Welcome to the entry of our home.
While our front door is slightly more attractive, it only gets used by visitors. This side entrance is closest to the garage and where we drop our shoes, hats, bags, gloves, keys ... you name it. The nearest closet is two rooms away, so vertical storage is what we needed.
This space was a challenge to get organized - mainly because it is a tight hallway between stairs that lead down to the basement and up to the kitchen. When we bought the house, the cheap paneling was painted the color of baby poop and the glass light fixture had dead bugs in it.
Painting everything white and swapping in a $5 milk glass shade was a huge improvement. The cheap, 3-tier shelving unit has stored shoes since we moved in. It is narrow and works great. (We keep some other shoes in our bedroom.) The brown hooks were already installed when we bought the house, and we added 8 white hooks about a year ago.
But I didn't have an ideal organization solution until January, when I found the perfect wall bin that could hold scarves, mittens, and even tiny baby booties. Now, everything has its place.
Scroll down to find my tips for tight spaces that handle lots of storage...
My Tips for Turning a Tight Hallway into a Functional Closet
Make it bright.
Use vertical space.
Assess what needs a place.
Hunt down the right piece.
.... and just to keep things real, this space normally also holds (much less attractive)
umbrellas, extra Target plastic bags, reusable grocery bags, & a few more winter coats.
This is excellent advice! We have that situation with a front closet that's packed full of our things, so there's nowhere for guests to put their coats/shoes/winter accessories. I'm hoping for one of those benches that has baskets underneath (so friends don't have to do the awkward winter dance of trying to take off their shoes and not step in a puddle). Then we can just put hooks above it for extra coats. It's encouraging to see someone who's done this successfully!
ReplyDeleteTotally pinning this one...we could use a space like this!
ReplyDeletewe don't have a lot of closet space in our house other than in the rooms and with five of us there, it tends to get pretty tight. i love tips like these, vertical storage makes so much sense. thanks for the tips, i need to incorporate these into our laundry room as that leads into our garage which is where we come in to the house 90% of the time.
ReplyDeleteLindsey, this is simple and beautiful! I love that everything has a purpose and there is no clutter!
ReplyDelete