How To Store Backpacks: 24 Great Ideas To Get Rid of After-School Chaos

I'm obsessed with the mudroom lockers that we added to our laundry room. I was intentional about wanting the lockers to have doors so I could close them and hide the clutter.

Each member of the family has their own locker to keep extra jackets, hats, and kids' backpacks.

On the shelf, I also keep a little basket during the winter that holds mittens, beanies, and other warm gear! There's also a big bin at the bottom of each person's locker that is the perfect place for storing shoes. 

This little entryway drop zone in the corner of our living room is hardworking and helps keep us organized. It's an effective way to use a corner that would otherwise be unused. We have a quick place to drop our hats, bags, and shoes right when we walk in the door.

Although my kids keep their backpacks in their lockers (see idea #1 above), they could totally keep them here if we didn't have the lockers! 

Lora made a family command center for her home with a large picture frame, which is a great way to DIY it! The area has room for notes and photos and hooks to hang school bags and jackets.

They put it in the hallway near their kitchen, right next to the door they enter at the end of the school day it is the first thing the kiddos see when they walk in the door for easy access.

Suzy doesn't have a dedicated mudroom with proper storage for things like packages, but she made her own with this genius idea.

She used the top half of an old hutch and turned it into a wall-mounted drop zone. Now she has a dedicated space to hang up bags and jackets and baskets for holding gloves and hats. 

This backpack organizer is a simple IKEA hack that could be used in your mudroom, entryway, or garage! Each kid has their own area with one hook for their jacket and one hook for their empty backpack.

Since these cubbies are located in the garage, it is also a convenient place to keep rain boots, helmets, roller skates, and other outdoor toys and gear for each kiddo. These entryway cubbies will eliminate so much chaos at the beginning and end of each school day.

 I love this colorful entryway command center with hooks for backpacks and coats and a shelf for paper storage. The best way to get rid of the paper clutter that comes along with school papers like permission slips and mail is to have a place to put everything right away.

She has hers organized with a slot for each member of the family + separate sections for coupons, receipts, medical, magazines, and catalogs. 

For those who have school-age children, the piles of backpacks are likely an all-too-familiar sight. In this household, the kids' backpacks consistently found their place at the center of the kitchen floor, their contents sprawling untidily. The remedy to the backpack problem? A backpack station!

However, if the backpacks tend to be on the heavier side, a mere small wall hook won't work. This dedicated backpack storage area can support even the most substantial backpack loads. This is thanks to the additional wooden reinforcement behind the hooks, which serves as a sturdy anchor point, ensuring reliable support.

And it's not just for kids! It works for mom to store her daily use bags too!

There's something about the back to school time that makes me really want to focus on organization and getting better systems in place around our home! This idea looks amazing.

Even if you don't have a mudroom or anything, this is proof that you can still create a DIY backpack storage area. She used a 9-cube organizer to make this, which is totally genius! Those are so easy to find and assemble.

Read more to learn how to recreate this DIY backpack storage idea to keep your kids' backpacks and shoes tidy and organized!

This entryway wall is absolutely, drop dead, gorgeous right? In fact, the entire room is pretty, so click over to the blog post to see the whole thing!

Emily was really strategic about the items she added to the entryway, which includes a console table with baskets for extra storage, a mirror, and hooks on the wall, which is the perfect place to hold backpacks and jackets.

It functions as a total drop zone for shoes, coats, hats, keys, mail, backpacks... you name it. What a creative way to use a blank wall near the front door. 

Amanda is sharing ALL the back-to-school tips in the article, so it is a must-read! But I specifically loved her solution for how to store backpacks.

She creates this organizer for their entry closet near their front door. It has so many nooks and crannies and different storage spaces, but each area has a dedicated purpose.

She has a shelf for each person to store bags along with a bin for each person to toss in their random items (like hats and sunglasses). The baskets on the bottom are also organized by person and are used to hold shoes.

This is a great solution for small spaces (aka if all you're working with is a small closet). 

When your little ones start school, you'll quickly discover the crazy amount of papers that get sent home. This backpack center has a solution for that with paper storage slots for each kid above their backpack hook.

Have more than two kids? You can very easily add more sections to this to make slots/hooks. Read more to learn how to build it and download the plans. 

This mom wanted a more organized living space, so she decided to make a custom DIY backpack station. The aim was to establish an efficient storage solution where her boys could neatly arrange their backpacks and personal items, all without overwhelming the front entry area.

After researching various concepts and drawing inspiration from multiple sources, she combined elements from different plans to perfectly match her style and available space.

