A Happy and Organized Entry

Once upon a time we had an entry that looked like this....

Ugh.  It was awful and had zero function.  It took me years of living in our home before I did anything with the space.  Years.  It was such a tricky spot to problem solve since it opens up right into our living room and there is such a small landing!  Anything too bulky and you wouldn't be able to safely move past it.  Yet, doing nothing at all would cause for unnecessary piles or an absolutely sparse and lonely space.

Then, back in April, I gave you a little glimpse of our solution for our shoe storage and for that wall!

We found the shoe storage unit at Ikea and decided the investment was worth every penny since we had gone years without any solution, and wanted something that was going to last through the rest of our time in this house.

We have been loving our new shoe storage since the day it was installed.  It's fantastic and has done everything and more to keep our entry uber tidy and organized.  And many of you have been asking to take a peek inside that little drawer.  Or asking questions about how we organize our entry in general.  So I thought I would share some of the updates we have made since I last showed the piece.

First I thought I would show you how the shoe cubbies and drawer open, still leaving plenty of room to navigate around the space:

We keep the adult shoes on top, kiddos on the bottom:

On the top of the shelf, I keep a cup full of markers so the kid's can feel free to color whenever the mood strikes.  And a small bowl for us to toss our change.  And a $1 melamine tray for our keys.

I used my Silhouette to create fun "His" and "Hers" labels on the tray with vinyl.

Inside the drawer, I also used my Silhouette to cut a paw print and place it on the inside of a shallow white bowl:

That's our way of labeling where the dog leash goes!

That adorable yellow drawer liner was actually already part of the drawer unit when we purchased it!  Such a win, one less step for me to do!

We use the drawer to hold the dog leash, extra flashlights, sunglasses, my coupon envelope and small bins of chalk and batteries.

Next to the shoe stand, I popped in my new bucket I found at the Junk Bonanza, to hold the kiddo's umbrellas:

All of the changes we have been making to get our entry in organized shape have really worked well for us!  We really couldn't be happier with how far it has come!

Anyone else have awesome small entry way storage solutions that have worked for you?