Your Home Entrance can be a clean, organized active storage location that works for you.  Set yourself up for success by following these easy strategies–no matter what kind of space you have–it can be the space of your storage dreams. 

Organize the area you use most.

First, figure out which entrance realistically makes the most sense for your Home Entrance. If you use the front door, keep your items there.  If you come through the back door or from the garage, it makes more sense to keep your storage items there.  Then decide exactly what will be stored in your Home Entrance.  You should only store items that you actively use in this area, this will help keep the space useful and clutter-free.

Keep a “Remember Pile.”

You have a much better chance to remember everything if you set your items in your Home Entrance.  Library Books to exchange? Movies to return? Coupons to use? You can grab everything you need easily if you keep it in plain sight in your Home Entrance.  Set a special place for these items in the Home Entrance or stack them on top of the stuff you’ll be using the next day.  This simple change will make it possible to never forget anything again!

Give Everyone Their Own Space.

It’s important for each person in the house to have their own space to put everything.  This encourages them to put their items back where they belong each time.  Our family uses the sides of this storage unit for the kids shoes & socks.  The middle areas store our shoes/slippers, extra keys, and workout gear–items that we use on a regular basis.

Put everything in its place.

By keeping a designated spot for everything in your Home Entrance, you make it easier for the space to be usable all the time.  And these storage spaces can change based on the seasons and your needs, that’s the great thing about active storage.  We always keep our sneakers in the Home Entrance storage, but we shift many of the other items–like slippers or flip flops–based on the time of year. 

Kids-Stuff Storage.

This may be the best tip yet: Keep kids’ items, especially shoes and socks, at the Home Entrance.  When kids learn to put their items away regularly, they can always find their basics.  And by keeping shoes at the front entrance, your house will stay significantly cleaner.  We also have our kids store their school and daycare items at the Home Entrance, helping us to ensure they’re always prepared for their day.

Clever storage for occasional items.

Our front entrance closet holds all of our coats, sports gear and weather gear.  We shift the items around based on the seasons.  There are a few items that we need access to all year, even if they’re not in season–like the kids’ life jackets–and keeping them accessible, but out-of-the-way, makes it easy to store them.  We also keep large tubs in the back corner (hidden behind the coats) for more storage.

Use Hidden Storage Wisely.

We’ve got a small amount of hidden storage in our Home Entrance and we use it for items we regularly need, but don’t want on display.  Consider using your hidden storage to keep plastic bags, travel items and occasional items.

When everything comes together, your days will be much easier and you’ll begin to enjoy your first minutes home as much as you should!