51: Tips for Keeping Your Entryway Space Tidy and Serene
This week, we are diving into the world of entryways and how keeping them tidy and organized can make a big impact on your daily life. We share 7 tips on maintaining clutter-free entryways, from understanding how you use the space to personalizing it to fit your needs. These tips will help you transform your entryway into a tranquil and organized space. Stay tuned and get ready to make your entryway a welcoming and clutter-free space.
In this episode we talk about:
- The significance of maintaining a tidy entryway
- How to identify your pain points
- Storage solutions for entryways
Mentioned in this Episode:
Cherish & Declutter 2024 Workshops, Tackling Family Heirloom Clutter
12 practical workshops designed to help you
- Manage your heirloom & collectible items
- Prevent them from cluttering your life
- Get the most value out of your items
- Make informed decisions
https://organizedandproductive.com/2024workshops
Episode 001: 7 Steps to Organizing (almost) Anything
https://theorganizedflamingo.com/7-steps-to-organizing/
Download your FREE “Should you Keep It or Toss It?” decision tree https://organizedandproductive.com/keeportoss
—
The Organized & Productive podcast is brought to you by The Organized Flamingo and hosted by Stephanie Y. Deininger! For those of you who love the thought of organizing & being more productive, but don’t know where to start or constantly up against hurdles that don’t let you advance the way you want to, this podcast is for you!
Review full show notes and resources at https://theorganizedflamingo.com/podcast
Join our weekly email newsletter for all-things organizing & productivity delivered right to your inbox https://theorganizedflamingo.com/quicklinks
Review the Transcript:
Stephanie Y. Deininger [00:00:00]:
Welcome, friends, to The Organized and Productive podcast. And in fitting nature with the welcoming, We are talking all about entryways today and or the entry to any space, any room, and or a house, and how to keep it tidy, some tips on that space, and why it's so important to keep it organized. So let's get to it. Welcome to the Organized and productive podcast with the organized flamingo. I'm your host, Stephanie, a professional organizer and productivity expert. Ready to explore the right organizing and productivity solutions for you? Yeah? Well, then let's go. Well, I'm So glad that you're here. I will try to keep the punny entryway jokes to a minimum.
Stephanie Y. Deininger [00:00:48]:
Okay? I promise. I might have 1 or 2 more up my sleeve, but it's just so fitting to be saying welcoming and as we're talking about this topic. And it's also very fitting that this podcast, this episode, is airing at the beginning of January, which is also, you know, it and of is like the entryway of the year. January is the beginning of new things. So I think it all just relates. So if you're listening to it live, It's probably the beginning of the year, or when it aired. And if you're not, that is okay. Just know that we are talking about entryways, And this is a very fitting conversation and tips that can be related to your entryway.
Stephanie Y. Deininger [00:01:30]:
Yes. But also kind of like the the entry to any space. So it could be your home. It could be the room. It could be any of those types of spaces where you naturally come in and out of. So that's what we're talking about today. Okay. So in typical fashion, I give you a little bit of a table of contents feel so that you know what's coming in the episode.
Stephanie Y. Deininger [00:01:49]:
Today, I'm gonna give you some tips on how to sustain that area so that it's clutter free, so that it doesn't become so overwhelming. Because here's the thing, the entryway and or the exit way. Usually, it's the same, may not always be, but we are treating it as one of the same for this conversation because those are the areas that are not changing. Therefore, you have to work around it. Like, this is not like a desk The you can move around. This is, For the most part, a permanent area that you're coming in and out of for the space. So unless you're redesigning that space, which is an entirely different conversation, that entryway area is there to stay, and you have to work around it. So when it comes to areas that are very permanent like that, you have limited, you you're a little bit more limited with what you can do with it.
Stephanie Y. Deininger [00:02:42]:
Right? I mean, the possibilities are not as endless as the creativeness that you can get to in other parts of your room or space. And so when you're working with spaces like that, you really need to think about how do you naturally what do you naturally do when you come in and out of the room, and how do you utilize that entryway that is so permanent. So we'll talk I'm gonna give you some tips on that. There's about 7 tips that I'm gonna give you and just how to just how to maintain that area, how to avoid it getting cluttered so fast, and making sure that that is a space that gives you tranquility because that is the 1st place that you're entering in, and that is also the last place when you leave. Okay. So first things first is understanding how you utilize the entryway and what that means. And if you're following our 7 steps of organizing almost anything, this is this aligns with step 1, which is assessing the space you are about to organize. And if, we have the show notes to our 7 steps of organizing almost anything, which is our general framework here at The Organize Flamingo.
