Home > Home Improvement > Article Archives: Entryway Storage 
Entryway storage lets you capture and stow stuff before it clutters the rest of the house.
Built-in seating gives kids a place to suit up for cold weather or play. They can slip off their shoes and slide them into their own cubbies, keeping dirt and mud from entering the house. Your kids step inside the door and start shedding layers. Coats
get tossed this way. Shoes get kicked that way. And bags and
backpacks fall to the floor with a resounding thud.
But where do you stow all the flotsam and jetsam of your family’s
busy life? Entryway storage solutions can be great ways to clean
up—and they’re also time-savers because they keep your family
organized. Try these ideas.
OUT
MORE
SPACE
new storage options in your home that
you didn’t even
know existed.
HANG-UPS Create two levels of coat hooks—one mid-wall range, so the kids can hang up their coats and backpacks easily and right away when they step in the door. Run a line of hooks higher up for the adults, topped by a shelf with baskets for outerwear such as gloves, hats and scarves.
PET CENTRAL Create a pet-care station on the wall or the back of a storage closet to keep all your pet supplies in one place. Use a medicine-type cabinet stocked with dog treats, grooming supplies and baggies (for pooper-scooper patrol). Use a screw-in hook to hold leashes and collars.
DUAL-PURPOSE FOOT LOCKER Seating and storage—both necessities in an entryway—can be accomplished with one piece of furniture. A wooden or metal trunk gives kids a spot to sit as they put on or take off boots. Pop the top and you can store off-season outdoor accessories such as umbrellas, hats, gloves and scarves.
CLIPBOARD ORGANIZATION. Everyone in the family gets a clipboard, with their name on it, that hangs near the back door. Use it for notes for teachers, soccer schedules and shopping lists. Keep your kids on task by having them check it coming in and leaving the house.
DOES A CENTIPEDE LIVE HERE If an ocean of shoes is cluttering your entryway, create a sliver of space behind an outside door to keep shoes on angled shelves, and sportswear tucked into square cubbies.
THE NEXT STEP Can you see the storage potential in your home’s entryway? Professionally trained home organization experts can! They’ll find new storage options in your home that you didn’t even know existed. Call your local professional to help you carve out more space, and reduce mind-numbing clutter in your home.
