“THE LAUNCH PAD“
This week, Laurie from Handy Man, Crafty Woman is my guest host for the challenge. She is sharing her “Launch Pad” with us. I will show you the “beginning” of my launch pad… since I am doing the challenge right along with you all, mine is not complete yet. I don’t have a designated space so I’m super excited that Laurie contacted me about hosting this challenge. It will be a great project for me. I hope you join in and create yourself a launch pad too! I will share my finished launch pad later in the week.
~ToniMy “new” Launch pad (Before)
and after…
More detailed photos of my launch pad can be found {here}… Now on to Laurie’s challenge.
WEEK #2 CHALLENGE {THE LAUNCH PAD}
Hello, I’m Laurie from Handy Man, Crafty Woman.
Thanks so much to Toni for having me guest post on her blog. I have loved all of Toni’s Organizing Challenges. Plus, I’ve been looking at a lot of the blogs that have linked up their before and after photos. Lots of great organizing inspiration!
Have you read in magazines or blogs about launch pads? A launch pad is a place you can set up near a doorway, to help “launch” you out the door for the day; or to help you “land” when you come home.
I’ve seen so many photos of pretty entry ways, foyers, and mud rooms. I’ve drooled over all the organization that one can fit into these areas. I’ve wished that we had a mud room, since we live in the land of snow, mud and dirt (New England).
However, we don’t have a mud room or a foyer. You walk in a door, and bam, you are in a room. You and all the mud and dirt; and all your keys, shoes and bags! I decided to create my own launch pads, or series of areas, in our home to keep things neat.
I love this mail and key holder that sits just inside our side door. As you can see, there are three slots and three hooks for keys. We also place outgoing mail into a slot. I can’t remember where we found this, but I think we found it in a catalog. I remember that it only cost around $20.
I’m not very fond of this shoe rack, but it’s our compromise for where to put shoes when we come in the side door. We thought about buying a nicer shoe rack, but I can’t find anything for just the right size, or the right price.
We also thought about having Handy Man build a rack…but the problem with a wood rack is that all the water, dirt and mud from our boots would probably warp it. So for now, shoes go here. I also hang my purse on the side of the rack.
So you’ve come in, put your keys on the hook; taken your snowy boots off, but you still have a coat to deal with. Now that you have shed the heavy stuff, come over to the living room, and hang up your coat.
We bought this simple coat rack for under $12 at an unfinished furniture store and painted it white. We use the basket for hats, gloves, scarves, etc. I’d love to find a second basket for more storage; but I’m having trouble finding one narrow enough to fit on the shelf.
If we have company over, they always come bearing lots of extra coats, hats and gloves. We move our coats to this coat rack in the family room, and leave the rack in the living room empty for guest coats.
Here is your challenge:
Do you have a built-in launch pad or landing pad in your home? Or, do you struggle to find a place to put coats and shoes? Try to find a way to organize your shoes, coats, etc. You don’t have to have a mud room. Inexpensive coat hooks, racks, or bins can help, even if you have to use more than one location. Show us your launch pads! If you are joining in on the challenge this week, grab a button & link up your blog. I am very excited to see what your launch pads look like in your homes.
launch pad, Mudroom, weekly challenge Posted in 14 comments
14 comments on “Week #2 Challenge (the launch pad)”
Oh I love this challenge! I’m excited to start creating my launch pad. I’ve had plans to create this exact space. I’ve already picked out the coat rack I want from Ikea 🙂
I have a couple more pictures to add and then will be able link 🙂 This is a great idea!!
I’m so glad this is the challenge this week. IT was already on my to do list for this month. When you walk in our front door there’s the living room and only a tiny corner to hang something on. My mom just made me a coat rack from my idea. It has door knobs on a wood board and the kids picked out their own knobs. The kids are so excited to have a place to hang their coats. Now to work on the shoes/boots and launch area. I also want it too look good since it is the first thing everyone sees when they walk in. Looking forward to more ideas. Thanks.
I am eager to do this challenge. I was just reading, “Speed Clean Your Back Entryway in 15 Minutes” in this month’s Real Simple magazine. Great idea, I look forward to it!
Thanks so much for having me guest post! Can’t wait to see what everyone links up!
Great challenge! I have an idea for your shoe rack. We bought a storage unit at IKEA (Trofast) that is basically a wooden frame that holds plastic bins. They have shallow bins that easily hold a pair of shoes or two (depending on size) and bigger ones too. I’ll bet your husband could easily whip up something like that. Here’s the link to the IKEA page that has all the Trofast frames and bins: http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/categories/departments/childrens_ikea/18706-2?pageNumber=3
Hey Toni!
I awarded you with the stylish blogger award today. Check it out here: http://delightfulorder.blogspot.com/2011/02/stylish-blogger-award.html
DaNita
i am new to blogging and would love to link up to this, but i don’t know how!! 🙁 can someone help me?! How can i do it? I have wonderful ideas and i need some help getting blog-savy.
Thanks guys!!
Just click on the button at the end of the post where it says you’re next… And link up your blog. 🙂
This comment has been removed by the author.
Hi Toni, I’m really new to this and didn’t link up the thumbnail properly. Could you delete entry 60 so I could try again. Sorry!
My suggestion for building your own wooden shoe rack would be to slide in a tray to catch the drips, which you could pull out to empty and clean. I’ve seen them with cooling racks on top, like you use when you’ve just pulled something from the oven.
I seriously SWOON every time I see this launch pad you created! LOVE LOVE LOVE!
Thanks for linking up!
xoxo,
Jen
I’m finding this MONTHS later, but I’m so grateful to have found it! These weekly challenges are exactly what I need. LOVE your blog! Thank you!
Jodi