7 Ways Professional Organizers Conjure Up More Practical But Stylish Storage in An Entryway

The entryway is the first thing your family, friends, and guests see, which is why it's important to create a space that has practicality and style in mind. It's also an area of the home you use quite frequently, so organizing it for your needs is necessary.

If you don't learn how to organize an entryway and implement a good range of storage solutions, the items you need can end up being placed in the wrong areas around your home. Rapidly accumulating into a cluttered disaster, it's a situation no one wants, especially right at the door.

I talked to professional organizers to hear their recommendations for stylish storage to help enhance the functionality of your entryway space without detracting from its aesthetic. By adding a few pieces like these to your home, you'll feel refreshed in your little but mighty entryway. Here's what professional organizers had to share.

1. Think About Practical and Decorative Pieces

When seeking entryway storage ideas and thinking of ways to make your entryway more useful without detracting from style, it's important to place visuals at the forefront of your thinking, even for the smaller things. If you need somewhere to store mail when it comes indoors, why not opt for a gorgeous letter rack like the dash solid wood wall organizer from Wayfair? If your keys are looking for a home by the door, you can pick up a beautiful decorative bowl online, like the gilded leaf decorative bowl from Anthropologie, or search for something budget-friendly and fabulous in the thrift.

The options are endless but these thoughtful little details will make all the difference to your space's style, whether you're seeking to make your entryway feel cozy or just overall easier to use.

Amy Trager, certified professional organizer and owner of Amy Trager, LLC, says, "A bowl or basket will help corral all the small things heading in and out the door with you: keys, sunglasses, change, a pack of gum. Having one place to toss these items and retrieve them will make it a whole lot quicker to leave each time. If it's a beautiful item, it will be just as stylish and personal as it is useful."

If you wish to embellish your entryway with decorative elements, just be mindful to stick to a theme; otherwise, each of your pieces may clash. Sometimes, a simple addition like the Dickinson Metal Wall Organizer from Wayfair can be better for a space. Its sleek, minimalistic design won't detract from the beauty of the rest of your space, and it's an elegant choice for those wishing to inject practicality into a space in a less bold way.

2. Unique Shoe Racks

People who always have neatly organized shoes take time to consider their shoe needs before diving into purchasing storage solutions. If you live in a particularly rural area, you may spend half of your life wearing boots. If you love sports, you may own a few extra pairs of tennis shoes. If you spend your evenings at corporate events, a couple of extra pairs of high heels by the door might be your go-to for convenience.

Cultivating a practical entryway means considering your needs and your household, and addressing the shoe rack is one of the most important elements. After all, most of us don't leave our homes with nothing on our feet.

Ben Soreff, professsional organizer and owner of House to Home Organizing, says, "If you have kids in the house then you likely have a lot of shoes, backpacks, and jackets. We need to review our homes for quantity and the frequency we use certain items first before considering storage."

To meet these functional needs stylishly, there are many shoe storage options out there. From freestanding boot racks like the pickpiff shoe rack from Amazon to the girton boot storage mat from Wayfair, you can have your footwear necessities on hand without them becoming an eyesore.

3. Choosing High-Quality Cubbies

Cubbies are a great choice for people in homes with children, as the storage piece is naturally made up of little designated spaces. However, cubbies of poor quality with all sorts of items on display inside can quickly become unattractive and cluttered to the point of being impractical.

Linda Samuels, certified professional organizer and founder of Oh, So Organized!, says, "To maximize space and create practical, aesthetically pleasing storage, arrange open cubbies and cubbies with drawers. Insert bins into the open cubbies to store accessories like hats, gloves, scarves, batteries, flashlights, pet supplies, extra keys, tote bags, and other grab-and-go items."

I personally like the open cubbies available from Wayfair, including the contender wall hanging cubby with hooks and the ECR4Kids streamline 5-section coat cubby, which you don't have to limit to storing coats. Both of these pieces have a little something more to their simple design, making them look more put together.

Alternatively, if keeping up with the clutter in your cubby seems like an endless battle, you could invest in one with a door or opaque drawers to make your entryway ideas more useful. For many, hiding their items in this way makes for a more visually quiet space. Just be sure not to use this as a way to hide clutter and not organize your items.

I think the painswick canvas upholstered storage bench from Wayfair unites the perfect blend of practicality and class. Available in many colors too, it's hard to pick a favorite.

