Late to the thread because I always forget to check Off Topic forum!
FashIntern, I *love* the Ikea shoe cabinets!!! We have one in our hallway across from our laundry closet that we're using to stash detergent and other laundry items. They are so useful in small spaces, for shoes and otherwise.
Our current place has a teeny tiny entry -- you basically just walk into the space and to the right are the stairs leading up, straight ahead is the living space, to the left is shown in pic 1. If you want to sit to put on your shoes, you sit on the stairs as they are right there. Very short hallway leading to powder room has the console and the mirror. Most people don't even notice Marilyn until they hit the powder room as they walk right on by this non-entry.
In the pic you can see the hinges and that's the coat closet, which isn't very wide but it's deep -- so there's two sets of rods one in front, one in back. This is handy for seasonal rotation of coats. It's filled pretty much solely with DH's coats, as he has a lot of coats.
As empty nesters we've gotten in the habit of putting our stuff away upon entering. I take my handbag right upstairs, as well as my coat, hat, scarf, gloves and put those away in my closet. I've gotten into the Konmari thing and empty my handbag into my "purse station" which is my top nightstand drawer. The bottom nightstand drawer is my laptop bag station.
He puts his coat in the hall closet and his gloves/hat etc in the entry console. Not shown in this pic as it's older but we do have a dish for keys, coins, his wallet. Mail gets sorted first in the lobby over the circular file, then inside at the kitchen island which is steps away from the entry. The items needing attention then go on my office desk, or into hubby's backpack to take to work the next day. His backpack rests overnight in the bottom of the hall closet.
We might have a two pairs of shoes on the mat near the stairs (his and mine). As for recycling, it goes straight out barely hitting the entry. Any returns or donations have a spot in my closet until I'm ready to take them to the car.
Pic 2 shows that we have a piece of art across from the mirror in this narrow hallway. (Different art now, this is an older picture). That art is covering up the fuse box. It's also visible from the living room. I got tired of looking at an ugly fuse box.
I actually wanted to put in a low shoe bench and maybe some hooks but my husband nixed the idea, which got us into the habit of putting stuff away elsewhere. We still, however, need a boot rack: in the meantime wet boots stay outside our door in the hallway. I've also got this mad urge to paint our door, just not sure what color.
Pic 3 is our last home's entry when we were a family of 4. More like a pass through than an entry. That server console was great, the kids each got a "cubby" (cabinet) for their backpacks and stuff. The drawers were used as our mailbox and for stashing keys and sunglasses. Mail and school stuff got sorted on top. Still, there was always an explosion of stuff as there is with families, so I got to having the kids dump their bulkier stuff (guitar case, gym bags, boots) behind the sofa in the space under the windows. You could see the mess when you entered the house, but couldn't see it while in the house, and that made me happy.
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