6 things that always make entryways look cluttered – and how to streamline like a pro

A well-organized entryway sets the tone for the rest of the home. If you walk into clutter and mess, there is a good chance the rest of your home will end up the same.

No matter how much we tidy and edit, however, there are some things that always make an entryway look cluttered. Luckily, they are usually easy to fix, making maintaining a good first impression a little easier.

I spoke to professional home organizers for their decluttering tips and they suggested tacking these six key spots.

6 things that always make an entryway look cluttered

A lot of clutter in this space stems from common entryway storage mistakes –usually not having enough, or using the wrong types. Here’s how the pros fix them for a functional space.

1. Open coat racks

Organizing coats can be tricky given how bulky they can be. They need to be in an easy-to-reach spot, but they should also be tucked out of sight to reduce visual over-stimulation and mess.

Tina Montemayor, interior designer and owner of Tina Montemayor Design in Oakland, CA says, ‘Coat racks and wall hooks should only be used to set wet weather items to dry off and then stored away or as easy storage for your guests. If you have the habit of leaving coats on it, it just piles up and gets out of control.’

2. Key bowls

One thing the most organized people have in their entryways is somewhere to store keys so they do not get lost. Tina Montemayor, interior designer warns against using open key bowls for this, however.

She explains, ‘A decorative bowl or catch-all for keys and mail can easily get out of control so I like to opt for closed key storage, like this Faraday signal blocker from Amazon in a handsome leather that doubles as an anti-theft device from Amazon.’

3. Too much decor

We all want to make an entryway look more luxurious, but there is such a thing as going too far with your entryway ideas.

Tina Montemayor, interior designer, continues, ‘One key visual that feels special, whether a painting or a photo of your favorite vacation (better yet a close up/abstract of something from it), feels more refined than a gallery wall or collage of artwork. It just gives your eyes time to rest and settle in before making your way to the rest of the house, helping you to design a home that is soft on the senses.’

Cutting back on decor and artwork can make the space feel calmer, too, so your entryway feels less overstimulating.

4. Items you don’t use

The first entryway decluttering rule is to clear out all the items you do not use – and for good reason. It instantly helps to make an entryway look less cluttered.

Barbara Brock, professional organizer and stager, founder of Barbara Brock Inc., a professional organizing and home staging company says, ‘By organizing the entryway which includes the coat closet, editing out items which are old, not used, or in need of repair, you free up space for larger coats and boots.

‘Now is the time to look hard at your entryway closet and prioritize what you like to wear in terms of outerwear and accessories, what you need, and what you haven’t worn in ages. Someone else can use clothing that you don’t need. So weed, weed, weed your closet.’

5. Unsorted mail

Mail piling up in an entryway is a common cause of visual clutter. To try and limit this, find smart ways to organize paperwork at home, such as having a cubby system to organize mail among household members.

It is also a good idea to go paperless wherever you can. A lot of banks, for instance, will offer paperless statements to reduce how much physical junk you have to sift through each month.

6. An abundance of bags

We are all for collecting and storing tote bags for reuse to limit waste, but there is such a thing as too many.

Barbara Brock, professional organizer says, 'Totes, fabric bags, or paper bags that have been collected throughout the seasons to carry items seem to collect in multitudes and often are just tossed in the entryway closet. By sorting through them, I can determine the different sizes and materials and eliminate what I don’t need.’

Dealing with these clutter magnets in an entryway will only do so much insofar as stopping mess, however, reminds Tina Montemayor, interior designer.

She says, ‘Before you go out and purchase a new storage bench or coat rack, it’s important to consider this one thing to set you up for success: changing habits. If you adopt the one-touch rule, for instance, your entryway will take on an entirely new experience.

'In essence, it’s putting things such as coats, shoes, mail, keys, and bags away in their permanent location rather than setting them down so you don’t have to touch or think about them again until your next need arises.'