How to keep hats and gloves organised.
Now the temperatures have severely plummeted, hats and gloves are essential to keep away the frostbite. But as they are not needed throughout the year, finding storage that doesn’t dominate your hallway or boot room can be tricky. Here are some options I’ve found work well and contain those woolly mitts and scarves during the colder months.
A bin or tub
A tub or bin can be a great idea if you have little ones who aren’t so good at putting things away but can chuck things into a receptacle.
Pros
Come in a range of materials and looks so they can match with most decors.
You can buy bins with lids, meaning that you can hide away the heap of woollen items if you have visitors.
Great for children
Cons
Can look a little untidy
Can be upturned easily if the wanted scarf is at the bottom of the bin
Dependant on size, it can take up too much floor space.
Overdoor shoe hanger
If you have a door to a downstairs toilet or coat hooks that are accessible, then this option could work brilliantly.
Pros
Able to choose a transparent option so you can see which items are where, or opaque version keeping items tidied away and less visible.
Due to the different levels of the pockets, children could be given the lower layers and adults given the higher tiers. Labels could be used to differentiate what goes where for little ones.
This solution needs no floor space meaning that narrow hallways or corridors do not become any more cluttered.
Cons
You need hooks or a door for this solution - otherwise, you could add hooks to an empty wall.
The transparent version can look a little messy, so if facing into the hall itself might not look great.
Some chunkier scarves may not fit in the pockets.
Small drawer unit
These always seem to be kept in the bathroom sections of homeware stores, but they can be more useful in other areas than you would think.
Pros
Available in a variety of materials, colours and sizes so you can match your decor and size you have.
Most have a small footprint, meaning they can be tucked in small corners or in a sliver of space you may think of as wasted space.
They usually have three or four drawers, perfect if there are three or four of you so you can have a drawer each.
Cons
The drawers do not usually have runners and stops so drawers can easily be pulled out if little ones are too excited to get to their mittens.
Although usually small, they still do need some floor space.
For larger families, these may not give enough storage for everyone’s winter gear.
Wall-mounted coat rack with drawers
If you are struggling with hanging coats as well as storing hats and gloves, then this could be a good allrounder.
Pros
No floor space needed so could be used in the most awkward spots.
Dual-purpose as it also deals with your coats too.
Keeps hats and gloves out of sight and out of the way when not being used.
Cons
Not accessible for young children giving them less independence and opportunity to tidy up after themselves
Needs to be securely attached to the wall so would be no good for those with awkward walls that don’t like being drilled.
The open shelf on top of the drawers could become a clutter collector for those tall enough.
However, you decide to store your winter warmers make sure you’ve whittled down your selection before choosing storage. Get rid of those gloves with holes in, hats that no longer fit growing heads and scarves that aren’t long enough to keep a squirrel’s neck warm! Get each family member to choose their favourite/warmest items and donate or recycle all others. This means you can then assess how much storage you ACTUALLY need rather than how much you THINK you need.
Don’t forget to wash all items regularly, so you are not putting muddy gloves on top of clean scarves that go near your face and, if you struggle with space in your hallway or boot room - store winter items away during the summer months to give your sunscreen and sunglasses space to shine!
How do you store your hats, gloves and scarves? Let me know in the comments below or on my Instagram or Facebook page.
Share this post:
When I asked for questions my social media followers would like answers to this one came up a lot. And my first thought to answer this was…DON’T!
But then I changed my mind, read my blog to find out why and how!