Simplifying Week 1: The Mudroom

I decided to start my Simplifying project in the mudroom--the first place we see when we come into the house, and the last place we see when we leave, it seemed like a good place to start.

Reducing the clutter in this room will not only make it a more pleasant space to come home to, it should make it easier to find and choose shoes, jackets, etc. and thus make the morning rush a little easier (of course what will simplify my mornings the most is the fact that C offered to take the boys to daycare in the mornings all summer, which saved me the trouble of trying to trick him into taking them).

Here's what our mudroom usually looks like:

Everyone just kicks of their shoes upon entering the house, and drops whatever they brought in with them (including, ahem, a box of junk and garbage I cleaned out of my car a week earlier).

But other, systemic problems involve too many choices: four or five jackets per child and an entire bin full of shoes. Although I had cleaned and put away most of the winter gear some time ago, C and I still had our winter coats out here, and there were a number of stray stocking caps, gloves and snow pants that needed to be washed and either stored somewhere else or put in the Coats for Kids box.

I eliminated the shoe bin, in favor of lining up the kids' shoes (one pair of sneakers, one pair of sandals and on of Crocs for each child) where they can see them, and put most of the spare shoes that either don't fit or don't get worn down in the basement (I did leave out two pairs of hiking boots that E and Z may or may not wear all summer...we'll see...).

The result? Fewer choices, in a more pleasing arrangement. Elimination of stuff that doesn't belong.

(The little baskets hold our binoculars, notebooks and magnifying glasses for easy access when heading out the door. The "tennis rackets" are C and M's bug zappers--I was truly horrified when C's brother gave them for Christmas, but I guess if it reduces their chances of EEE exposure, I can live with it).

Now, I don't really expect it to STAY clean, all by itself--it is the MUD room after all. However, a whole week has gone by since the clear-out and it doesn't look much worse. Though we still all just kick off our shoes when we walk in the door, I was able to vacuum out there without having to pick up much first, and I even put my own hammock away when it started to rain yesterday, rather than heaping it on the chair.

What have you simplified this week?