The entryway is the first thing your family, friends, and guests greet when entering your home, so it's important to create a space that's practical to store their possessions, as well as visually appealing. It's also an area of the home you use quite frequently, so organizing it for your needs will make a huge impact to your daily routines.
If you don't learn how to organize an entryway and implement a good range of storage solutions, the items you need can end up being placed in the wrong areas around your home. Rapidly accumulating into a cluttered disaster, it's a situation no one wants, especially right at the door.
I talked to professional organizers to hear their recommendations for stylish storage to help enhance the functionality of your entryway space without detracting from its aesthetic. By adding a few pieces like these to your home, you'll feel relieved in no time. Here's what professional organizers had to share.
1. Think About Practical and Decorative Pieces
When seeking entryway storage ideas and thinking of ways to make your entryway more useful without detracting from style, it's important to place visuals at the forefront of your mind, even for the smaller things. If you need somewhere to store mail when it comes indoors, why not opt for a gorgeous letter rack like the dash solid wood wall organizer from Wayfair? If your keys are looking for a home by the door, you can pick up a beautiful decorative bowl online, like the gilded leaf decorative bowl from Anthropologie, or search for something budget-friendly and fabulous at the thrift store.
The options are endless but these thoughtful little details will make all the difference to your space's style, whether you're seeking to make your entryway feel cozy or just overall easier to use.
Amy Trager, certified professional organizer and owner of Amy Trager, LLC, says, "A bowl or basket will help corral all the small things heading in and out the door with you: keys, sunglasses, change, a pack of gum. Having one place to toss these items and retrieve them will make it a whole lot quicker to leave each time. If it's a beautiful item, it will be just as stylish and personal as it is useful."
If you wish to embellish your entryway with decorative elements, just be mindful to stick to a theme; otherwise, each of your pieces may clash. Sometimes, a simple addition like the Dickinson Metal Wall Organizer from Wayfair can be better for a space. Its sleek, minimalistic design won't detract from the beauty of the rest of your space, and it's an elegant choice for those wishing to inject practicality into a space in a less bold way.
Price: $98
This stunning bowl will serve to elevate the look of your entryway space while also keeping your small items such as keys and sunglasses safe in one place.
Price: $35.99
This solid wood piece is excellent value and will keep your entryway looking neat and tidy.
Price: $31.99
I love the simplicity of this letter rack's design. It's sleek, minimalist charm will bring an eye-catching pop to a space without taking away from the rest of your entryway's decor.
2. Unique Shoe Racks
People who always have neatly organized shoes take time to consider their shoe needs before diving into purchasing storage solutions. If you live in a particularly rural area, you may spend half of your life wearing boots. If you love sports, you may own a few extra pairs of tennis shoes. If you spend your evenings at corporate events, a couple of extra pairs of high heels by the door might be your go-to for convenience.
Cultivating a practical entryway means considering your needs and your household, and addressing the shoe rack is one of the most important elements. After all, most of us don't leave our homes with nothing on our feet.
Ben Soreff, professsional organizer and owner of House to Home Organizing, says, "If you have kids in the house then you likely have a lot of shoes, backpacks, and jackets. We need to review our homes for quantity and the frequency we use certain items first before considering storage."
To meet these functional needs stylishly, there are many shoe storage options out there. From freestanding boot racks like the pickpiff shoe rack from Amazon to the girton boot storage mat from Wayfair, you can have your footwear necessities on hand without them becoming an eyesore.
Price: $29.99
Perfect for keeping muddy boots off of the floor and bringing a unique silhouette to your entryway space.
Price: $79.99
My favorite piece of shoe storage. It's slimline, taking up little space, but also highly functional, holding lots of shoes and doubling as a table.
Price: $48.99
This little mat is genius, providing a designated space for your most frequently used shoes to live.
3. Choosing High-Quality Cubbies
Cubbies are a great choice, especially for homes with children, as the storage piece is naturally made up of little designated spaces. However, cubbies of poor quality with all sorts of items on display inside can quickly become unattractive and cluttered to the point of being impractical.
Linda Samuels, certified professional organizer and founder of Oh, So Organized!, says, "To maximize space and create practical, aesthetically pleasing storage, arrange open cubbies and cubbies with drawers. Insert bins into the open cubbies to store accessories like hats, gloves, scarves, batteries, flashlights, pet supplies, extra keys, tote bags, and other grab-and-go items."
I personally like the open cubbies available from Wayfair, including the contender wall hanging cubby with hooks and the ECR4Kids streamline 5-section coat cubby, which you don't have to limit to storing coats. Both of these pieces have a little something more to their simple design, making them look more put together.
Alternatively, if keeping up with the clutter in your cubby seems like an endless battle, you could invest in one with a door or opaque drawers to make your entryway ideas more useful. For many, hiding their items in this way makes for a more visually quiet space. Just be sure not to use this as a way to hide clutter and not organize your items.
If I had to pick a winning piece, I think the painswick canvas upholstered storage bench from Wayfair unites the perfect blend of practicality and class. Available in many colors too, it's hard to pick a favorite.
Price: $229.99
If I absolutely had to recommend a favorite color here, I'd probably opt for the Sepia. I love how natural it looks, stunning but effortless.
Price: $76.99
A simple cube-shaped cubby organizer with a flat surface, ideal for your keys, decor or bag to rest on. You can dress this up if you wish with colorful baskets or keep it pared back as it is.
Price: $499
This simple yet elegant white parker cubby from West Elm makes a great storage addition to the entryway. You can place shoes, decor and even books here to elevate the look of your space.
