How to Organize a Home Entryway
Where we enter and exit our home can quickly become chaotic from all the shoes, the jackets and the bags that come and go with us. I’m sharing some guiding principles to get you started with tackling your home’s entryway.
Determine your organizing style
There is no "right" or "wrong" style of organizing. Finding the most functional organizing style that works for you, the space, and the types of items, should always be the goal. Someone may feel a space is most organized if the items are out of sight, whereas another person may feel out of sight means out of mind and forgotten. Generally there are 4 ways to organize: Macro (organizing items into categories), Micro (oranizing items with a category), Visual (organizing items so they can be seen at quick glance) and Hidden (organizing items out of sight). Here are some examples of what an entry way could look like based on your organizing style, and what is realistic for your household to maintain.
Organize for the 90%
Consider who uses the entryway 90% of the time, and prioritize the style and layout that works for them. The 10% of the time could include holidays or large gatherings when you expect a lot of company. This could also be the few times a year when you have a lot of snow and need additional drying racks. It is great to consider those scenarios and how you might adjust your space during that time, but avoid falling into the trap of trying to prioritize what could be a temporary disruption to the otherwise functional system.
Every household’s 90% will look a little different. Here are some common entryway systems to consider setting up (beyond shoes/jackets/daily bags):
Re-usable bags
Returns (items go back to the store, or friends, or donations)
Keys
Special Activity/Sport bags (if used at least weekly)
Organize for all seasons
Functional entryways should transition through each season. The simplest ways to do this are Basket Swaps or Backstock. You can learn more about what backstock is in the blog post Organizing Explained: Backstock.
Basket Swaps are great for mudrooms where all of the items are stored for all seasons. Out of season baskets (like summer hats in the winter) would be stored up high and the current season baskets (like winter gloves in the winter) should be easily accessible. As seasons change, the appropriate baskets are moved to the most accessible areas.
Backstock is great for smaller entryways, but requires a little more maintenance. Generally speaking, the idea would be to have a basket for each family member for their current seasonal accessories, and the out-of-season accessories are in storage. While there is a benefit of flexibility in those in-between seasonal days, items can quickly collect and overflow if you aren’t going through the bins to relocate out-of-season items to backstock.
Maintenance
Every organizing system requires maintenance. For entryways, making a habit out of swapping out of season items is the key! If the bones of the organizational system exist, it should be easy for anyone in the household to do a quick tidy.
If you need help setting up your entryway, let’s connect.
