Fall Accessory Storage For the jackets, umbrellas, backpacks, and purses that pile up this time of year, take a cue from restaurants by installing double ceiling hooks underneath a shelf. Start with a shelf that's at least 3/4 inch thick. Paint it the same color as your wall for a custom look, and attach it using the proper anchors for your wall type. (If you're not sure, ask at a hardware store.) Attach the hooks -- we love these brass ones -- to the underside.
Belwith Keeler double ceiling hooks, in Antique Brass, $14 each, vandykes.com. Kanken mini daypack, in Brick, $55, fjallraven.us.
Clutter Control The last time you had a locker, it may have held your algebra book and pictures of Shaun Cassidy ripped from Tiger Beat. These days, though, lockers can serve as catchalls at home for your kids’ mountains of stuff.
Vanguard single-tier lockers, in Champagne, $247.50 each, pencoproducts.com. Paint, in Gray Squirrel and Yucca Plant, by Martha Stewart Living Paint, from homedepot.com/marthastewart. Paint, in Oriole, benjaminmoore.com. Kids Original boots, in Green and Powder Blue, $75, usa.hunter-boot.com. Sports equipment, from Sports Authority.
Family Mudroom Organizer If sports equipment, bags, and shoes are constantly underfoot in your home, give everybody a separate space for such gear. Assign a sturdy metal storage bin to each member of the household. Slide the bins underneath a bench in the front hall or line them up in a mudroom. Use magnets and a photo to mark who each one belongs to -- don't forget one for the family dog.
Get the look with Storage Solutions at the Home Depot.
Order Colorful Totes and Shelving Systems
Tangle-Proof Yarn Case
For many of us, knitting is relaxing. But when the yarn inevitably becomes tangled, it can feel more like an exercise in frustration. Here's one way to keep things from getting knotty. Gather empty cookie tins left over from the holidays, or purchase new ones. Apply a coat of oil-based enamel paint in any hue to outside of tin and lid; let dry overnight. Using a grommet kit (available at hardware stores), attach a grommet to the lid's center. Place ball of yarn inside, and thread an end through the grommet before securing lid.
Remote Corral
It takes too long to find remote controls in their usual hiding spot between cushions on the sofa. If you're looking for a more convenient place to keep them, put a widemouthed vase or other good-looking container on your side table and put all of your remotes inside.
Basket of Slippers
When the cooler weather hits, fill a basket with comfortable slippers or soft, heavy socks as a warm welcome for visitors -- and an incentive to remove wet boots.
Magnetic Hall Organizer
Metal mailboxes offer a stylish way to organize a front hall or a mudroom. Magazine hooks provide a perfect perch for raincoats, scarves, and umbrellas; hats, gloves, and mittens fit nicely inside the box. Available inexpensively through online auction sites, these boxes get a crisp look when spray-painted white. A bonus: They're magnetic, so you can easily adhere favorite images and notes to them.
Leaf Notions
These fall-inspired pieces keep sewing tools handy any time of year -- and it doesn't take a stitch to make them.
Felt Tote Bag
This soft felt bag is simple enough to make in multiples for shopping trips and stylish enough to use as a tote.
Storing seeds To ensure that seeds wake up refreshed from their long winter naps, take the time to tuck them in properly. Moisture, heat, and fluctuating temperatures are a seed's worst enemy, so don't simply abandon your leftover packets to the elements by leaving them in a garden shed. By the next spring they will have lost much of their vigor -- the ability to germinate quickly and healthily -- and many may have died. Instead, place packets in an airtight container, such as a canning jar with a new lid. Then make a few moisture-absorbing sachets to store with them by wrapping 2 tablespoons of untreated cat litter (avoid colored or scented litters) or powdered milk in a double layer of tulle. Close the lid tightly, and put the jar in a cool, dark place.
Power and Wire Map
Don't wait for a clogged drain or power failure to figure out your house's inner workings. Make a rough sketch of the floor plans and indicate the shutoff valve, fuse, or power source for everything in your home that uses water, gas, or electricity. Apply color-coded stickers for each utility. Keep this map handy and be sure to leave a copy for any housesitter.
Boot Organizer
Homemade hangers preserve the shape of tall boots and maximize space. They're created by replacing the knobs on cedar boot trees with large cup hooks, which are screwed into the tops. The trees and boots then hang from a cafe-curtain rod.
Fall Garden Pouch
Next time you head into your yard for fall cleanup, tie a carpenter's nail pouch (available at hardware stores) to the handles of your wheelbarrow and tuck essential gardening tools into the pockets of the pouch.
Storing Pots
To ensure that smaller terra-cotta pots emerge from winter storage intact and ready for spring planting, take the time to put them away properly in fall. First, thoroughly clean and dry the pots to prevent the growth of fungus. Then, lay them on their sides, one tucked inside another, in a shallow wooden crate; store the crate out of the freezing cold. Never stack pots vertically -- changes in temperature and humidity will make them swell, causing them to stick together and practically guaranteeing breakage when you try to pull them apart.
Ribbon Storage Racks
To keep your holiday ribbons organized, build storage racks from copper gutters. Have a lumberyard cut a half-round gutter and cap the ends. Punch holes along top edge; mount in a dry place away from sunlight to keep ribbons from fading.
Bulb Labels
Once flowers fade and bulbs and tubers are dug up for winter storage, they pretty much all look alike. To ensure that you'll replant them in the right location next spring, write the variety or color of the plant directly on each bulb with a permanent marker. Then store the bulbs in peat moss or newspaper in a cool, dark place.
Wall Shed
Don't have a shed? Store your summer yard essentials such as hoses, sprinklers, and bamboo rods using bungee cords stretched between studs of the walls of your garage.
Autumn Snack Jar
Whether you're hiking in the hills or to the office, this mix makes a delicious and convenient seasonal snack. Bursting with contrasting textures and flavors -- salty pumpkin seeds, spicy ginger, crunchy almonds, chewy cranberries, rich coconut -- the blend will dazzle your taste buds. It makes a great gift, too.
Kindling Keeper
Good-looking garden planters don't have to hibernate all winter. Arranged along a hearth, the containers take their turn as eye-catching elements indoors. In glazed terra-cotta or another heat-resistant material, the pots provide a perfect place to stow split logs, kindling, and aromatic enhancements, such as dried lavender and pinecones.
Thanksgiving Checklist
Thanksgiving doesn't have to be a frenzy of last-minute preparations. Our Thanksgiving planner eliminates guesswork, ensuring an enjoyable meal -- even for the host.
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