https://www.bin-store.com/blog

Your child just headed out the door to school, and is on the bus—and suddenly it hits you. You totally forgot to hand her the permission form you signed the other day to hand in for the class field trip. The permission form was due today, and now it is going to cause all kinds of complications while you try to correct your organizational slip.

The above scenario is just one example of where a “home launch pad” could come in handy. We ran into this idea in another organization blog, and thought it was a great one. Most households have a foyer or entry hall or mudroom or another area set aside for coming and going. This is the part of the house where we kick our boots on or off, hang up our coats or put on our scarves and gloves, grab backpacks and other supplies, and get on our way or settle back in.

Here you can set up a simple station. You can call it a home launch pad or anything else you want, but its purpose is simple. This is where each member of the family can put things they need when they go out to work, school, or errands. You can set this station up using cubbies or large plastic bins. No matter what setup you choose, a home launch pad is one of the best home organization ideas you are going to find. It is also one of the easiest to get ready, since you only need a handful of organization supplies cheap.

How do you use the home launch pad? Each member of your family can choose exactly how he or she wants to use the plastic organizing containers or cubbies. Assuming you have coat racks or closet space for jackets and the like, you still might use organizing cubbies for hats, gloves, and other accessories. This is a good place to put backpacks, purses, satchels, iPods, planners, binders, and other items that are easy forgotten.

A home launch pad is also great for paperwork. Have some papers you need to give to your child to hand in at school? Just put them in your child’s home launch pad bin the night before. That way they will not be forgotten or missed. Somebody in your family need mail delivered? If they know you are heading out to the post office, they can just drop their letter in your box. Worried you will forget to bring that form you need to send in your quarterly taxes? Just put it in your own box so you will be sure to find it.

Once you get the home launch pad set up, you will probably start coming up with all kinds of innovative ways you can use this area to keep your whole family more organized. You will be amazed how much easier it makes things. No more days with forgotten permission slips, homework papers, letters, packages, tax forms, bills, or other important paperwork!