31 Days to a Less Messy Cottage- Day 6

http://www.mysimplerlife.com/blog/steps-to-organizing-and-decluttering-the-entry-way

Todays topic will be............
   drum roll..............





























THE ENTRY WAY

We have talked about the first room that people see and how great it is to start there because inevitably......someone will end up stopping by and seeing the messy part of the house you haven't gotten to yet.   What I am talking about is a drop off station near the door that you use most often.  That could be the back door,  side door or front.  No matter how small your space is you can create a welcoming place to put your family's belongings for leaving and coming.

We use our front door most often.  I used to have an old dresser in back of the door so that we could have a place to put our things.  But it was so bulky and not very welcoming!
So I sold it and was determined to put a bench there!
I am all about doing things for free or very little so I came up with the idea to build a bench out of an old table that was too small for us to use.  I had the table dismantled when my husband came to my rescue.  I think he felt sorry for me because he told me to go in the house and to let the boys take care of it :)
So my husband and three of my boys built me a bench in one afternoon.....and to boot a work bench for my little boys to build on.  (They have an obsession with hammers, nails, screws, and screwdrivers.)

My bench has been sitting there with junk piled on it for a couple of months now while I am STILL doing the front room re-do.  So I decided to paint it today and hang up the nifty hooks from IKEA that we bought over two months ago.  I also wanted a place for shoes, boots, hats, coats, and gloves.  So I had in my mind some cute metal buckets with numbers on them for each of my kids.  I couldn't find the buckets I liked for almost free so I came up with the idea to use empty food storage containers.
I knew one day they would be good for something so I hung onto them!
Can you say FREE!!......
                 My favorite word!!!
I also shopped my house and found a basket not really being utilized that happened to FIT RIGHT UNDER MY BENCH...YAY!  So that is where we put our shoes when we walk in the house.  I also have a place for homework or papers that need to be signed by me.  Once the kids walk in the door those papers end up in nowhere land when we need them.  This has proven to keep me mostly out of trouble with the kids teachers :)

Another thing that we need a place for is our KEYS!  Anyone who knows me can vouch for me when I say I have "lost" my keys a million times either locking myself out of the house because I thought they were in my purse or in the car?   Nevermind.
We also have room for an entry table with drawers that I stash my keys in now.
Here are some simple ideas for a "mudroom" by the door.

Here is the link to build this if you are feeling adventurous!
http://ana-white.com/2009/12/plan-brady-entryway-open-bench-2.html

Those are dishracks from IKEA.  Love it!


Stay tuned today for a picture of my finished "mudroom"!  It's about time!