Entryways can be a bit of a forgotten area when it comes to decorating, but it’s the first impression that visitors get of your home, so it’s worth the time to make sure it feels welcoming (and cohesive) with the rest of your home design.
And when you add some sneaky (and stylish!) organizational elements to the area, it becomes a highly functional space as well rather than just a pass through.
When we moved into this house last fall, the entryway had a tile floor that was breaking away from the underfloor beneath it, a bifold closet door that was too tall for the closet opening (so they just leaned it against the door), and lighting fixtures and hardware that were very dated (and mismatched!). So the space really felt like it needed some cohesion and purpose.
Since the space is directly next to our dining room and living area, I wanted to make sure the colors and feel of the entryway also flowed into those rooms as well and gave a little preview of the rest of the house.
I thought about doing a fun wallpaper (like Elsie did in her entryway), but I ended up with a solid color paint choice (for now anyway!).
The earlier space had outdated fixtures, mismatched switch plates, a broken closet door, and just needed an overall tuneup to feel fresh. We added a new sputnik light fixture and a more modern brass entryway doorknob set along with a coat of paint for the front door (Bubble Shell by Behr) and painted the walls a soft pink (Soft Stone by Valspar).
Besides the paint, the biggest change came when we took out the poorly installed tile that was coming up on its own (you can even see in the before photo how they don’t line up flat with each other) and added in a white oak floor instead. It took a ton of extra time as we ran into a bunch of problems, but it’s so pretty and we love it.
Having that organizational wall shelf with hooks is one of my favorite things in the space! It’s big enough to keep a letter holder for mail (I love this marble and gold one), a planter that I use to hold sunglasses, a small dish for loose keys, and anything else I want to keep near the door.
And, the hooks on the bottom are perfect for hanging hats and purses as well. Here’s a smaller (and more budget-friendly) version and I love this gold and white hook rack if you just want hooks or don’t have a full coat closet for coats.
We still love and use the mid-century modern IKEA kitchen that I made over for Lola when she was little. It looks so cute under the shelf and I feel like it’s the first thing that kids go to when they come into the house since it’s in the entryway—it lets them know this is a kid house and we’ve got fun things to play with!
Reasons to focus on styling and organizing your entryway:
- It’s the “first impression” to your home. Let the style give a preview of what to expect in the rest of the house.
- It’s the perfect area to organize items related to leaving/entering the home (shoes, mail, keys, etc.).
- It can also serve as a miscellaneous storage area for items that don’t relate to other specific parts of the home (i.e., “junk drawers” or lesser used items).
I finally framed the watercolor painting that Lola made with my mom soon after we moved into this home. I know I have favorite pieces of art I made when I was little and I think this is going to be one of her most special ones. It makes me so happy!
While getting an actual door on our closet (nine months after moving in) was a big deal, it felt so good to rebuild the shelves in the closet and add a new rod to make the space more functional as well.
Getting a shoe rack was super helpful (I also like this wood one and this white version) and lots of containers to store things like gift wrap, outdoor supplies, and baskets to hold more random home things like extension cords was super helpful.
I love these wire mesh baskets that come in all sizes and these pink and white boxes as well. Don’t forget to use your label maker to label your boxes!
Want more closet organizing ideas? Check out these posts!
- Easy built-in closet DIY for any closet in your home
- How to hack a store-bought closet system to get the most out of a pre-built closet system
- Short on time? Reorganize your closet in one afternoon
This wall and corner was kind of a nothing space, but I wanted it to be a welcoming visual since it’s the wall that you see when you first open the door for visitors. We squared off and trimmed out that rounded entry into the dining room to match the rest of the throughways in the home and it made me feel so much better to have that lopsided kind-of-an-arch look symmetrical and finished.
I love this console table that we chose for the space, as it’s slim enough to not take up a ton of space but the top is perfect for holding trays for loose items (like a brass tray or brass platter and hand dish) and some plants and decorative items. How cute is that pink princess phone!?
The four drawers are also a great spot for some miscellaneous organization as we have our “junk drawer” in one of them (everyone has that drawer with pens/tools/calculators/stamps and whatnot, right?).
And the rest have things like cloth napkins or clean masks that I want to keep near the door (hopefully, I won’t need those forever though!). This is a pretty wood console table if you wanted something a little simpler.
I love a brass hanging planter in just about every room and that “Ooh La La” print makes me feel like I always have a bit of Paris around the house.
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I love that I have shelves, drawers, hooks, a hanging rod, racks, and bins to keep our entryway organized and feeling neat as we come in and out of our space.
I feel like this is such a welcoming and fresh way to say hello to visitors, and I like that I can decorate the console table area seasonally as well to add some holiday cheer to the front of our home.
You can see the rest of my home tours to see how I’ve made over all my other spaces so far! The hallway is another area that people can forget about but I love how my hallway makeover came out!
omg i kept being surprised by each following section. soooo much space / as a person with no entryway – jealous yet inspired to finally tackle my 3 ft entryways – i’ve delayed it for far too long and it’s the perfect ‘start small’ step. ps. i love love love all the plants! are they faux? (they don’t look it! 🙂
steph
https://tps-steph.blogspot.com/
Could you tell me where you purchased your flooring? It’s beautiful. We’re planning to install hardwood throughout our entire house, and I’ve settled on a white oak but am worried that the stain on what I found is too orange. Your color looks exactly like what I want, and the pressure to get it “right” (since it’s expensive and in the entire house!!) is killing me. Thank you!
It’s 5″ wide white oak planks from Baird Brothers in OH. We used Bona natural seal but I would really get someone who’s an expert in applying white stain/sealers….we didn’t have that and it caused incredible headaches trying to get it all good enough to live with. If you have a Bona store near you I would call and ask who they recommend for the stain color you want to use (that’s what ended up working best to fix our issues).
Good luck!
Laura
So cute, bright and happy!! What kind of plant is in the brass planter! I’ve loved it ever since it made a debut on the blog!
I know, I love them too! I’ve seen them labeled as a “fishbone” plant but that’s also what they call a ric rac cactus so I’m not sure the official name but they are so pretty!
Laura
Really pretty! Will you be adding a rug? How do you manage snow and rain when people come in? I’m in MN so it’s a must. Maybe other climates don’t need that?
Good question! We haven’t had a winter with our floors yet, but I will put out a little rug to set wet shoes on when that season comes by. I do have a little rug I’ve been using at times when it’s raining for days, but we need to get a smaller door sweep on the bottom of the door before we can keep one there all the time or it’s hard to open the door over the height of a rug, haha. So a full time rug is probably in our future but need to tweak the door a bit first 🙂
Laura
ALSO, we have a garage entry in the basement so planning on using that entry point in inclement weather as well to take off snow clothes etc. near the laundry area
Laura