We have NO entryway. The entry to our home is a hallway. In that hallway is a door to a bathroom, the opening to the stairs, and the opening to the kitchen. So, not only do we not have much of an entryway, we have no wall space either.
We have a very small coat closet (luckily), that houses our coats, grocery bags, dog leashes, and winter boots. There is no room for anything else. Typically our shoes that are in daily use spill over onto the stairs, our coats that we use daily end up on the couch, and the small table that we have in the 19 inches between the bathroom and stairs is cluttered with keys, wallets, and mail. It is not ideal to say the least.
In those 19 inches, I had a small table that I’d shoved a basket underneath to house a lot of our shoes. Our daughter’s shoes and sweatshirts for going out, ended up in a bin on the landing of the stairs. I finally got fed up with our situation and took the final steps to making our entryway work MUCH better.
I wish I would have taken before pictures, of course! Although many of these changes happened over time.
Here’s how we maximize our space and get the most use out of our small entryway:
1. I took the much needed step of cleaning out the coat closet. There is now much more room and we only have necessities in the closet. If I didn’t know the item was in the closet, it was either donated or thrown away (depending on what it was).
We also found plastic drawers that fit nicely into the closet. This takes advantage of the vertical space between the floor and the coats hanging above. We fit all of our winter boots in the bottom drawer, our grocery bags in the middle drawer, and our dog items in the top drawer.
2. Cubbies. I removed the table that had the basket shoved into it, and replaced it with a cubby shelf. We now fit two bins full of shoes that are nicely packed away. Our daughter (and any future children) will share a bin, and my husband and I share a bin. This means no more clutter on the stairs, and shoes don’t need to collect in the hallway. We chose bright bins to add a bit of color to the space.
3. Key/mail holder. The top of the cubbies can serve as a table if need be, but it is so nice to actually have a place for things, instead of a table that just collects everything.
This is a wonderful handmade piece that I found on Etsy. It has everything we need: hooks for our keys, a slot for the mail, a shelf for a wallet, and even a jar to hold those random knick knacks that find their way to this area (or flowers if you choose) – all out of reach of little tiny hands! That’s always a plus.
I also have to mention that this is gorgeous and sturdy! I love the bright splash of orange that is now the focus of our hallway. It comes in every color you could imagine and provides so much organization! See coupon code below!
4. More hooks. For us, there isn’t really room for more hooks in the hallway. However, close by, we have the stairs that lead down to our basement level. Since it is hidden away nicely, and relatively close to the front door, I chose to place a set of hooks at the top of the stairs. These hooks house my purse, our daughter’s backpack and lunch box, and even give us a place for sunglasses.
Utilizing all of these organization methods, we are able to have everything up off of the floor so our entryway is workable. Everything has a location (especially now that we have our latest addition- the mail/key holder)!
The entryway is the first thing you see when you walk in the door, and I love it when it is put together nicely. When the whole family needs to be able to find their shoes, wallets, purses, etc. and have room to put things on, it is essential that everything has a place.
Our daughter knows which bin is hers and where to find everything. This makes the going out process much smoother!
Items we used:
Etsy
This mail/key holder is my absolute favorite item that we purchased for the entryway. I love the flexibility with color choices. You also have the option to get different finishes (smooth, lightly distressed, or heavy distressed). There are MANY options in this shop, including mail/key holders that have cork boards, white boards, or chalk boards.
There’s something for everyone and you can really put your style into it. You can tell that the shop owner, Jack, really puts quality as a priority, and the customer reviews indicate that as well (122 reviews with an average of 5 out of 5 stars)! The piece is very well made! You can find your handmade item at East Texas Studios shop on Etsy. Here are some of his example pieces and listings:
Coupon code for East Texas Studios shop: Enter the promo code “SPRING” for $4 off any purchase of $45 or more! Valid through May 31, 2017.
Amazon
The items shown below (3 drawer plastic storage, hook/shelf, cubby storage, and fabric bins), can be found at Target and at Amazon. I always find Amazon the easiest, unless I just happen to be out and about wanting to pick things up asap!
For more fun organizing tips for your home, check out DesignRulz and their entryway bench ideas! We are definitely putting one of these in our next home when we have the space!
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