As we move into the fall and then the winter with its coats and packages, a good landing strip increases in value as the key to a well-functioning home. It's a place to put things when you come in and a place to put things that you want to remember to take with you when you go out. We've learned that you don't need very much space to have one that works. While it's nice to have a small hallway to spread out in or a closet nearby, here's an example of how to make even the smallest of areas work effectively. Let's break it down.
- Hooks: Three attractive and well-placed hooks are ready to take your coat, handbag and umbrella and provide enough room to accommodate a few guest items as well. A leash, or a roomy bag for errands and groceries, hung here is easily accessible but still looks neat.
- Door mat: Winter weather often means wet weather. A green mat catches umbrella drips and wipes off dirty shoes and boots while the dark mat acts as a visual border to differentiate between the entry point and the rest of the home. It's a subtle detail but one we think is important and that underlines that this point is your barrier between your home and the outside world.
- Bowl neatly catches keys and pocket detritus. It's large enough for a cell phone and a few envelopes.
- Flat surface: (here the green surface next to the bowl) holds packages, the book you have to remember to return to the library or a shoe that needs a trip to the shoemaker for a new heel. The place mat, in bright green, acts as a visual spotlight and ties this space to the doorway.
- Vase of flowers: while not essential, acts as a bright smile to welcome you home. Try a single posy in a wall hanging vase if your space is limited.
- Art or Mirror by the front door: is pure pleasure. A piece of art or something whimsical here is like a little wave goodbye connecting you with your home and personalizes a functional space. You might also want to try a mirror here, as a last minute place to check your makeup or make sure you're not walking out the door with food in your teeth.
Think you don't have even this much space for a landing strip? Don't forget a space that many people overlook: the back of your door! Put up a hook or two, install a flip up or flip down shelf (a Wooly Pocket might be another way to go), put down a mat or paint a small square or rub down a fun decal on the floor and you're good to go.
Take a good look at your entry point. What can you do to up its effectiveness?
Image: Red Paper Record's Flickr, used with permission
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I would add a wastebasket right there in the entryway - Makes sorting the mail right into the garbage/recycling so much simpler than hauling it thru the house.
Do you have a coin or card-operated laundry in your building? Rather than stashing things elsewhere, it's best to keep those necessities right there in your entryway along with the detergents in the hall closet or cupboard. Might as well keep your spare-change jar there too so you can empty your pockets right there inside the door.
I also keep a drawer handy for the checkbook, spare credit cards, spare keys and the passport. Writing a rent check is easy when it's right there and the passport is handy - along with the wallet - if I need to get out of the house quickly in an emergency.
Pens, stamps and sticky notes always come in handy and a drawer in the entryway is the perfect place to keep these things (See above).
Finally - Good lighting is key.
How else will you check your appearance, enjoy your art or find anything if the room is dark?
mine is a work in progress, but a lamp is ESSENTIAL, as there is no lightswitch within a stumbling reach in the dark.
mirror, hooks and plant are there as well...just looking for a longer table to have more of a flat surface, and a place for the bowl. currently, the bowl is on the coffee table.
another piece i'm trying to incorporate is a magazine holder for the pesky newspapers my husband brings in (to complete the crosswords and read the comics).
A cubby or basket to keep shoes is handy. The first thing I do after I drop off my keys and my work bag is kick off my shoes.
This is not an essential for everyone, but I do not allow shoes in my house so I have a little bench by the front door so myself and guests can take off and put shoes on with ease, rather than bending over uncomfortably.
We have the red Ikea Skar by the front door. It is simply perfect. Hats, umbrellas, dog food, dog leashes, etc. http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/80141850
I'm finding it hard to accept "well-functioning." "Well" doesn't seem to belong with a present participle acting as an adjective. I can only think of present participles that are used with good, like "good-smelling." I realize "good-functioning" doesn't sound any better, though, and "well" seems to apply to most past participles. It's getting to me. Wouldn't "functioning" suffice? Or maybe "high-functioning"?
We have a hard time because of lack of space and short people (kids). We have used fabric boxes to catch kid shoes and lower hooks to hang jackets and backpacks.
@matchbookhymnal --
I think the word you're looking for to replace "well-functioning" is, simply, "functional".
bepsf-- "spare credit cards" "passport"???
Is because of those "spare credit cards" that you need to keep your "passport'' handy to leave the country??? ;)
I keep a dry erase board on my door. It allows me to write notes to myself so I don't forget things on the way out, espcially in the morning. Also, it can double as are when I, or my friends, are so inclined.
