How to Live Well- The Entryway

I would love to have a butler that takes care of everything for me the minute I walk through the door... but seeing as how I don't (have a butler, that is), it is important that I maintain our entryway in order to live well.

Our entryway is a bit funny. It is a small landing with a staircase leading up and a staircase leading down (we live in a three story town house). It is not an ideal entryway (especially compared to the standards of feng shui) and it will be quite cramped once the stroller arrives, but I look at it as a challenge that I am willing to work with!

The key points for having an entryway that allow you to live well are as follows:

It is ideal to have…

A place to keep your shoes, if you take them off when you enter your home (which I do). The key here is to only have one pair of shoes by the entryway, not 5- which I do admit, is a problem for me. I am working on it…

A place to put your handbag and/ or keys, wallet and cell phones- preferably out of sight. I just don’t like looking at these things as I walk through the house. We struggle with this as well. I am constantly frowning at the large cacophony of ‘things’ on our sideboard table. I have rectified this by placing a basket in the hall closet where these items can easily be placed.

A clutter-free closet that can be used as place to hang your coat (only the day’s coat, not an entire storage room for all coats) with a few empty hangers for when guests visit. This closet also can hold dog leashes, extra shoes and can be where you store your handbag du jour.

A place to store your mail. I used to be in the alarming habit of collecting the mail, placing it on the dining room table and allowing it to pile up until some unforeseen day where I decided to sort through it. Now I sort through it immediately upon entering the house, recycle the junk, get rid of envelopes and bring the important letters or bills to my office.

A table with a few pictures of family and friends. Make sure these are family and friends that you actually like- looking at them will hopefully brighten your mood and remind you warmly, that you are home…

A potted plant, orchid or bouquet of flowers- something to remind you that your home is a place to thrive…

C’est tout! I don’t ask much of my entryway. It must be efficient and uncluttered. Ours is a work in progress.

I would love to know… what is your entryway like?

The basket pictured above is very handy for placing such items as wallets, sunglasses and keys etc. We keep ours in a hall closet.