Sometimes, we think that we tend to put too much emphasis on what we don’t have, instead of really focusing on what we do. Or to take it one step further, we should really be honing in on our strengths rather than our weaknesses.
And I’m not even talking about our personal lives – but yes, that too.
What about our houses?
I think we’re all guilty of this if we’re not careful, and not so much in a greedy way… but in an it-can-be-so-easy-to-get-bogged-down-with-bad-perspective way.
Our own house and how far we’ve come with it all in just a few years, would be a great testament to that, for us personally. This was a full on remodel and addition that we took on in stages. It was so easy for us to get frustrated over our situation, and really… I just needed to sit back and enjoy the ride a little more. Embrace what we have and focus on the state of being constantly grateful. {Wow is this applicable to this year, or what? Maybe our home remodel was just training us for 2020.}
When we found our house, it did have an entryway. But it wasn’t really something we wanted to keep. Bless it.
We just had to help it grow a little. We were so glad to see the transformations this little split level went through, and we do love it so.
In the meantime, because all those walls came down… we’re faced with the whole we-don’t-have-a-foyer thing. Making this one space a gigantic great room has been the best thing ever, but there are some adjustments to go through with it all. There are challenges to open spaces and it takes some clever, out of the box thinking for sure.
Later, we finished our basement and started using this as our main entryway {for the fam + close friends of course}.
It just makes sense, as the driveway is on this side of the house, and you can walk straight through. It works great for us, but it’s not a huge space. In the meantime for the first two years, we were living with small square footage and a soggy winter with three kiddos, two dogs, and all of our comings and goings were out of the front door. Hello hardwoods. Hello moving blankets when it snowed. So this was our main entry for the time being.
We are so ready for spring… So to say we’re excited would be an understatement.
I knew that what we did have in an entryway, needed to function big time for us. But I didn’t want shoes piled in the doorway or coats thrown on the floor. Let alone, mud tracked all over the place. So we made small changes to make sure that it had high function for us, during that in-the-meantime phase.
We decided to focus on our strengths, instead of our weaknesses, making the most of what we have for now.
No foyer? No problem. Here’s a few things that help. The best tips for organizing a small entryway.
• Create a catch-all
Yep. It’s in our main living area, and you can see all the things. So we decided we needed a nice foyer piece to establish boundaries and function for that area. It serves as a gigantic catch-all. The key? Disguising it for all the things. Because it doesn’t have to look like a catch all.
The layout of our great room is purposeful, as the dining table is right beside the entryway. We still have plans for this space, and more coming soon…but for now, it is what it is. This entryway piece can also serve as a buffet when not in use. I’m officially over explaining, but I guess all that goes into the thought process and function for a space. It works now, and will continue to serve us later.
• Baskets are key
Assign homes for everything. See all those baskets on the bottom? An old Ikea find, originally in our family closet a-la our last house. Now they hold piles of seasonal shoes for our comings and goings, and keep things up and off of the floor. I keep my nice ones upstairs, but the kiddos sneakers, flip flops and a collection of every day use shoes can be found right here. A lot of them have now navigated to the basement, but in the beginning, this was key.
The grey and khaki basket was a house warming gift {from target} and it holds books and my keys – I keep a blanket on top to keep things neat, visually.
I even use this little buffet to shuffle the week’s school papers – it helps right now to keep things temporarily in sight so we can keep up with permission slips, events coming up, and all things school projects. They only stay out for a while but it serves as a great sorter so we don’t forget anything until we can add it to our calendar. School stuff is overwhelming, y’all. Wonderful, but overwhelming. #Icantkeepup #mybraindoesntworklikethat #Idontknowhowpeoplewithmorethanthreedoit
• Hooks help
Systems with our own children are helping keep things clean and up off of the floor, but in the colder months, these little hooks have helped.
They place all their jackets and coats here and it get kinda crazy, but it just is what it is for the moment. At the end of each week {honestly, more like every two weeks} I go in for the kill and do a reorganizing of everything so that we can keep tabs on all things coats, and visual clutter. We put things up and out of the way in their walk through closet and that helps, too.
• Art keeps it fun
And colorful. Sometimes, it really is all about function, but the more attractive you can make that function, the more I believe it helps. I feel inspired to keep it neat and pretty because it looks so nice when it’s cleaned up. And the art reflects who we are right when you walk in… it’s fun for us in the space. So add a little flair, it doesn’t have to be all business.
• Extra mats can keep it clean
We placed a mat on the outside of the door and we’ve now added one to the inside for the wetter months {now}. With this as our main entryway, one of the challenges was all things mud and hardwoods. {Hello, giant dogs… they’re another story} Did we mention we’re ready for spring?
Our side entryway currently looks like this on the outside, and we couldn’t agree with having more mats.
• Let there be light
In stories, I recently shared where we added two new lamps in this area for all things entryway at night. Game changer. I think that people don’t appreciate how much a few lamps and good lighting at night can truly do for a space, until they actually have it. The more light, the better. Find a way to light that entryway and you’ll enjoy it even more.
• Do what works for you
Every home is different. The key is finding things that work, for you. You don’t have to have an official entryway. Just a little attractive function helps with all things family, and anything limited square footage, for sure. We like things corralled and put away, and this has helped us function until our renovation in the basement area was complete, especially through the winter months.
Anyone else out there without a foyer, creating their own entryway? We’d love to hear what works for you!
Have an inspired day
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Have an inspired day!
Laura says
Did you create those 6 pictures over the freestanding shelf?
ashley @ the handmade home says
Hey! They were created by us – the how to is here – super therapeutic
Kathy says
I love this idea. I been wanting to make the entryway more fun but i feel it is a small space and i cannot think on how to bring it to life. I have a painting in the entryway and it is beautiful but these ideas really helped me to visualize what i can do with that space. Thank you so much for sharing!