How to Create a Drop Zone in Your House and Limit Clutter

Inside: A guide to creating and utilizing drop zones in your house for a more clutter-free, organized home.

You come home after a long day, have many items in your arms and ready to put everything down. This time and again though creates so much clutter! Having one or more drop zones in the house will organize and contain these daily items, limiting clutter and creating more functionality in your home.

What is a drop zone?

A drop zone in your house is a designated place for everyday items.  For example, you walk in the door after a long day and have several items in your arms:  your handbag, water bottle, phone, charger, etc.  Where do you put these items?  Typically they get “dropped” on the first available space – your front entry table, kitchen countertop or maybe your living room sofa.

This scattered way of dropping things contributes to clutter, creates clutter hotspots and more work for you when you want to tidy up.  

A great solution to – where do I put all these things? – is a drop zone.

Keep in mind, drop zones are for ongoing storage – meaning these are items you frequently use so they don’t necessarily need to be stored or tucked away in hard-to-reach places.  You want them readily available, but not in the way or piled up creating a mess.  

Examples of drop zone items:

• Backpacks 
• Handbags / purses 
• Devices / device chargers
• Jackets / hoodies
• Water bottles
• Car keys
• Wallet
• Dog leashes
• Sunglasses
• Sports gear

Using drop zones in your house helps contain and organize these everyday items – keeping things tidy and knowing where they are when you need them again.

Benefits to drop zones in your house

Taking the time to create one (or more) drop zones will benefit the functionality of your home by reducing clutter. Less clutter, means less mess, less stress, more time and more efficiency in your day-to-day.

• Less clutter scattered throughout the house
• More organized way to contain things you need daily
• Better visual of what you have or are missing
• Family members know where to find specific items — thus saving time
• Streamline your morning routine

How to create drop zones in your house

Drop zones do not need to be fancy – ignore all those Pinterest boards and Instagram reels of perfect looking homes – it does not have to be this way!  While I love looking at those pictures too and they can be very inspiring they can also feel a little overwhelming or make us feel badly we can’t create that perfect look.  Drop zones, along with any type of home organization is meant for function, not perfection. 

Things to consider when creating a drop zone:

• Declutter before creating a drop zone in the house
• What items do you and your family use everyday / several times a week
• Where do these things usually land
• What kind of space do you have available in your home (i.e., a mudroom, laundry room, hall closet, garage area)
• Remember: drop zones don’t have to be fancy — just functional

Drop zones in your house by category

Backpacks and Handbags / Totes

Hooks are your best friend to drop things with straps.  Think jackets, hoodies, dog leashes, baseball hats, backpacks – anything that can hang can be done in its own drop zone at home by using hooks.  

Command hooks (for which there are so many uses) or over-the-door hooks (consider your laundry room, hall closet or even pantry door) are easy ways to create a drop zone for hanging items.

Papers 

All the papers! Even in our digital world, paper clutter piles up so quickly.  Drop papers as they come into your house in an oversized tray on your entry hall table, kitchen table or office area.  You can also use a vertical magazine file as a drop zone system for papers.

Mail belongs in this category as well…you can use a tray to contain it or a rubber to keep it in place (tie off piles for each family member).

Shoes

As people enter your home, where do they put their shoes?  If they end up scattered throughout the house and on the floor, you can create a drop zone for this everyday item.

Create a shoe zone with a tiered shoe shelf or large baskets where shoes are placed upon entry and put on when leaving the house.  Keep the shelf or baskets in a convenient place such as your entryway, garage door or where people most commonly go in/out of the house.

Coats and Jackets

An ideal drop zone for coats and clothes (i.e., zip up hoodies and rain jackets) is a hall coat closet.  If you don’t have this option a standing rack or over-the-door rack on a convenient door will do.  You can also create a “hook wall” with Command hooks along an open hallway.

Keys and Small, Loose Items

These everyday items seem to frequently get lost and are used daily.  A small bowl or tray is an excellent drop zone for keys and miscellaneous items such as loose change, bills, a small wallet, hair ties, chapsticks, etc. Keep a bowl or tray in an obvious place where everyone comes and goes from the house. 

Sports Gear 

The basketballs, baseball gloves, random balls and frisbees were driving me crazy! They would find their way in every nook and cranny of our garage.  Finally I put together a drop zone for these items.  Hooks for sports backpacks along a wall in our garage and a standing utility rack for everything else works well.  

Phones and chargers 

Families nowadays have so many cords and chargers and plugs.  This plus all the devices can create such a big clutter hotspot.  Create a drop zone in the house for these devices by having one designated space for them to sit when not in use and be charged as needed.  This can be a small table, a cabinet, or a shelf.  Let your family know all devices will be placed here for safe keeping and charging.  

Drop zones in your house by location

You can have more than one drop zone at home and either set them up by category (as discussed above) or by location inside your house.  Think about where the clutter seems to happen the most or where you most often use or need items.

Does your family put on jackets at the front door or in the mudroom?  Do kids like to have backpacks in a central place at home or in their bedrooms or near a desk/study area? Consider these questions when setting up drop zones by location around your home.

commonly used areas for drop zones:

• Entryway
• Mud room
• Garage
• Laundry room
• Hall closet
• Front room table

Drop zone storage ideas

When creating your house drop zone, utilize storage containers to keep things organized and in place. 

Useful storage containers for drop zones:

• Baskets
• Rolling utility cart
• Trays
• Wall shelves
• Go up.  Use vertical and wall space to save floor space. 
• Floor shelves

If the clutter with everyday items feels overwhelming and you want to get organized, creating a drop zone in the house is a great method.  By grouping your items by location and/or category and with some simple storage ideas, you can create a drop zone easily – getting your daily routine under control!