Stephanie Y. Deininger [00:03:51]:
And so if you're assessing that area, it means asking yourself questions like, how often do I go on here? What do I normally drop off? How do I utilize it in my natural behavior? Not the way that you intend to or want to. This is truly an area because these are the areas where you're usually maybe in a rush or you're you have a lot of things on you. You know, you're carrying a lot of things to take into your car, to leave your apartment. And so This is one of those spaces where creativity goes a long way. But the natural way that you use The space should take precedence over how you would ideally want it to look like. And sometimes they will be the same, and, hopefully, they both will merge. Your inspiration and your creativity will align with how you naturally use The space. But, sometimes, those are 2 very different things.
Stephanie Y. Deininger [00:04:45]:
If you have a family that you're you know, other people need to utilize that space and you need a lot of room to come in and out and you live in a smaller entryway space, you will have limited things that you can do in that area. So this is where be honest with yourself and assess how do I use this entryway. How do I am I normally is this the way that I normally go out to go to the garage, into my car? Or is this the way that goes out immediately to the street or to the front door or to the sidewalk? So think about your natural tendencies. And within this tip, what I'm gonna have you do is is write it down. Some people will, what we'll do with them is we'll do, like, sticky notes. Like, this is the area where I naturally will put my keys down, where I would put my gym bag on, where, when I'm leaving, this is the area that gets the most frustrated because there's always something here. And so we usually will do, like, a little sticky note situation to note how it is that I'm using or how you, in this case, you're using The space. So that's my number and tip.
Stephanie Y. Deininger [00:05:52]:
How do you use this area and then sticky note it or label it and so that you know where things are supposed to be as we segue into tip number 2. My tip number 2 on The process would be, okay, now ask yourself, what are your pain points? So you have assessed how you utilize that space. You know, how you normally come in, where you come in, where you put your stuff down, how you naturally navigate through the area. And so for the 2nd tip is figure out what your pain points are. What really annoys you? What gets in the way? What are the things that you really want to fix and categorize them or prioritize The? Because the space will probably only tackle 1 or 1, 2, maybe 3 of your pain points. Hopefully, we can get through all of your pain points. But because of The, again, the nature of this very permanent space, you will have less options on getting creative. Like, you can't really move the entire entryway very easily unless you redesign.
Stephanie Y. Deininger [00:06:59]:
So you're starting to get limited on this permanent space. So this is where I want you to just at least categorize them of priority. What would make you feel the best if this was if this problem was solved? This next tip is all about, figuring out what your end goal is. So it's not just the pain points now. Now it's following our steps, you know, through 2 through 5 of our 5 or 7 steps of organizing almost anything, meaning, is your priority to downsize? Like, you're just trying to get rid of stuff, declutter? Are you trying to find a new design and inspiration because you just feel very stagnant in the place? Is maybe your family changing, the dynamic of your living situation changing. And, therefore, what you had before is no longer working. So This tip is all about find out the end goal of this. So this will guide you to picking out some of the the items, how you will be redesigning this space, how will you be organizing it going forward.
Stephanie Y. Deininger [00:08:02]:
Okay. This next step is probably the most Fun for many of you, especially you DIYers, those of you who are very visual, creative. This is super fun, and this is personalizing personalizing the entryway in the area to how you want it to be according to what we just talked about in the first three tips that I gave you. This section is full of many options. Right? You can go all over the place. So I'm gonna give you a couple just to narrow down. If you have a small entryway or narrow and or narrow type of entryway, the kind that immediately goes to the street, maybe, or immediately, when you open it up, you're there, like, in your living room. Right? Like, it's there's not a big gap between, like, a hallway or a big entryway area or staging area to get to the next room.
Stephanie Y. Deininger [00:08:49]:
So if you have a narrow and or small space, think about going vertical. I always talk about The, especially in very awkward spaces. Think about, is there something like a hanging basket that you can like, you know, the plug type of the plant type of hanging baskets that you can incorporate so that you can put maybe your mittens in there if you live in the cold weather or your scarf or whatever it is that you immediately drop off. So think vertically. Then the next thing I'm going to tell you if you have a very small entryway is think about what can you hang from a wall or can you bring in a rack, like a a rolling type of wall, like a movable rack wall. Sometimes they're 1 piece and sometimes they're they have more like a rack type of rod system. Can that be the place that is immediately in that area so you can quickly hang the items and then roll it out of the way as soon as you come in. Basically, it's your way of when you come in, just making sure you have a place to put all this stuff and then moving it so that it's out of the way for your everyday living.
