When my kids were little, our “mud room” was a 3′ by 3′ entrance way off the garage. This area was at the base of a set of stairs. So when the six of us were getting ready to head out, we headed down the stairs, piled on our coats and shoes, and tried to make it out the door without bashing anyone in the head. We hung our coats in a closet under the stairs and eventually bought a boot bench to have a place to sit and tie our shoes.
It was a tight space. When we remodeled a few years ago, we ditched the idea of fancy bathrooms and so on and changed our utility room into a mud room. It has been a wonderful, practical addition to our house, but in no way guarantees that coats will be hung or or shoes placed in their bins!
We consider ourselves “bag people” because, with kids in tow, if we can stick things in bags we can sling bags on our shoulders. You should see us going to the beach! I made two bags years ago which are still in use today. One is made out of a heavy tapestry that I use for our beach towels. The other, a huge mesh bag to carry our sand toys. We made it over sized with a set of handles. It had a fold-down flap so if we had extra stuff, we could open it up into an even larger bag and carry it like a sack.
Back when we had only a landing space for our entrance way, storing coats, hats, scarves and mittens was a real challenge. So I took the mesh that was leftover from our banister protector (you know, to keep the kids from falling through the railings) and made four simple bags, each with a different color edging. I then took four, plastic, stick-on hanging posts and hung them on the door. Each child then had a place to stash their winter accessories.
In theory, each child was to be responsible for returning his/her items to his bag. This did not always happen! Sometimes wet items had to be thrown into the dryer or hung up to dry. Sometimes (most oft the time) they were flung by lazy children to the far reaches of the house. But dutiful mother could at least have a place to return all the accessories, ready for the next outdoor adventure. As the weather changed, we replaced winter hats and gloves with baseball caps and sunglasses.
I improved on my original design and introduced Stash Bags into my Etsy shop. They still have a mesh bottom to allow for air circulation and identification of what’s in it (or what’s missing.) I then added some fabric to add a little style.
The bags could be used in a bedroom to stash headbands, ribbon or other girly goodies. They could be hung on a dresser or door handle.
This one is going to be used for my son’s army guys.
I made some in cute doggy fabrics to help keep your pet’s accessories in their place, too.
Some are made with home dec fabrics, boyish fabrics and girly fabrics.
They each have a drawstring, too, so that they can be used as a tote to take toys or treasures to Grandma’s house.
As soon as
Craft Hope gets caught up with their many donations, I hope to donate a Stash Bag to this wonderful cause.
Great bags, Jane! Those look so cute and handy. We’re bag people, too. 🙂
LOVE these! What a great idea! I think my house needs some bags – immediately! 🙂
Those are wonderful. I like that you can see inside. Great for small knitting projects.
Of course I love this being a bag lady myself! 🙂 Thanks for the inspiring post!
Can I have a million of these, please? I was just looking around the house thinking “where the hell am I going to put all of this stuff?!”
Love love love!
Jane,
Love those bags!!!!!!!! Creative and functional. I love the netting on the bottom, the drawstring and the fabric colors…practical and sooooooo cut, many uses. Great idea, as always.
These are adorable – great job!