Decluttering Your Entryway

If you're decluttering and organizing your home, the entryway might just be the perfect place to start. It's usually one of the smaller areas of the home and also one of the areas that can tend to cause some of the greatest frustrations, so taking care of it can make a big impact in motivating you to continue on to other rooms.

As I outlined in the Decluttering Strategies post, a good thing to start with is to identify what your motivation is and envision how you want your space to be. How does the entryway in its current state make you feel? Does clutter put you in a bad mood when you walk in the door? Is it hard to find things when you're heading out the door? Can you imagine the potential of the space?

photography by Noah Webb

List the functions you want the entryway to support. Work around your habits and desired lifestyle. What do you need a place for? Below is a list of common items convenient to have a place for in the entryway:

• shoes
• keys
• coats
• handbags
• mail
• hats
• scarves
• backpacks and school stuff (i.e. signed papers, lunchboxes, announcements)
• reusable grocery bags
• cell phones, blackberries, etc.
• sunglasses
• umbrellas
• coins
• dry cleaning to drop off
• temporary items -(i.e. stuff you want to take with you)

Clear some space, have bags and boxes ready and start clearing everything from the entryway, sorting as you go. More often than not, the items that tend to collect in this area, tend to belong elsewhere in the home so sort those items by the room in which they belong in. You might also find that the entry has become a dumping ground for items you don't know what to do with. Resist the urge put these in the Maybe pile. Make a decision on as many items as possible about whether you want to keep or get rid off them. If the item belongs to someone else in your household, be sure to consult with them or set it aside for them to make a decision on it.

Once you're done sorting, take a look at your Keep pile and assess whether the entryway is the best home for each item. Will having them in the entryway interfere with the functions you want the space to support? Refer back to the list you created earlier.

Find a place for everything that you've decided belongs in the entryway. Put items where they're most used and can be easily accessed. Establishing designated spots for the things you drop off and pick up as you go in and out can significantly minimize chaos. You may find it useful to sketch out a little plan to help you determine what you want where and figure out what little additions you might want to shop for (i.e. bins, hooks, a table, etc). If you're anything like me, you'll want to give equal attention to practical and design concerns.

In the posts to follow I'll go over a variety of entryway configurations and organizational solutions. Stay tuned!