As you know, I love fresh and clean updates to make homes feel new again, but whenever I update a space, I think about how to maximize it. What do I really need that space to be for? The toy room that might have worked 8 years ago is no longer serving its purpose. The laundry room that is on the smaller side was perfectly fine until your family grew into a small tribe. Or in my most recent case, the 1970’s wet bar conveniently located off the garage could be used far more effectively as a “drop zone” and hopefully help my kids backpacks and coats find a better spot to live than the floor!

So, what goes into a drop zone? The typical ones are a bench, baskets, and hooks. All this works fine and looks lovely, but think for a moment about how updating the space can serve your family, not just serve a cute instagram post. For example, after remodeling my kitchen and in living in my house for about six months, there were three things that I struggled with daily for a place to put: lunch boxes, extra shopping bags, and MASKS! Who would have ever thought we’d have to have a place for masks, right? A year later and we’re still washing and wearing, so it’s about time they find a semi-permanent home.

To solve this I decided to create a multi-level space to store these random items and have a convenient space to put my coffee before I walk out the door and any “don’t forget items.” It’s a fairly simply cupboard with hooks and let me tell you, it’s been life changing! Now, if I could just teach the backpacks and coats to hang themselves up since my kids can’t seem to figure it out!