Mitten Tree - useful?

[lucyem]

I am wondering if this would be useful or end up as one more piece of clutter in my house.

http://www.wroughtironhaven.com/shop...k-holiday.html

I was just thinking how we end up with mittens and boots just dumped all over the stove. (not wood stove, but a cook stove that also heats the kitchen and stays warm all the time) I end up tripping all over stuff especially at dinner time. I was thinking I could use this in front of the stove and when I had to use the stove could just grab the top and move this into the mud room. We do not have the normal snow clothing. We have a small farm so I usually have wet gloves drying on the stove as well as all the kid stuff.

[~*max*~]

I think that's really cute. If we had the space I would get one. (We lay our stuff all around the laundry room).

[koofie]

Do you have a place to store it in the summer? what to do with it when you are not using it might be a big concern.

[sunflower.mama]

I vote that it's just one more thing. We enter our house through the laundry room, so I throw everything in the dryer for 10 mins when we come in wet from the snow and it does the job.

[nerdymom]

Another vote for more clutter. Would something like this work yet take up less space? http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/80124638

[zebra15]

Clutter.... sorry

[karne]

The problem is that it doesn't really serve as a dryer for your wet mittens-just cute storage. I say this as someone who has had one next to my woodstove. I find it easier to put a basket in my mudroom for everyone to put their wet stuff in and then throw it in the dryer for a bit to be ready for the next day,

[napless]

We have hooks (made from an old wire hanger, cut into 6 inch lengths and bent) hanging over the tiles behind our woodstove. They take up no space, and are perfect for mitts, snowpants, coats, hats et al.

[Irishmommy]

I have one that's about a hand high, and the size of a floor register. Gloves go on, it sits over the vent and dries that way. It's small, easy to store in summer, and actually works. The kids love it.

[swisscanmom]

I am thinking of making something with clothes pins attached to hang on the wall for that purpose.
I have a heat vent on the wall behind my door, it would work well above a stove, too.

[Caneel]

Originally Posted by karne

The problem is that it doesn't really serve as a dryer for your wet mittens-just cute storage. I say this as someone who has had one next to my woodstove. I find it easier to put a basket in my mudroom for everyone to put their wet stuff in and then throw it in the dryer for a bit to be ready for the next day,

Thank you, this is what I needed to hear. Like the OP, I keep eyeing up a mitten tree. Now I can let that idea go....

[lucyem]

All these opinions are great! I am still seriously considering it. See in my case my stove is attached to cabinets. The front and top are the only exposed spots. Imagine every night having to kick aside boots, gloves, hats, snow pants and jackets just to cook dinner and then to put them back to continue drying. There is no where for hooks. The mitten tree might keep things together and drying. For me to get wet things upstairs and into the dryer would be harder then trying to store a mitten tree in the summer. We have a whole empty basement that I can put it in.