Interiors

Lake Livin’

Clutter Busters

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by Shannon Rooney

Whatever the size of your home or family, prepping for a season at the lake is no easy task. Our organizing hacks will put your house in order so you can relax and enjoy the season.

home Sweet Tidy home

You’ve heard the saying: “A place for everything and everything in its place.” Organizing the house according to that motto will make all your stuff available when—and where—you need it.

Emily Fitzgerald, owner of OLS Organizing in Fort Wayne, offered a handy rule of thumb: “In a lake home or any home, I always say ‘store it where you use it’...or as close as possible.” She added that the more convenient it is to keep things tidy, the more likely you are to do just that.

Fitzgerald recommends keeping items you will use outdoors near the door. Make sunglasses, bug spray, hats, sunscreen, and towels easy to grab on your way out. Use containers to manage potential clutter and “make the most of vertical space” by employing shelving, said Fitzgerald. Towels can be rolled up and arranged in a basket or bin. Shelving with doors is not required, but can help cut down on the visual clutter.

Conquering the Garage

For garages or other storage, Shelley Ross designer/owner of Closet Concepts, of Fort Wayne recommended slat wall and track systems, which she said offer “tons of accessories options for storing life vests, fishing poles, water skis, etc. [There is also] shelving for towels, shoes, bug spray,” and other small items.

If you’re lucky enough to have a pool house or just a handy spot on the dock, there’s an opportunity to increase your storage options. Lisa Strombeck with Bart’s Water Sports recommended using a dock box. “It’s a storage box with a seat on top and you can put it down by the water or your sea wall,” she explained. “They’re good for putting skis or floats— or really anything—near the boat.”

Dock boxes are a great method for storage. Available at Bart’s Water Sports.

There’s a Cubby for That

With the wealth of style options and configurations available, cubby systems have become a popular storage option. “Open or closed?” Fitzgerald said that’s the first decision to make when choosing a system that fits your needs. She advised installing cubbies near a door with the goal of keeping outdoor items organized and within reach. You can keep towels on hooks, shoes in the top or bottom, and even use the highest storage area for lesser-used items.

Janet Hanefield Evans, owner of Fort Wayne’s Tiny ‘n’ Tidy suggested the four- or six-cube storage available at your local Target. “The cube storage has a depth of nearly 15 [inches], plus they are designed to house the Y-Weave Basket [in plastic or metal] by Made by Design. Both the plastic and metal bins are more durable and can handle the roughest of kids,” she said. And, she advised, always remember to measure before installing any storage furniture.

Finally, Hanefield Evans recommended labeling storage so everyone, including the kids, is on the same page when putting items away. “You can purchase labels off of Amazon or make your own. Labels are important for the entire family because there is zero confusion on where items go,” Hanefield Evans said. Just imagine a store that didn’t have labels, she said. “How would you know where to return an item without labels?” Apply the same principle at home to rally the troops for your organizational cause. With everyone on-board, the house will become—and stay—shipshape at the lake.

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