How to Love Your Entryway Again – Fix its Function and Style

The pitfalls of a home’s entryway and ideas on how to organize your entryway so it stays tidy and stylish.

Welcome to our first monthly challenge!

Larisa and I were talking the other day and she was telling me how she would like to declutter, organize, and add some new decor to some of the rooms in her house.

So I told her how I had already started planning to refresh my entryway.

We decided to refresh our entryways together.

I am so excited to be taking part in this entryway refresh challenge with Larisa!

We also decided to make our entryway refresh into a monthly challenge.

For the month of September we’ll be exploring entryways, mud rooms, foyers, entry halls, entryway storage, shoe storage, coat racks, entry way rugs, wall decor and everything entrywayy.

We would love for you to join us!

Join us for the Entryway Refresh Challenge!

It’s as easy as 1, 2, 3!

1. We publish a blog post with the details of the monthly challenge on the first Saturday of each month.
2. You take part in the challenge and take a picture or video of what you are working on.
3. Send the picture or video to us in an email or tag us on Facebook or Instagram.

Table of Contents

• Join us for the Entryway Refresh Challenge!
• Entryway Decorating Mistakes
• Jill’s Entryway
• Entryway Shoe Storage
• Clutter Control
• Floor Covering
• Dark Entryway
• Entryway Decor
• Larisa’s Entryway
• Control the chaos… for good!
• Clear the (entryway) bench!
• Upgrade the style

Entryway Decorating Mistakes

By nature, the entrance to a home can easily get cluttered and messy.

You walk in the door with your arms full of shopping bags, purses, car keys and God knows what else. And you need some place to put some of that stuff while you get your shoes off and collect your thoughts from the day.

So, you leave the shoes in the middle of the entrance, where they were taken off, and you pile the bags and mail and purse wherever there is an empty spot of real estate. And you leave it there to run off to the next fire you need to put out.

And mine and Larisa’s entryways are no different.

I know a lot of people talk about how the entryway is the first impression of a home. Which is important.

But what we’re talking about here is identifying the causes of the clutter and mess and improving functionality of a space, so that it is easy to keep it neat looking and simple to maintain.

Jill’s Entryway

My husband and I have lived in our home for about four years now.

A couple of years ago I gave our entryway a makeover.

Now, I know that there are a few areas that I need to improve upon to make the area more useful and easier to keep neat.

Entryway Shoe Storage

My biggest entryway decorating mistake is our current shoe storage situation.

I have a cute storage bench but nobody ever uses it because it is:

1. Too small. It will only fit four pairs of regular height shoes facing side to side.
2. Too difficult to access. I love the look of the sliding doors, but you can only have one half of the cabinet open at a time.

So, instead of using the cute little bench to store shoes, they’re on the floor. Which obviously is not very safe for a hallway.

Every time I walk in the door, out the door, into the bathroom, out of the bathroom, into the spare bedroom, out of the spare bedroom…I trip over a mountain of shoes on the floor.

I need entryway shoe storage that will hold a lot of shoes, is easy to access, and looks adorable.

I don’t need a bench. Obviously, I could never sit on the one I have now it’s so full of clutter.

Clutter Control

My second biggest entryway design mistake is clutter control.

Have I ever told you that I don’t like looking at ugly stuff?

This clutter isn’t really that bad, but I would like it to look prettier.

I have a shelf with metal baskets for storing stuff in that I never use.

Since I’m redecorating the coat rack wall to make room for my new improved shoe storage, I’ll need a place to organize and conceal my clutter and daily use objects.

Floor Covering

I used to have a washable rug here a couple of years ago, but it wasn’t the right size for the space, and, at the time, the right size wasn’t available in a washable rug.

So, I bought an indoor/outdoor rug (my current rug) because I figured I could hose it off when it got dirty.

But I never have hosed it off. I just don’t seem to want to take the time to figure out the correct way to wash an indoor/outdoor rug, wash it, and let it dry.

Floors that are in the entrance of a home get dirty. The dirtiest in the whole house I would say.

So, I need to figure out what kind of floor covering I want to use in this space that is durable and easy to clean.

Dark Entryway

I have a couple of small mirrors on a wall in our entryway, but it still tends to be kind of dark at times.

I would like to add a larger mirror to help brighten the space up.

Entryway Decor

The last entryway decorating mistake isn’t really a mistake. More of a preference I guess.

I’ve never had any art or decor on this wall that leads into the kitchen.

I never knew what to put there and I didn’t want it to make the hall feel claustrophobic as you make your way through.

I want to add some wall decor to this large blank wall.

And I’ll also be adding some modern boho decor to my entryway that reflects my current taste, like I did in my recent bathroom makeover.

I can’t wait to get started! And I can’t wait to see what Larisa comes up with!

Check back tomorrow when I will post my design plan for this entryway refresh!

Larisa’s Entryway

Like Jill, in my house, the entryway is a bit of a disaster. Here’s our two “before” pictures. The first is its natural state. The second was before we were expecting company.

There are three major areas that need work here:

1. Shoes and bags everywhere
2. Clutter on the bench and on the hooks – there must be a better place for the Gatorade, right?
3. Generally uninspired design

For this challenge, I’m going to tackle these one by one.

Control the chaos… for good!

I’m going to find a way to keep the shoes under control and organized in a way that makes it easy to keep them tidy. I have a small-ish coat closet close by, and I’m realizing that I’ll have to tackle that as well. If I can find other places to store things, then everything doesn’t need to be by the door.

Clear the (entryway) bench!

The whole point of having this lovely church pew bench is so we can sit down to put our shoes on. Currently, that’s not possible, unless we want to have our butts pierced by a Gatorade. I’ve decided that I’m going to make a cushion here to 1. Discourage us from putting stuff there 2. Make it more comfortable to sit there and 3. Add some style with a pretty fabric.

Upgrade the style

I want this to be a welcoming, tidy, and calming space. It’s the first impression of my home to visitors and an area of the house we see all the time. Also, portions of the entryway are visible from the main living area.

As you can see, the shelf (another great pipe shelf made by Jon) and the hooks are really visible from the living room, and right now they’re just causing me a lot of visual pain. That white board might have to go too.

As I mentioned, I’ll be making a cushion for the bench, and I’m also going to make a skirt for the bench to hide the birdseed tote and other things stored under there. I think I’ll use this peacock picture, which is the first thing you see when you come into the entryway from the outside as design inspiration. Right now the whole space is very orange, and the adjacent living room is sage green. I think some nice peacock blue might be a good addition. What do you think? Am I wrong?

In addition, I’ll find some other ways to spruce it up. Maybe a new rug, some new decor for the shelf, maybe a better way to organize our keys, wallets, chapsticks, etc. (all the essentials).

I’ll be working on my design plan, even though I’m not as much of a planner as Jill is. Fair warning: Mine might change a lot from what I plan to what I actually do. Time will tell (but you only have to wait a month!).

Be sure to check back tomorrow for Jill’s design plan, and Monday, I’ll be posting mine. If you’re following along, be sure to send us photos at [email protected] or DM us on Facebook or Instagram.

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