Each boy's designated section with personalized letters, not only ensures clarity about their storage spot but also serves as a visible reminder for whose backpack belongs where - or who might have forgotten to hang theirs up.

Since implementing this DIY backpack station, the process of getting out the door in the morning has been so much easier!

This mom was fed up with the constant mess, so she took action. She chose a blank wall in the long hallway and turned it into a board and batten wall with hooks. This was the best option for keeping things tidy and adding a fun touch.

By using personalized wooden names, she gave the project her own twist. This is such a good lesson learned that even if you don't have a lot of space, small changes can be the best option for improving both looks and organization of your home!

This idea tells the story of a space that used to be a messy eyesore but has been transformed into something organized and useful – the front hall closet and drop zone for everyday use.

Besides accommodating their family's shoes, she had a good idea: adding hooks to create dedicated spots for each kid's stored backpack, sports bag, and lunchbox. This simple change has made a huge difference in keeping things organized for their family! Turned out so GOOD!

Ask any parent with school-aged children about the paraphernalia that accompanies the school routine – the backpacks, lunch boxes, folders, library books, and the ever-present school work. The abundance of handouts, schedules, and sports programs seems never-ending.

Here's a back-to-school gem: tailored storage racks designed to accommodate folders, and homework, along with hooks for the backpack and lunchbox. This concept is a perfect fit for creating an organized home amidst school-related chaos.

In a household of four, there's no shortage of gear. The entryway had become a chaos of shoes, jackets, hats, gloves, and the child's backpack, leaving Kati feeling frustrated. That's when the decision was made to construct locker cabinets.

Lacking a mudroom, they needed the lockers to be more than functional – they needed to be visually appealing. Positioned just inside the front door, they catch everyone's eye. The hooks are a great place to hold backpacks.

The design aimed beyond mere utility; these mudroom storage lockers were intended to be elegant cabinets, combining both form and function. And they totally turned out great, don't you think? 

While in a busy phase of life filled with numerous commitments, the possibility of constructing a unit from scratch seemed impossible! You've been there, right? You needed something done like YESTERDAY.

So this couple tried a "semi-homemade" approach for their garage organization. The vertical space in the garage was the best place to maximize the storage potential for the kid's school items.

What stands out to me is the universality of this project – it's accessible to anyone. After buying cubby units for both the top and bottom sections of the structure, all you do is turn them into "lockers" is to add the plywood.

This turned out as a totally effective storage solution for how to store backpacks (and more) in your garage. 

This mudroom is so functional! She added an IKEA shoe storage cabinet to free up floor space and then in the other room she added this backpack station with rails and S-hooks. All of the kid's bags and jackets hang on the two bars.

You could totally use small towel bars here too if you have some extra lying around. 

For quite a while, this couple's entryway remained an unfurnished room within their home. The area was relegated to the role of a cluttered zone, housing jackets, shoes, and bookbags – a catch-all for miscellaneous items. We all have those spaces, right?

The puzzle was how to unlock the true potential of this space and transform it into an organized haven, simplifying their comings and goings, particularly during the morning rush to school.

The addition of a hall tree was a total game-changer. With designated spots for their belongings, the entryway now has a sense of completeness with an inviting and cozy atmosphere.

Entryways can be tough to decorate because they need to serve as both inviting spaces and functional hubs for various items. In this small entryway, she totally achieves both aesthetics and organization.

In the backpack storage area, she put hooks at a reachable height for kids, while a DIY wooden tray neatly houses shoes and boots.

Tasha has a GORGEOUS and colorful wood slat wall with a mudroom bench, but the hooks are a bit too high for her kids to use for easy reach. So they added this little storage area on some spare wall space.

There's plenty of storage with the peg rail for the kids to hang up their bags and jackets. Above the hooks, she filled the wall with kid's art. 

I just love this DIY shiplap hall tree with the bench. It serves so many purposes with hooks for bags and jackets, a shelf for decor, a bench for putting shoes on, and baskets for extra storage. Read more to learn how to build it yourself with the step-by-step tutorial. 

Metal lockers have been used for years at schools to hold backpacks, so why not use them at home? She found this vintage metal locker set on Facebook Marketplace and gave it a good paint with some creamy white paint.

Each person has their own large locker for bags, jackets, and other belongings and a small locker for holding shoes. It looks so great and really makes the home feel nostalgic and cozy. 

If you don't have the time (or energy) to DIY something or if you don't have any extra space in your home for storing backpacks, this over the door hanger is a great solution.

Just put it over the top of the door and it will hold two backpacks. This could be used on your kiddos' bedroom or closet doors or on a door closer to your main living areas for easy access on your way out the door to school.