The summer heat is blazing and thoughts of school are miles away from your child’s mind. But as a parent, you know that the end of July Fourth fireworks signals the beginning of Fourth of July back-to-school shopping season. This is indeed the very best time to snag those deals on school supplies and plan out your child’s routine for the new school year. If your child is going to a new school or needs new furniture for a dorm, the crunch time feels even more urgent and real.

While it’s nearly impossible to feel totally in control of school chaos, you can set yourself up for success with the right tools and strategies. Getting organized is your first step to ensuring everything is ready to go for the next school year. After all, knowing where everything is located prevents a lot of stress. So how can you get organized for back to school and keep your sanity while you’re at it? Our easy-peasy back-to-school shopping guide will ensure you get an A+ on this year’s prep.

Get Organized for Back to School

Let’s face it—school brings a lot of disorder. From becoming the parent taxi for sports practice to cleaning up the mess your kids leave by the stairs as they come home, you might start to wonder if the nine hours to yourself are worth it. This whirlwind of “be here,” “do this,” and “bring that” turns even the tidiest house upside down during the school week. But have no fear, there is hope! In fact, there are plenty of ways to make your school routine many times easier.

Let’s start by looking at storage. With the right storage solutions, you and your children will know exactly where to put their belongings so that there isn’t confusion in the morning and afternoon. The right placement of storage containers, bookcases, shelves, and other hideaway storage solutions will keep clutter contained so that you can move on to the next activity.

Store Textbooks on Bookcases

As your child advances through each year, textbooks, especially heavy ones, become part of their lives. Many of these are bulky and weigh down their backpacks. Kids will surely want immediate relief from their heavy loads the moment they come home.

Instead of leaving your house vulnerable to a sea of books, backpacks, shoes, socks, and coats around the foyer, create a convenient drop-off zone where your children can store their belongings. Many parents love the function of hall trees and cubbies, which make it easy to hang bags while providing a discreet place to stash shoes. Both are simple to install and come in many different styles to suit your tastes.

You can also place some small bookcases in this drop-off zone so that your kids can store all their technology and textbooks, making it convenient to retrieve them in the morning. This ensures that your children aren’t carrying all of their textbooks at once—and keeps them from getting lost around the house!

  • Tip: Got after-school sports? Make the transition quick by having your child’s freshly laundered uniform and cleats waiting for them in this same drop-off zone. Talk about an easy trade-off!

Organize School Supplies in Storage Containers and Drawers

Now that your children have a spot for their large school items, you’re halfway through the school clutter battle. But there’s still work to do! Your next step is to organize the smaller odds and ends in space-saving storage containers so that you don’t end up with loose pencils and chargers everywhere.

Storage containers are essential to keep your child’s devices and writing utensils in one place. With all these necessities tucked away, you can now answer more immediate questions like “What should I make for the first day of school dinner?” Hint: Make it fun and easy. A pizza party is wonderful when you just need to relax!

  • Tip: Whether you get cubbies or shelved drawers, label them according to what goes in each drawer and whose they are. You may even choose to hang up a calendar that lists the classes or sporting events for each day. This will take any confusion out of the morning and afternoon rushes.

Prepare for Back to School with New Supply Shelves

If you need to add more storage to your space, then look up! Vertical storage shelves provide ample surfaces to store a variety of school essentials, even in close quarters. When you need to create some order in a tight corner, snag a compact 5-tiered shelf. Even something small will keep shoes, socks, keys, and homework in one spot. These are also easy to assemble and cost-effective: two major pluses for busy families!

Store Back to School Outfits with Closet Organizers

While kids seem to love getting up at the crack of dawn on the weekend, they often feel unusually sleepy on school mornings. Beat the drowsiness by having everything ready to go during the school morning routine. Closet organizers allow your child to create outfits for the entire week and store them neatly, making getting dressed in the morning a quick, intuitive process.

  • Tip: Weather predictions have come a long way since the 90s, making it almost a sure thing to plan outfits according to your weather app. On Sunday evening, pull up the week’s upcoming weather and ask your child to select outfits based on the forecast. Also, keep in mind those days that they’ll need to bring special footwear for sports and P.E.

For more insider tips, read our Guide for Back to School shopping and organization. You’ll find fabulous ways to use bookcases, shelves, storage containers, and more!

Did you make a stunning back-to-school drop-off zone? Share the space you created by using #MyAshleyHome on Instagram for a chance to be featured on our feed! We’d also love to know your best school organization tips and tricks. You can also find more back-to-school inspiration on Pinterest.