You’ve been there. After a stressful day at work and running errands, you walk through the door at home and collapse. Not, of course from fatigue, but from the massive pile of shoes, boots, coats, and general debris that piles up over the course of the week. Tired of tripping over the refuse? Give everything a place in your entryway, then give the rest of the family orders to put things where they need to be!
Take control of your morning departure and evening homecoming with a few ideas on how to organize your entryway!
Ending Entryway Clutter
One of the most important elements of organizing your entryway comes down to determining what you have to work with. If your home has an entryway closet, also referred to as a foyer closet, consider how many day-to-day items you can store there. Of course, the best-laid plans aren’t always followed. If you and your family can’t quite get in the habit of hanging up coats or putting footwear in the entryway closet, you may have to jump down a bit further.
Entryway Closet Organization
If you’re wondering how to organize an entryway closet, then good for you; the first step is to use it! However, if you lean on your closet too often, or let items linger too long, it can get cluttered quickly.
Pare Down Coat Selection
If you do have an entryway closet, and if you can get in the habit of using it, then the key to keeping it clutter-free is adjusting where you keep things based on use. For example, if your family wears the same coats every day, keep them separated from your off-season jackets. You can reduce the clutter by limiting how many coats everyone has stored here. Depending on the size of your closet and family, you might have to lay down the law and cap coat storage at two per person.
Choose Your Shoes
The same rule of thumb applies to shoes and boots. Limit footwear based on the number of people in your home and the season. Don’t use the entryway closet to store non-seasonal items, which can simply add clutter (and frustration) to finding your running sneakers or work-appropriate flats.
Space for Everyone
One of the simplest ways to keep things from spilling out of the closet or landing in other rooms is to make a home for all those day-to-day items. Install shelving in the entryway and assign a space to each family member. Repurpose a bookshelf or search for other options and assign each person a single space or tub.
The Best Entryway Organization Ideas Without Relying on a Closet
Determine what’s possible based on your space and needs, then see which of these entryway ideas is the best fit for your space. Remember, sacrificing a couple of feet near the door for storage might seem like a substantial footprint, but it could save far more space than having all those same items strewn throughout your living room and kitchen. One of the best ways to declutter other areas of your home is to trap that debris before it makes it past the entryway!
Build DIY Lockers
This is the ultimate scenario for a busy, big family. There are plenty of pre-built mudroom lockers or cubbies available, but there is an advantage in building your own. Building your own lockers allows you to adjust the dimensions and number of spaces available to hang coats and backpacks, store shoes and sports equipment, and even build in convenient touches like a power strip cable to charge phones and other devices near the door.
Entryway Benches
An entryway bench offers more than just a spot to sit while you pull on winter boots. The space inside the bench can also be used to store seasonal apparel out of sight until needed. Consider using an open storage option that might be more adaptable to different sizes of items than benches with subdivided compartments, which may limit what fits inside.
Claim Your Space
Even if you don’t have room for lockers or a handy entryway closet, you can still use coat hooks to assign and therefore limit storage space for everyone in the family. Assign a specific hook to each family member and be a stickler about everyone using their own space. If one particular hook tends to overflow, that family member needs to take a few items to their room!
Where to Put Shoes in a Small Entryway
If you’re limited on entryway space, forget large shelf or locker footprints and go vertical. Instead of shoe racks that are two, three, or four feet wide, look for options that offer the same amount of storage capacity in a different orientation. If storage is a big problem, consider mounting a shoe organizer on the back of the closet door; this will get shoes off the floor and out of the way.
No More Lost Letters: The Entryway Mail Organizer
It’s not just shoes and coats that seem to scatter once they get past the entryway. Nearly everyone has misplaced letters, bills, or even magazines because there’s no designated spot for them. Create an entryway mail organizer to keep it in one spot! It can be as simple as installing a small shelf or as creative as installing wooden magazine holders near the doorway.
Key Entryway Organization Idea Takeaways
When it comes down to it, efficient entryway organization comes down to three main efforts:
- Limit the number of items stored in the entryway. If you haven’t used it in a week and won’t need it in the next week, find another place to store it.
- Assign space to family members and ask them to avoid overflowing their allotted space.
- Think vertical. Whenever possible, get your shoes and other items off the floor. Opt for coat hooks, shelves, and vertical shoe racks to keep your storage solution’s footprint minimal.
Stay Tidy with Expert Help from Molly Maid
A busy entryway is a sure sign of a family on the go! Stay on the move and let Molly Maid’s team of professional cleaners take care of the dirty work. We provide one-time, recurring, and special event cleaning services that leave your home looking spotless and you with more time to do the things you love! Request a personalized cleaning estimate today.
