Entrance Areas: 9 Ideas For Optimizing (Very) Small Entryways

In this post, we look at ideas for the entrance area.

How to create and maintain a beautiful space around the entryway of the small apartment or house.

You use the entrance every day, so it’s important to plan it well. This is where you want to be able to find your stuff quickly before a busy day, and it’s here you want to feel good when you come home.

The entrance space needs to work well in many different situations. 

Get the shoes in place

Space needs to be practical.

You need your shoes at the entrance. Some are pretty and some are not. So let’s look at how we can get them out of the way.

Before you get started it’s time to make sure you only have your favorite shoes in the entrance area.

For a woman, it’s not an easy task to get rid of shoes.

But let’s face it – it’s just harder to maintain a beautiful entrance with 20 pairs of shoes. So make sure first to get rid of as many as possible, and store seasonal shoes (and clothes) elsewhere.

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The optimal way to store shoes depends on the size of your entrance.

Shoe cabinets like the ones above are often a good choice because they are small and you can hang them on the wall from the floor to the ceiling.

If you only have a small entryway, and you cannot hang anything on the wall, you can choose to hang the shoes on a shelving unit over the door like the picture above to the left.

This is another stylish solution:

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Shoes under and inside the staircase

If you have a staircase in your entryway, you can choose to use the space below the stairs, instead of wall mounted cabinets.

You will need good carpentry skills to pull this off, but if you manage to build storage into the staircase, it will be an easy way to access your shoes and stuff.

..and you can probably get to keep all 20 pairs of shoes :)

Tidy up and keep order

If you always have shoes, scarfs, jackets etc. laying around on the floor and chairs, you easily lose your keys and stuff. A one-way route to hectic and stressful mornings!

It’s time to get organized and make sure everything has its own spot. 

This can be easier said than done, but it’s possible.

If you haven’t got enough hooks for the jackets, it becomes too easy to just drop everything on the floor when you come home after a long day.

Make sure you have enough hooks on the wall

Do you have a hook for every family member?

It’s a good idea to have a hook for purses as well, and somewhere you hang your keys.

You can also place a hook for an umbrella, and make sure the hooks for the kid’s stuff are placed low enough to be useful for them.

The space below the ceiling can be utilized too by placing a long shelf above the door.

This can be the perfect spot for seasonal clothes and other items you don’t use on an everyday basis.

Multi-purpose furniture for the small doorway

As you might have noticed, we absolutely love furniture with more than one function.

If you have very limited space in the doorway, it can be useful to put a bench against the wall, so you can sit comfortably as well as store shoes and purses.

You can also choose to build one yourself, to make sure it fits your wall exactly as well as your personal needs.

Make sure to utilize the space all the way up to the ceiling!