the container store. You essentially mount a custom-length track ($8 each at The Container Store) horizontally on the wall and add as many hooks as necessary to get the stuff up and off the floor. There are a variety of hooks to accommodate various types and sizes of bags (try these small bag hooks at $6 each, larger bag hooks at $10 each (a must for large hockey bags), and these $12 holders for bats, sticks, and racquets). Hanging the hooks on the track allows versatility as the type of gear changes. The track gives it a more utilitarian look, but you can also mount hooks directly into the wall. Regardless, the hardware nearly disappears once bags are hung. Then, designate a separate bag for each child for each sport that’s currently in season. Keep equipment in the bags or near the bags, and offseason stuff in a closet out of the way.
When you have a special spot that’s designated just for sports and individual bags for each activity, it will not only help contain all the gear, but make for quicker turnaround when it’s time to head out to a practice or game.
Have an organizing dilemma of your own? Check out Jennifer’s website and contact information, here.
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