Picture this: you pull up in your driveway after running some errands. The door to your house from the driveway leads right into the kitchen. There’s no mudroom. You’re greeted immediately with the kitchen counter and your kitchen table. So, where do you put your purse and all the crap you’ve collected as you’ve been running errands? You put them on the counter or the kitchen table. Does this sound familiar to anyone else? This was my life not too long ago. And it was driving me nuts! I knew there had to be a better solution, so I came up with some drop zone ideas and it has been LIFE CHANGING!

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What is a Drop Zone

A drop zone is exactly what it sounds like: a place to drop all your stuff. Everybody needs a drop zone in their house. Without one, things get thrown and dropped all over and it creates clutter and messes. Pure chaos! Like the picture below….! Which is exactly the opposite of what we’re trying to create! Having a drop zone in your house will save your sanity!

Try these LIFE-CHANGING drop zone ideas! No mudroom drop zone? No problem! Create your own drop zone in your house: entryway, kitchen, anywhere—with these easy, DIY ideas! #birkleylaneinteriors #organization #entryway #mudroom #dropzone #smallspace #smallhouse #smallspacestorage #garage #homedecor #diy #organizing #organizationideas #kitchen #kitchenstorage #smallkitchen #kitchenideas #entrywayideas

>>>For a complete list of where I got everything for our drop zone, scroll to the bottom! (I link to everything throughout the post, but if you’re anxious and want the info all in one place, it’s at the bottom!)

How to Build a Drop Zone

A lot of you probably have a mudroom drop zone—use it! If it’s not working for you, take everything out and create a new plan. Make rules and expectations. Explain them to your family so everyone knows how it will work.

For those of us with smaller homes or older homes with no mudrooms (like me!) I’ve got small drop zone ideas to share! All we need to do it get a little creative and possibly do some DIY 🙂

Small Drop Zone Ideas

So, like I said, our driveway leads right into the kitchen, so I needed to create some storage, get some cubbies and hooks and I wanted a counter-type space that I could drop my purse on, and my husband could drop all his books, etc on. (He’s a teacher, and he’s always bringing home stacks of books and papers!) Some of you may prefer a bench to sit on. I debated, but decided the counter was more valuable to the needs of our family right now.

Small Drop Zone Storage

I might be slightly obsessed with cubby storage…. I just love that you can separate what you need stored, it’s easily accessible and you can choose what the cubbies look like! You can totally decorate cubby storage—yay!!

So, my drop zone ideas were to have a long cubby storage, use the top as counter space, have some storage on top of the counter and get hooks for (adult) coats on either side.

I absolutely LOVE how it turned out! My kids put their shoes and jackets/coats in the top cubbies, mom and dad have a cubby for our shoes, all the gloves, hats, etc go in another one. We have a craft cubby and I use some of them for my tupperware storage! It’s been very versatile 😉

Drop Zone Ideas

It really wasn’t a ton of work—I set up our cubby in a half hour! But the organization has been life saving. My counters and kitchen table don’t have crap all over them that I have to keep moving around so I can cook and eat.

Drop zones are the perfect companion to command centers! The kitchen really is the center of our home, so that’s where I also have my command center. It feels SO good to be organized and have systems in place that really help our home and family life to function well 🙂