4. Create Aesthetically-Pleasing Drop Stations

We all have those days when we come home tired and just want to throw everything on the floor. I'm guilty of doing this, but to my credit, I always make a point to pick everything up from the night before the following morning.

If you resonate with this, it would be a great idea to have a drop zone or two in your entryway, designed to store items you don't have the time or energy to put away into their proper home at that moment.

Dawn Falcone of The Chaos Liberator says, "Drop stations can be great for storing items such as mail and keys. They prevent mail from piling up on your kitchen counter or dining room table."

Your drop zones can look however you wish, but some items we personally consider to be among the best storage baskets include the large natural woven round basket from Target, the bamboo slatted basket organizer from Walmart, and the butterfly basket from Anthropologie. All of these options are spacious, easy to clean, and won't create an eyesore in your space.

5. Investing in Tasteful Vertical Storage

Figuring out different ways to use vertical storage is a great way to create more room and decorate an awkward entryway. But if you're looking to do this in a tasteful way, it's important not to get too caught up in the idea of maximizing space at the expense of style. Cramming in items that are too bulky or trying to fit extra hooks everywhere possible will rapidly become too much for your entryway to handle visually, so it's better to think hard about your purchases and what they will do to serve you, both aesthetically and functionally.

Amy says, "Hooks on the wall are useful for all sorts of items, from coats and scarves to bags and purses. But it's important to think into what kinds of hooks you want, and where you want them. You could have a whole row of hooks together or display single hooks in a fun pattern on the wall. Hooks also come in a wide variety of sizes and styles, from painted to iron to stainless steel to wood, and in just about any color you can imagine."

My favorite vertical storage pieces for an entryway at the moment are the Wood & Brass hook rail from Target, the Umbra melody 9 wall hook from Walmart, and the swivel hanging rack from Anthropologie. These pieces are all relatively simple but have a sense of character to them. The Umbra piece makes me think of Christmas lights in the best way, too.

6. Striking a Streamlined-Stylish Balance

Most entryways are on the smaller side, leaving little room for bulky furniture that can often make your entryway look smaller. If you're seeking to up the storage of your entryway without putting style at expense, opting for attractive, streamlined furniture pieces is the way to go.

Keren Gava, professional organizer and owner of Organize It, says, "Using the likes of a slim console table for storage is a perfect place to keep your essentials. It's sleek profile fits seamlessly into small entryways, and it will transform your space into somewhere efficient and organized."

Keren recommends choosing a table like the HOOBRO narrow console table from Amazon which has storage racks as well as drawers. It functions as a shoe rack, drawer space, and a table surface, but only takes up the space of one non-bulky item in your entryway.

7. Get Crafty and Creative

If you're into DIY or close to someone who is, your next project could involve creating the perfect piece to sit in your entryway. This is a great idea for those looking to give their homes a personal touch, or if you're struggling to find something you love in a store. A DIY Linda recommends is creating a shoe cabinet from an old dresser drawer set.

"Shoe clutter can be a challenge in entryways," says Linda. "So if you're feeling crafty, repurpose a dresser and transform it into a shoe cabinet. Paint it and install new knobs to match your décor. Then, assign one drawer to each household member. The cabinet will provide a ‘home’ for your most frequently worn shoes while eliminating entryway clutter."

Undertaking this DIY is sure to give your entryway a boost in practicality alongside a unique charm you won't find anywhere else.

FAQs

How can I make my entryway more functional?

According to Dawn Falcone of The Chaos Liberator, a functional entryway is a space that grants easy access to the things you need day-to-day.

"I think it's best that your entry houses the items you need upon leaving your home to be most functional," says Dawn. "So coats, shoes you wear most often, school/work bags, hats, gloves, umbrellas, dog leashes, keys, etc. This prevents you from running around your home gathering these items from other rooms. It will definitely save you time to have them in one place."

As noted by Keren Gava, professional organizer and owner of Organize It, "An uncluttered entry invites positive energy into the home, creating a balanced, harmonious atmosphere that supports the family's well-being. This intentional space not only impacts practical routines but also enhances family cohesion, providing a sense of unity and calm as they come and go."

You can achieve optimal functionality by intentionally reducing clutter in your entryway space, implementing good storage solutions to improve organization, and keeping your essentials by the door, easy to find as you leave and enter the home.