13 Jun 2013
BEFORE & AFTER: Entryway & Dining Room
If having to hop, scoot and push your way through your home’s front entry doesn’t make you feel welcome, imagine how guests must feel. Keep things organized and your entryway will scream, “Welcome! Take off your shoes, stay a while.”
BEFORE
1. The Catchall: Many entryways quickly turn into the home’s dumping ground. A catchall for shopping bags, sports gear, clothes, mail. Once you, or your, guests see the mess, you won’t get past it. Literally and figuratively.
2. Mad Mail: A common bad habit is dropping mail on top of the first flat surface inside a home. Pretty soon, people find themselves under piles of bills, junk mail and magazines. Imagine all the love letters lost under your mail mountain.
3. The Other Closet: In just a few seconds, anyone can easily take off his or her coat and hang it in the entry closet. Why do so many people skip this step and opt for tossing a coat on a table, floor or doorknob? I’m not sure. I just know I’ve seen my fair share of entryways taking on the role of “messy closet.”
AFTER
1. Clean & Clear: As the first impression your home makes, you need to keep entryways tidy and welcoming. Put shopping away, store sports gear, have a designated area for keys. Spruce things up with a pretty flower arrangement. Ahhh. Doesn’t that feel nicer already?
2. Gone Mail, Gone: In O.C.D. territory, there is no need to create an area to keep mail. Mail should be sorted, filed or thrown out immediately. Not only will this declutter your entrance, it will also save you hours of sorting it later.
3. Put a Jacket on It: Hang jackets, coats and scarves in the entry closet as soon as you get home. If your home doesn’t have one, create an area for outwear to be kept by placing a coat rack near the door or installing decorative hooks.
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