Stephanie Y. Deininger [00:09:59]:
So that's just a couple of bonus tips I'm giving you here for small, and or awkward type of spaces. If you do have more room in the entryway or staging areas. This is where picking your favorite type of table or baskets in the front is going to be very helpful. This, is especially true for shoes or anything that you take off, that needs to be kind of in the bottom of something. So it's your table. Everybody thinks about, oh, okay. Well, you can put, like, a bowl where your mail goes or a bowl for where your keys goes. Okay.
Stephanie Y. Deininger [00:10:33]:
That's wonderful on a counter space. But don't forget about the bottom part, where where where are you taking off your shoes? Are people just throwing them everywhere? Okay, so that staging area, you can also incorporate the table with the bottom or maybe a cabinet or maybe some kind of shelving area where people will put their shoes in there. So that way, it's you know, there's a home for everything, basically. This is the part, like, entryway in general. This is the type of area where if you have a lot of guests that are coming in and out, Let's say you have different roommates, and they have their own visitors. Maybe you have a large, you know, family or the dynamic of where you live it means that you have a lot of people coming in and out. Maybe you have a lot of parties or entertaining or whatever it may be. If you are one of those people in households, then don't forget that that The entryway is a perfect place to label instructions, label your Wi Fi password.
Stephanie Y. Deininger [00:11:33]:
Whatever it is that you want to tell your guest The entryway is a great place to do it so that they know where things go. Also, if for small, small children or really big children too, but and children, so they know where their specific area is, where they hang their coats maybe, where they put their shoes, their backpacks, etcetera, etcetera. So think about labeling the entryway so that people outside of who of you know where to put things away as well and where things go. And for this last tip, it's all about maintaining and making sure that you're constantly evaluating that place. Don't overthink it. The overthink it. This this is not a report card type of situation. In our 7 steps of organizing almost anything.
Stephanie Y. Deininger [00:12:22]:
I talk about some easy ways for you to create a system for when you're maintaining this area. The thing about entryways entry and exit ways is that if they are not kept up with, maintained, The it starts to creep out, so so, like, outside of that area. Meaning, like, it just starts to spill over to the rest of the room. I'm sure many of you can relate to this. I mean, if you're visualizing, if you're a visual person, think of it as an overflow of, like, a water or a cup that you just keep putting stuff there and you're not maintaining it and cleaning it out. It's just overflowing to other parts of the room. And that's when clutter really starts to become a problem. It's hard to maintain, and it just spills over to other places of the house.
Stephanie Y. Deininger [00:13:07]:
And so the entryway is a very easy place that that gets It's a problem area that gets to that place because that is one of the most frequented places. You you need to come in and out. So that is one of those places that you can't really ignore. And so if you're not keeping up with it, it can become a problem for the other parts of your house. So a very important place to organize and keep up with. Okay. So there we have it. Thank you for walking in to this conversation.
Stephanie Y. Deininger [00:13:38]:
Okay. I Productive. That's done. That's my last entryway joke or pun. Thanks for joining the conversation today. If you need a little bit of assistance with figuring out what to keep, what to toss. We have a keep it or toss it decision guide in the show notes, which you can download for free, and that might help a little bit with figuring out, okay, you know, the problem spots of things that you're having a hard time letting go of in spaces like The entryway. Also, if you are brand new to the this podcast, we have our new 2024 workshops that have been introduced.
Stephanie Y. Deininger [00:14:13]:
Every month, we have a different workshop. Some of them are online. Some of them are in person here in Colorado. Take a look. The website is in our show notes if that is something of interest. If you want to take your organizing to another level. If you need a little bit more assistance, but yet you wanna do it yourself, the workshops are perfect for that. So take a look at The, and, also, don't forget to tag us.
Stephanie Y. Deininger [00:14:36]:
If you decide to declutter your entryway, organize it, redo it a little bit, let us know, tag us. I would love to cheer you on. Have a wonderful day, and happy organizing. Thank you for listening to the Organized and Productive podcast with The Organized Flamingo. If you enjoyed today's episode, I would love it if you'd leave a rating and review on your favorite podcast player. It helps with letting people know that we're here. For full show notes and resources, head on over to the Organized flamingo.com/podcast. Happy organizing.