5 Ways to Stop Winter Mess at the Door

Winter is getting closer and closer, and you know what that means. That’s right – mess. Snow melting on the floor, coats ending up over chairs all over the house, gloves disappearing, wet boots in the hallway…

You’d think a bigger mat would help, at least for the boots and the snow, and it will unless everyone walks past it and takes their shoes off somewhere else. And if you put a wet coat straight into the closet without letting it dry, your whole closet will end up smelling musty.

A perfect mudroom would be the ideal way to fix this, but not everyone has that. In fact, most people don’t.

But that doesn’t mean you have to make peace with the mess that comes in the winter.

Disclosure: Contributed post.

What to Do Between the Door and the Rest of the House

You just came home, and your boots are wet. What will you do next? Where do you stop, and what do you put down first?

That’s where your mess starts.

Scrape Off Snow Before You Go Inside

If you wipe your feet 2 or 3 times and still leave little piles of snow on the floor, your mat isn’t doing its job. A flat mat isn’t ideal for snow because snow gets wedged into the grooves of winter boots and the mat can’t reach it. It would be better if you put a rough mat outside your door and just kind of dragged each foot across it before you open the door. The softer mat inside will catch whatever’s still left on your soles, but the majority of the snow will be left outside.

And make sure to check the outdoor mat after a storm. It’s useless if it’s covered in snow, just like an indoor mat is useless if it’s wet.

You don’t want to come through the door and have a mat slide out from under your foot, right?

Put a Boot Tray Where the Shoes Come Off

A boot tray is a great thing, but it’s nothing more than clutter if it’s not in the place where everyone takes their shoes off.Watch where the boots come off, and then put the tray there. Easy-peasy. Keep in mind that the tray has to be big enough for the shoes, or at least one pair will end up sitting in a puddle.

Dry shoes and slippers should be within reach, especially in the wintertime when the floors are cold. Walking barefoot on cold floors isn’t good for your health. And one other thing – the tray shouldn’t become a permanent parking lot for the boots.

Once the water collects, pour it out and rinse it ASAP.

Cover the Floor People Walk Across

Everyone in your house takes their boots off right at the door? Great. You’re lucky for sure, but in many homes, people walk past the door, find a place to sit, and take their boots off. That little walk is where you’ll see wet footprints.

There are some paths that people take every day, so watch for those and put a washable runner on them. You want something that can take water and grit without slipping and bunching off. It doesn’t have to be the length of the hallway, either; it should just be long enough to cover the path people take before they take their boots off.

Set Up the Entrance Your Household Uses

If everyone comes through the garage and you’ve gone above and beyond to set up your front hall, you’ve wasted quite a bit of time, and you’ll still end up with a mess.
My friend in Campbelltown was actually complaining about the mess the other day, and I remember telling her she put all her focus on the wrong entryway. What ended up happening was that she looked into garage door installation Campbelltown PA residents usually rely on, and then she just made sure the space between the house and garage door was clear.

She also put a mat in the garage and another one in the house to keep the mess out, and I’d advise you to do the same if your garage is the way you get into your house.

Hang Wet Coats Somewhere They Can Dry

If you shove a wet coat between several dry ones, it’ll smell and feel awful the next day. You should have a few hooks by the entrance where you can hang your coats and dry them properly. Before you install them, though, look where the sleeves will drip. It would be a bad idea to have the hooks directly above the place where you leave your shoes.

You don’t need a hook for every coat. Just a few of them so you can dry the ones you’ve worn recently and that are still damp.

Conclusions on Ways to Stop the Winter Mess at the Door

If it’s winter, you’ll always have wet boots and dripping coats. That’s just winter.
But what you don’t have to have are wet floors and puddles all over your house.
The fix here is actually easy and inexpensive: a boot tray here, a few hooks there, an indoor and an outdoor mat, and your house has a much better shot at staying dry no matter how many times you go in and out.

Featured photo source: depositphotos.com

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