Does your entryway welcome you into your home with calm and see you out the door with ease? More than likely, your entryway has become a pile of damp and dirty shoes and jackets, with mail and keys tossed haphazardly on a ledge. This is no way to come home from a long day, or to start your mornings! Take back your entryway with these decluttering tips.
Get Some Furniture
Entryways can be narrow and small, but if you can find some sort of table, bench, or shelf, your opportunities for organization multiply. A small half-table can hold dividers for mail and a caddy for keys. A bench will help take care of your shoes, particularly if you can either open the seat or store baskets underneath. You can even find slim shoe caddies that actually look like cabinets! Adding furniture also lets you begin to style your entryway.
Use Your Walls
Your entryway might have a coat closet handy, but coats and hats always seem to wind up on the floor regardless. Install some hooks or pegs on your walls. Damp jackets can be hung up on them to dry before being put away in the closet, and it will give any guests a place to put their own outerwear. If you don’t have a coat closet, then these coat racks are an absolute organizational necessity!
Organize Your Shoes
Shoes are the most common entryway offender, particularly if you are a family that removes all shoes at the door. A shoe storage bench is one of the best ways to combat this, and there is a wide variety of options to fit all space requirements and decorating styles. Some shoe benches have a hinged seat to hold shoes inside. Others have spaces for baskets and bins underneath. Whether you organize the shoes by person or by kind of shoe, give the shoes a place where they belong – and not in a pile on the floor.
Manage The Mud
Entryways are where the outside meets the inside, and that usually means mud, dirt, and moisture. Plan ahead by placing a thick bristle doormat outside the door, and a nice washable rug inside. Make sure your inside rug is patterned and multi-colored, if possible! The color and pattern will hide dirt, keeping your entryway looking tidy between washes. If your family has a particularly high volume of boots and mud, consider putting a boot scraper outside your door.
Baskets And Bins
If you have a corner, put a basket there. Do you have a coat closet? Get some bins for the bottom of it. Put baskets under your shoe bench if you can, or alongside it if not. There should be nothing that does not have a designated spot, and the way to create more spots is to use bins and baskets. Have a bin for pet toys and leashes, for kids’ sports equipment, for cold weather gear. Use small baskets on a table or shelf for keys, wallets, and earbuds.
