For your family, the entryway or foyer of your home might be little more than a portal they pass through. If the season is right there might be a few coats hanging there and it’s the place where they are required to take off their shoes.
Though for the guests who visit your home the foyer is an introduction to you, your family, and your way of life. Infusing it with your style is always a nice touch and something that everyone will appreciate. Though even the most esthetically pleasing foyer can fall flat if it is clogged with the coats and detritus left behind by kids and pets.
Fortunately, with some creative thinking and perhaps a few special pieces of furniture, you can transform your foyer into a place that has the functional storage your family truly needs, as well as a place that offers an artistic and friendly hello to your guests. This starts with a foyer storage bench.
A Functional Storage Bench With Discrete Storage
A bench in the foyer plays an important role in giving people a place to sit. It’s especially important if you have a family member or a frequent guest who needs to be able to sit down comfortably for tying their shoes.
If you want to give a place for the shoes to be stored, but you don’t like the look of shoes sitting out as a visual sore thumb, you might want to try looking for a sturdy foyer bench with storage built into it. Even if you can’t one with an opening storage door or compartment, you could improvise a heavy-duty wicker basket. This has a tasteful look, that still lets people find their shoes when they need them, without them sticking out like an eyesore.
Repurposing A Trunk As Bench Seating & Storage
Old steamer chests and similar robust storage footlockers have a distinct look to them. Many were originally reinforced to handle stacking or in the case of a military footlocker, for supporting a soldier while tying up their boots.
This also means that they are robust enough to support the weight of a person sitting on them. Yet the inside can still serve as functional storage. You can easily paint the exterior wood and metal hardware to match your entryway’s existing styling cues.
Of course, the inside of the steamer trunk or footlocker need not be an ad hoc disorganized bin of dirty shoes and dog leashes. With the addition of a few simple wood or plastic dividers, you can make a place for each person and pet’s things. Family members can quickly take their personal shoes out of the trunk and then sit on it to tie their shoes.
Give Each Family Member Their Own Cubby Space
Cubbies aren’t just for preschools and gym classes anymore. Today the modern concept of a cubby space has evolved to become a functional and arguably fashionable storage space that individuals can customize to their unique needs.
Cubbies can be just about any size. Smaller cubbies near the floor provide an easy place to store shoes away where you can see the back or heels, without the entire shoemaking its own visual statement. You might also want to consider installing tall cubies with adjustable shelves. This lets family members set them up to hang coats, scarves, and other tall items while storing shoes and other footwear items below.
A bench can then be installed along the front of the individual cubby banks. This gives everyone a functional place to sit for putting on and taking off shoes, while also helping to keep the rest of their outdoor items organized.
A Tasteful Storage Tote For Pet Items & Outdoor Toys
Pet items like dirty balls, yard toys, and leashes can make your entryway look ugly despite your best attempts to keep shoes and coats properly organized. Not to mention some soiled items might be perfectly acceptable to your pet’s standards, but still, end up smelling like the inside of an old gym shoe. A simple sealable tote bin gives you a place to put balls, pet toys, and leashes.
Of course, this same concept also applies to outdoor toys. Kids love to keep their favorite balls and lawn games near the door. This is certainly better than a dirty old ball sitting in their room. Giving the kids their separate sealable tote to put their dirty old kickball or other outdoor gear keeps it near the door, where they can grab it without tracking into their room. Yet it also prevents them from tracking back to the bedroom to get it.
If you have both pets and kids with outdoor gear, you might want to get a pair of heavy-duty stackable totes. You can label one for Fido’s things and another for your children’s favorite outdoor items.
Displaying Wall Art For Visual Distinction
There are some times when your small entryway just doesn’t provide you with the functional space you need to properly store all the shoes and other items out of plain sight. This doesn’t mean that your foyer is doomed to years of ugly shoes being the first thing that greets your guests.
Hanging wall art of other visual distractions in the entryway to keep guest’s eyes from focusing on shoes, coats, and pet items. Even something as simple as a mirror can serve as a great visual distraction, while also giving you a functional way to double-check how you look right before heating out of the house.
Conclusion
Just because your home isn’t blessed with a cavernous, giant entryway doesn’t mean it has to be boring and plain. With a little creativity, you can bring out the esthetic value of your foyer to greet friends and family who visit with your own style. Infusing your entryway with smart storage solutions and making use of the available visual cues helps keep things looking clean, without sacrificing the overall functionality that you and your family need.
