Organizing Entryways

What are entryways and why do they get so cluttered?

Entryways generally is the space when you first walk in your front door, sometimes there's like a little space before you go into any other room and a lot of times you'll find a little table, an umbrella stand, a coat rack, or something like that, in the entryway. Entryways are also major dumping grounds for stuff. People love to come into their house and just drop everything right there and walk away. And that's great, because, you're tired, you want to relax, there's a Martini waiting for you, but you know what? You got to do something with that stuff because a lot of times what happens is they dump everything there but it's not that they're going to be picking it up on their way back out, so it just sort of stays there. So entryways can be a little dangerous, a little scary, if they're not thought out and decided what's going to happen with them.

What is a 'mudroom'?

A mudroom is something you'd find more on the east coast than on the west coast and it is a space that you come in from, especially if there is bad weather. This is where you would take off your boots, coat, shoes, and clean the dirt off your shoes before you went into the house. A lot of times it's where the shoes, coats, umbrellas all sorts of all weather gear are kept. It's also another great space for clutter and for having things that just don't even belong there.

What should I keep in my entryways?

The important thing is that you want to only have things in your entryway that you're actually using. It's not a place to store every coat that you own. That's what a coat closet is for, or for all of your hats or all of your scarves, depending on where you live. You want to have things in your entryway that are things that you use on a regular basis. If you were going to go out and buy things, a little table might be nice, or some bowls or containers to put things in. If you don't have the space for that, you can always get something that you can hook into the wall, where you can hang your keys on it. It's a simple and inexpensive solution, as opposed to buying a piece of furniture. A simple coat rack or, if that's not workable, some hooks that you can hang a few coats on, or a few hats, so that you're not throwing things on the floor or just tossing things around. You want to keep it simple, perhaps a basket that you can put on the floor, to put your mail in, or to put your umbrellas in. Another great thing that people should keep in entryways are leashes for their pets or little poop bags, things like that. Maybe you want to have a little basket or something that you can throw those things into. That way, on your way out you're grabbing them, and on the way in you're putting them back.