I have to admit, this part of "Monday" stumped me for weeks! We have a small entry way (2'x3') that opens from the front door to the hallway which "T's" in front of you presenting wall, and a left or right decision. The funny thing is that we never use the front door, we always enter the house through the garage. (Brag point: we are the only house on the block that has room in our garage for two parked cars and our laundry area.) The garage door leads to an open dining/kitchen area. The two culprits that get all the clutter are the dining room table (mail, jackets, purse, laptop bag, etc) and the tiny bar at the end of the kitchen counter (more mail, some recycling, Netflix movies, phone chargers). We had no place to put shoes, hang coats, scarves, mail sorting.
Finally today it dawned on us. Why not convert the hall closet (a 40"x22"x96" space) into a designated entry such that we and guests have a place to hang a coat and swap shoes, etc. We embarked with a plan and have started on our project. Im excited to see it be finished, but we still need another day to complete. We are putting in a simple ELFA system with shelving and a closet rod. I just got home from the Container Store with a few baskets for shoes, cycling gear, etc and many many hooks. Husband is tapping away at the walls as I type removing the old shelf and rod, an ancient non-working light fixture, a non-working security system box and spackle-ing the walls. We will use left over hallway paint to cover up the spackle marks. Tomorrow we install the Elfa and put everything away.
If it all goes as planned (and we all know how that one can go sometimes) we will have ample space for shoe swapping (outside for inside, etc) and storage, cycling helmet and shoes, purses, coats, scarves and gloves, all the dog leashes and collars, a bin of dog toys and space for incoming and outgoing mail.
