I was perfectly content with our entryway... until I wasn't. It's funny how that happens. Things are great, then one day, things are ugly, and crowded and you feel like you're suffocating. (Well maybe that last part is just me).
**Here is our 15-cube organizer circa 2015. At the time I was a single mom of 3. Between working and caring for my 2- four year olds and my three year old, I was exhausted most of the time. Our average day consisted of getting up at 5, feeding everyone, getting the kids (and me ready), dropping the kids at daycare, driving to work, working until 430, picking up the kids, driving home, cooking dinner, cleaning up, getting everything ready for tomorrow and starting our bedtime routine. With days this busy I was looking to save minutes anywhere I could. Picking out clothes every night was something that ended up being stressful for me, so I found this solve. Every Sunday night, the kids would help me look at the weather forecast for the week, and we would pick an outfit for each day. It was a simple fix that really made a big difference in our day-to-day life.
All items can be found here
There are a lot of things that really work in this space. The full swing baby gate (from Amazon) allows us to block our new walker from the front door space (and the stairs) but also sits flush with the wall when we want the area open. We love our entryway table, which was actually a rescued display table from a store going out of business. My favorite item is the Closet Maid (8983) 15-Unit Cube Organizer. It was purchased for $32 back in 2015, and we are still using it 7 years later. (**See below for my original use for the cube organizer).
There are also a lot of things not working in this space. I feel like it is very crowded. There are shoes lined up everywhere. When our toddler does break into the space, these shoes are then all over the floor. So many shoes (there are also shoes in a pocket organizer on the back of the utility closet). The cube bins on the tabletop are very functional. They hold and organize all our gloves, hats, and scarves. I also feel like they really shrink the space.
This coat hook from Amazon was another great pick that lasted us 7 years and 3 houses.
Here is a view from above. You can see our kids backpack/coat station that we have. this is achieved by mounting single prong hooks one on top of the other into the studs. (See picture below).
The direction of my redecorating plan really started with this basket. I loved the idea of being able to contain the shoes, and I just happened across this beauty that was the perfect size.
Target doesn't have this exact basket available anymore, but searching for searching for seagrass will bring great results.
Storing all the shoes in the basket below did great things for the aesthetic and my sanity.
We took this opportunity to go through all our shoes. Anything that didn't fit, that the kids didn't like, or was a double (not even sure of an 8 year old that hates sports ended up with 3 pairs of running shoes) was donated. This downsizing allowed us to fit all our shoes on the shelf and it the basket below.
With all the shoes in their new spot, were able to swap the shoe pocket organizer for this one I found on Amazon. We drilled it directly into our door, but it does have hooks to hang it over the door. This updated organizer, paired with some similar downsizing to the shoes, allowed us to fit all our winter gear behind the door. Considering the items are only used half the year, this was a great option. Clearing off the top of the table really made the space feel more open.
At the time of this redecorating we weren't leaving the house much, so we opted to store the diaper bag on the second shelf. I propped up our digital picture frame in the corner with a vintage ballet book we we're going to get rid of. The digital picture frame was a wedding gift that plays a slide show of all our kids art work. I added a metal bowl for keys and small items that always find their way to this table. To add some welcoming warmth and inviting smell a vintage bulb wax warmer to finish it off.
We ended up replacing our coat hanger with this one my husband made. He brough home this piece of beautiful red wood (who knows why or where my husband finds these things), immediately I knew adding double hooks it would make a special coat rack. I added a darker wash to the frame of the little sign above to match. We had received this as a wedding gift, and I decided to hang it on the wall using Command hook refill strips.
I ended up getting a rug to put just in side the door from Rugs.com. (Note: I am not sure the link is to the exact rug, but it is definitely close). To me it made the entire area just seem brighter and more inviting, and was really the last touch for me to feel like the space was complete.
Incase you're wondering about the weird throw carpets at the bottom of the stairs. Our cat made this step her own personal scratching post and destroyed the carpet. We knew it would need replacing when we went sell, so I bought cheap remnant rugs from Walmart and hot glued them down to cover the exposed foundation. From there we let her scratch away.
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