Quick winter organizing ideas to get you to spring

Wintertime takes a lot of clothing. What's worse is there are multiple layers of clothing needed to help you get from fall to spring. But in between those seasons, it can often seem like you're fighting a sweater tsunami.

While there's still time left on Old Man Winter's calendar, why not work on getting your cold-weather gear organized? You'll help relieve some of the claustrophobia of having all your winterwear scattered around the house, and you'll feel better and more prepared once spring appears.

Create systems

One of the first ways to tame the winterwear beast is to put systems in place to manage all the various pieces needed for the cold. But, whether it's shoes or coats, it's essential to double or triple up on organizational layers to get more storage capacity.

The starting point in winter organizing is managing all the small pieces. To get gloves and scarves in order, hang a soft plastic shoe divider on the back of your coat closet. This kind of divider makes a tidy spot to deposit gloves, scarves and knit caps. A clear divider means you'll be able to find that pair of red mittens in a pinch.

Give each member of the household their own labeled row to keep these items sorted by their owners. The clear plastic pockets make it a quick spot to unwrap and stow these items quickly; this is a crucial part of getting the winter clutter under control.

Utilize corners

Only taking up the space of a single corner, a coat rack is still the most efficient way to hold coats, bags and umbrellas. Look for coat racks that have multi-level hooks for holding sweaters and coats at different levels, such as the cast metal standing coat rack (www.potterybarn.com). Although it doesn't hold umbrellas, it does offer two layers of hooks for coats and a lower set of hooks for scarves, purses or shopping bags.

The Leisure Space coat rack and umbrella stand (www.amazon.com) has a generous eight hooks for coats and a holder for umbrellas.

Corral items

Boots and shoes that come in muddy need a place to keep them neat and keep the slush from getting onto carpets and floors. A two-tier shoe and boot tray (www.bedbathandbeyond.com) will double your shoe storage and keep everyone from tracking in water and mud.

In the bedroom, manage fuzzy sweaters and robes by adding over-the-door hooks to keep all the winter snugglies at easy reach and off the floor. In the living room, storage ottomans lift to store hold blankets and throws.

Equip your garage

Winter sports means lots of equipment, and smart storage in the garage will keep your gear in good shape. Add simple screw-in square hooks on one wall to hold skis, ski boards and hockey sticks. When these hooks are easily accessible, equipment gets put up instead of piled up. On another wall, use boot racks such as the Rack 'Em boot rack (www.amazon.com) to add shoes and boots to hang and dry before coming into the house. For even simpler storage, look for boot pegs to hang boots upside down to dry and store.