Argh, typo. It can double as *art*
I think a lamp is definitely important, or a light switch near the door. Otherwise, super cute and functional!
lunarismoon.blogspot.com
..."components of", not "components to".
I just bought my first home, and just the other day was thinking my living room needs something like this! I'm thinking of finding a vintage "hall tree" to do the trick:
http://www.ivgstores.com/IVG2/Y/ProductID-104976-.htm
http://www.fingerhut.com/ProductGroup.aspx?offergroupxid=110102&CTid=661&mr:trackingCode=787C08FC-28F6-DE11-9DA0-002219319097&mr:referralID=NA
(OT)
@matchbookhymnal
what about well-being? well-meaning?
This is such a timely post, I just bought some hooks to install in my tiny entryway! Thanks AT!
I have 3 hooks and a four foot wide wall. What do people think is good spacing for the hooks?
Closer together to look like a unit, or more spaced apart to take advanrache of the whole wall?
bepsf--
I'm surprised with your suggestions of a waste basket and drawers for stamps, pens, coins and other crap that belongs in the home office or elsewhere. No one wants to see all that junk when they enter or leave your home...
My entryway is very long and pretty narrow (only a door width wide). How should I use the space to make a proper landing strip without 1)Having a long hall full of hooks, benches, shelves and clutter or 2) One area with hooks then 10 feet of blank wall space.
Where are those gorgeous hooks from??
My entryway is my laundry room and is tiny. I've been contemplating how to turn it into my landing strip for months and months with no good solutions. We're military, so I am sure by the time I am able to come up with something we will be planning out next move.
Anyone else with a tiny laundry room entry way?
We do have a front door to our house, but because of the way the house sits on the corner everyone approaches it from behind and parks in the driveway and enters through the garage.
Maybe someone can offer me some advice? I am currently in a design stand-off with my husband about our 'landing strip'. Our apartment door opens to a tiny space of wall and then the hallway turns left to the rest of our place. Because it's small we would need something narrow, but would prefer it to be not visually cluttered. I also love hooks, but hubby says they look messy.
Should we go with a low table, a bookcase (like the one shown) or a floating shelf?
Any tips on how to keep the clutter down? Right now we have settled on a mat. and that's it. yep, time for a change!
Oh and our keys, cell phones etc currently land in a credenza drawer near our kitchen.
Big thanks to anyone who may have a solution!
thanks for the kind words about my entryway!
ee2485- the hooks are from Cost Plus World Market, I recently got them on clearance, but have seen similar ones at Anthropologie...
I also like having a drawer at the entry for checkbooks, etc. However, I am constantly debating the merit of having my bowl of keys and such right at the front door. I'm not really break in paranoid... just conscious.
How do others handle such concern?
No reflection on my visitors, but Heaven Forbid!
No way I'm keeping keys or checkbooks so easily accessed by anyone coming thru the door,(delivery people,etc.)
Besides, if I put my keys in my purse, I'll always know where they are.
My launching pad and landing strip are a tall bookcase, wrought iron 5-hook rack, and adjacent console. (Hooks are easier to clean around than hall trees.) They hold mail, discount coupons, and larger items in transit. They also house shade hats, umbrellas, leashes, flashlights, spare keys, and quarters. Unsightly or sensitive items are concealed in drawers, boxes, and lidded bowls. Some items that others have on their landing strips are in the bedrooms or office here, e.g., mirrors.
@juliadevi: Word-obsessed professor here. "Well-being and "well-meaning" are idiomatic terms whose spelling and usage have been long established by use. "Well-functioning", as it is used here, is a clumsy coinage (invented word) used in place of a much better established and more effective term. In writing, as in all things, masterful use of Occam's Razor and its related tools make for strong and effective results. Use words people already know.
Also, no less a person than Virginia Woolf said (repeatedly, I'm told) that "The present participle is the devil himself." "Functioning" is the present participle, and requires a modifier to make its meaning clear. "Functional " does the job in ten letters.
Yes, I know it's pathetic, but this is one of my areas of expertise. No, I'm not much fun at parties, but I can write you a resume that will get you through the door.
The "being" in "well-being" is a gerund, not a participle (you can tell because it's used as a noun-- usually the object of a prepositional phrase, like "feeling of well-being" or "state of well-being"). "Well-meaning" is a good example, though, of a present participle with "well." I would not describe it as an idiom.
I still think "functioning" or "functional" would have been a better choice.