The One Brilliantly Simple Storage Fix That Everyone Should Try

In my experience, most household items naturally gravitate to a particular location, and it’s not always the place you expect. You may have noticed this phenomenon when searching high and low for your keys or other frequently misplaced items.

Even if you don’t remember absent-mindedly tossing your keys onto the console table just inside the front door, your keys seem to wind up there anyway! You may have even found your keys on that console table often enough that it’s the first place you look for them, despite the fact that there’s a hook for your keys next to the garage door.

As the old adage goes, being organized comes down to having “a place for everything and everything in its place.” But what does that mean for misplaced items like the keys in the example above, the ones that have their place but never end up there?

The Problem: Some Items Never End Up Where They’re “Supposed” To Go

If you keep finding your shoes in the middle of the living room instead of their designated shelf in your carefully-designed bedroom closet, or you find your wallet on your dresser instead of in that bowl you set out by the front door, it’s time to rethink your storage.

It comes down to being honest with yourself about your habits—if you still aren’t managing to put certain things in the places you decided they were “supposed” to go, your current setup clearly isn’t functioning as well as it should be!

The Solution: Give Those Items A New Home!

The solution to this all-too-common organizing problem is actually pretty simple. For any misplaced items in your home that are perennially out of place, create a new “home” for them in the places where they most often turn up!

For example, if you always toss your coat over the couch instead of hanging it in your bedroom closet, install a hook or set up a stylish coat rack near the couch instead. It may not match your “vision” of where everything ought to go, but it’s better than wasting valuable time every single day looking for something in a place that it never actually ends up!

To put it in the simplest possible terms: stop trying to change the habit, and change your habitat instead! And to make it even easier to find the perfect new “home” for those pesky migrating items, I’ve included some recommendations for useful organizers below.

5 Useful Organizers For Frequently Misplaced Items

1. Free-Standing Coat Rack

This free-standing coat rack is neutral enough to fit in with any decor, and it features 12 hooks on a sturdy stainless steel and aluminum frame. It’s a perfect dumping ground for coats, jackets, purses, backpacks, umbrellas, seasonal items, and anything else you might want handy by your front door.

2. Wall-Mounted Coat Rack

Take advantage of a stretch of open wall space with one of these these wall-mounted coat racks. They come in six different finishes, and the pegs are narrow enough to accommodate everything from towels to key rings, making it the perfect addition to any mudroom.

3. Narrow Shoe Storage Cabinet

This narrow shoe storage cabinet from IKEA ended up being the perfect solution for the shoes that were constantly strewn around my narrow mudroom/laundry room! This cabinet takes advantage of vertical space in order to achieve its ultra-narrow profile, making it an ideal addition to even the narrowest room or hallway.

4. Shoe Rack And Bench

This shoe rack is the #1 best-selling storage bench on Amazon for good reason! It’s made of sturdy bamboo, features two storage shelves for shoes or other items, and you can get it for under $40. Plus, its impressive load capacity of 300 pounds makes it a convenient place for almost anyone to sit while they lace up their shoes before heading out the door.

5. Key And Mail Organizer

If mail and work documents are more of an issue for you than coats or shoes, then check out this versatile wall-mounted organizer! The narrow basket makes a perfect “outbox” for mail and paperwork that needs to go elsewhere, and it’s a handy place to hang your keys too. Whether you put it in your home office or by the front door, it’s sure to cut down on instances of lost keys and misplaced mail!

Which items in your house never seem to make it to their designated storage place?