Organizing Your Launch Pad

A launch pad is really small, simple, and efficient space that helps maintain and contain all that comes in or goes out of your home. It is the in-between place meant to house anything you will be reaching for constantly. It helps to keep items that enter and leave your home organized. A launch pad is the place you grab your keys and purse, drop the mail, and store the doggie bags. Organizing your launch pad helps all your comings and goings. It should be the first place you see when you enter your home and the last place you see when you leave your home. Here are some tips for organizing your launch pad:

CHOOSE THE LOCATION

The launch pad can be in any area where you enter and leave your home. Here are a couple ideas for location: foyer, hall closet, kitchen, cabinets, mudroom, and garage. Think through where you usually find yourself going in and out of the house, putting your coat on as you leave, and dropping the mail when you walk through your door. Also think about the area that may always have a pile of items. Shoes may be always covering the floor of your garage or coats may be continuously hanging off the banister. A launch pad will be well placed wherever items seem to collect from your comings and goings. You also may need more than one place. Your kids may come in through the garage but you may always take your dog out for walks through the front door. Doggie bags and the leash would need to find a home by the front door while kid backpacks and shoes would be better placed in the garage or mudroom. Take some time at this point to think about your comings and goings.

BUILD YOUR LAUNCH PAD

What things are landing when you first walk into your home? These are the items that go into your launch pad. They may differ slightly and be unique to you but it is important to give every item a home. Pinterest is a great place to go for more inspiration. Here are some ideas for building your launch pad:

• The foyer: find a really simple piece of furniture that has drawers. You can put lens wipes and a lint roller in the drawers. A wooden bowl can be placed on top to be a landing place for mail and keys.
• The entryway closet: hang all those coats and add a shoe pocket holder on the door to store the dog leash, cold gear – such as scarves, gloves, and hats-  bug spray, suntan lotion, and hiking boots. What about that yoga mat or those reusable grocery bags? 
• The kitchen desk: this one can be tucked in the corner of your kitchen with a big calendar, a bulletin board with permission slips and reminders, backpacks and lunch totes, and a pretty basket for keys and mail.
• The mudroom: with baskets for shoes, a place to store umbrellas, and an individual hook for each kid’s backpack and coat.
• The garage: use vertical storage for cold gear, shelves that hold reusable grocery bags, and a boot tray for dirty shoes. 

IMPORTANT YET COMMON ITEMS

What do you use all the time and need for easy grab and go access? Take the time to really think about the items you use routinely. Although common, they are extremely important to your everyday routine. Thinking through how to keep them neat and tidy is very important so that the rest of your life feels organized. The goal is for everything to have a place. Here are some ideas to help you keep those common yet important items organized:

MAIL

Let mail land in a basket or bowl. Immediately recycle any junk mail and send bills to their proper place. Here is a great blog post with more on maintaining paper clutter. 

PACKAGES

Entryways can quickly get clogged up with all those amazon boxes. Don’t let them pile up. Check out the cool post we have in the Abundance Declutter Group on Facebook about ways you can use the empty shipping boxes for donations.

BACKPACKS

Hooks work great for backpacks. How much help do your kids presently need to get out the door? Some find it really helpful to set their kids up with their own vertical space so they can quickly grab their shoes, coat, backpack, and lunch tote and go or unload for the day with ease.

JACKETS

Jackets can quickly pile up on the banister. There needs to be an easy way to quickly put them away or they will be left around the house. An entryway closet is a great place. Hooks or a coat rack work great, too.

COLD GEAR

An over-the-door shoe pocket holder is a perfect option for cold gear! You will easily be able to find your gloves and hat with just a glance. If you do not have a door for this, clear bins or pretty baskets work great, too! Remember to go through cold gear routinely so it doesn’t start overflowing.

SHOES

Shoes can multiply quickly! Baskets, boot trays, and shelves are all wonderful ways of storing shoes. However, really take the time to decide which shoes go where or you will quickly find yourself swimming in shoes again. One idea is to use bedroom closet space for dress shoes, the shelves by the launch pad for everyday shoes, and then to leave the boot tray for workout shoes and those you use to walk the dog.

UMBRELLAS

You can hang umbrellas on the wall, put mini ones in an over-the-door shoe pocket holder, or place them in a large decorative container by the door. Whenever you need an umbrella, you just need to be able to access it in less than 5 seconds.

PAPERWORK

All paperwork, especially kids’ documents can easily get out of control. Here is a great blog post on organizing kids’ documents. What about a family calendar? You may like having a big one in your launch pad so that everyone constantly sees the schedule and knows what the day holds.

What is piling up in your entryway that needs to find a spot in your launch pad? Which location did you choose for your launch pad? Check out our Abundance Declutter Group on Facebook for more on organizing your launch pad and to share photos or ask any questions. We want to see your launch pads!