4. Create Aesthetically-Pleasing Drop Stations
We all have those days when we come home tired and just want to throw everything on the floor. I'm guilty of doing this, but to my credit, I always make a point to pick everything up from the night before the following morning.
If you resonate with this, it would be a great idea to have a drop zone or two in your entryway, designed to store items you don't have the time or energy to put away into their proper home at that moment.
Dawn Falcone of The Chaos Liberator says, "Drop stations can be great for storing items such as mail and keys. They prevent mail from piling up on your kitchen counter or dining room table."
Your drop zones can look however you wish, but some items we personally consider to be among the best storage baskets include the large natural woven round basket from Target, the bamboo slatted basket organizer from Walmart, and the butterfly basket from Anthropologie. All of these options are spacious, easy to clean, and won't create an eyesore in your space.
Price: $30
Spacious and easy to carry with its handles, you can toss anything and everything into this drop zone on those days where you're low on energy. Just be sure to organize what's inside as soon as possible so this basket doesn't become a permanent home!
Price: $12.38
This sleek wooden basket is the perfect drop zone for a home wishing to incorporate accents of the natural world.
Price: $68
A pattern-lovers dream without being too bold, this fabric basket will add a touch of visual interest to your entryway while providing a drop zone for your low-energy days.
5. Investing in Tasteful Vertical Storage
Figuring out different ways to use vertical storage is a great way to create more room and decorate an awkward entryway. But if you're looking to do this in a tasteful way, it's important not to get too caught up in the idea of maximizing space at the expense of style. Cramming in items that are too bulky or trying to fit extra hooks everywhere possible will rapidly become too much for your entryway to handle visually, so it's better to think hard about your purchases and what they will do to serve you, both aesthetically and functionally.
Amy says, "Hooks on the wall are useful for all sorts of items, from coats and scarves to bags and purses. But it's important to think into what kinds of hooks you want, and where you want them. You could have a whole row of hooks together or display single hooks in a fun pattern on the wall. Hooks also come in a wide variety of sizes and styles, from painted to iron to stainless steel to wood, and in just about any color you can imagine."
My favorite vertical storage pieces for an entryway at the moment are the Wood & Brass hook rail from Target, the Umbra melody 9 wall hook from Walmart, and the swivel hanging rack from Anthropologie. These pieces are all relatively simple but have a sense of character to them. The Umbra piece makes me think of Christmas lights in the best way, too. You could even paint the circular pieces different bold colors to create a festive hook rack for the holidays!
Price: $31.69
I'm envious that Walmart isn't in the UK where I live because this piece is honestly lovely and so practical. I really like the shape and how the piece provides you with hooks of different sizes.
Price: $29.99
If you're looking for something simple but pleasing to look at, this wooden rack of hooks will do the trick. I can envision this piece working well with so many aesthetics.
Price: $98
The slenderness of this piece combined with how it can collapse when not in use makes this piece ideal for upping the storage capacity of a space without taking up much space in itself.
6. Striking a Streamlined-Stylish Balance
Most entryways are on the smaller side, leaving little room for bulky furniture that can often make your entryway look smaller. If you're seeking to up the storage of your entryway without putting style at expense, opting for attractive, streamlined furniture pieces is the way to go.
Keren Gava, professional organizer and owner of Organize It, says, "Using the likes of a slim console table for storage is a perfect place to keep your essentials. It's sleek profile fits seamlessly into small entryways, and it will transform your space into somewhere efficient and organized."
Keren recommends choosing a table like the HOOBRO narrow console table from Amazon which has storage racks as well as drawers. It functions as a shoe rack, drawer space, and a table surface, but only takes up the space of one non-bulky item in your entryway.
Price: $50.99
I really like the rustic feel of this slim console table and how it would perfectly double up as a shoe rack.
Price: $154.99
This multifunctional console table is absolutely stunning. Boasting table surface space, drawers, doors and a storage rack, you're all set with this one piece of slim furniture.
Price: $55
The most budget-friendly option at Target with the best reviews. This little console table is simple, reliable, and can store all kinds of items.
7. Get Crafty and Creative
If you're into DIY or close to someone who is, your next project could involve creating the perfect piece to sit in your entryway. This is a great idea for those looking to give their homes a personal touch, or if you're struggling to find something you love in a store. A DIY Linda recommends is creating a shoe cabinet from an old dresser drawer set.
"Shoe clutter can be a challenge in entryways," says Linda. "So if you're feeling crafty, repurpose a dresser and transform it into a shoe cabinet. Paint it and install new knobs to match your décor. Then, assign one drawer to each household member. The cabinet will provide a ‘home’ for your most frequently worn shoes while eliminating entryway clutter."
Undertaking this DIY is sure to give your entryway a boost in practicality alongside a unique charm you won't find anywhere else.
FAQs
How can I make my entryway more functional?
According to Dawn Falcone of The Chaos Liberator, a functional entryway is a space that grants easy access to the things you need day-to-day.
"I think it's best that your entry houses the items you need upon leaving your home to be most functional," says Dawn. "So coats, shoes you wear most often, school/work bags, hats, gloves, umbrellas, dog leashes, keys, etc. This prevents you from running around your home gathering these items from other rooms. It will definitely save you time and stress to have them in one place."
Keren Gava, professional organizer and owner of Organize It, also notes: "An uncluttered entry invites positive energy into the home, creating a balanced, harmonious atmosphere that supports the family's well-being. This intentional space not only impacts practical routines but also enhances family cohesion, providing a sense of unity and calm as they come and go."
You can achieve optimal functionality by intentionally reducing clutter in your entryway space, implementing good storage solutions to improve organization, and keeping your essentials by the door, easy to find as you leave and enter the home.
