Living in a small home #3

Entryway, before (click to enlarge):
Don't you love the built-in mirror over the piano? Must have been an eighties thing (when this house was built). There's also a floor-to-ceiling three-paneled mirror plastered to the wall in our bedroom. You don't know what a temptation it has been for me to take a sledgehammer to them...so it's probably a good thing I don't own a sledgehammer:o)

One thing I've tried to do as I set up our home is determine what my clutter problem-areas are and figure out an inexpensive solution for dealing with them. My biggest trial has been (and still is) paper clutter...mail being a big one. To help with this, I have a white "mail in-box" (see above) right by the front door to collect mail until I have a chance to deal with it. I must admit that I still let it spill over and pile up on top of the piano now and then, but as long as I deal with it daily or even every few days this doesn't happen (and this makes me happy:o) I also had (and still have) a small glass bowl for keys and a decorative wood organizer-box for out-going mail and other little misc. things we don't want to forget sitting right beside the front door. (BTW, Ross is the BEST place to find inexpensive wood organizer type thingies!)

But, alas, we were still encountering "the floating coat problem". Since our coat closet is the only place we have to store the vaccuum and cleaning supplies (there is no utility room or closet in our house--the washer and dryer are in the garage), and we're sometimes (Ok...usually...always) too lazy to take our coats all the way to our bedroom closet when we remove them, I installed the following shelf/hook rack:
It may not be ideal, but it works! And they coats look better there than sitting on my couch. (I also took down the set of three EMPTY picture frames that have been hanging by the front door for 2 1/2 years waiting for pictures, and moved my crosses there instead. Phew...that's better!:o) The key bowl and organizer-box I mentioned live on the little white round table. Handy.