With the beautiful weather we've been experiencing here in Chicago, you wouldn't know winter is on the way. Still, we're making room in our entryway for scarves, hats, mittens, and heavy coats to prepare for the day when the cold weather does hit. Below, we've rounded up a few organizing ideas for your coat closet or entryway...
S-hooks on a closet rod can be used to hang bags, umbrellas and other hard-to-store items.
Use open baskets or bins to store mittens, scarves, and other cold-weather essentials during the winter months.
This coat closet idea (left) from Martha Stewart uses shelves on the bottom to keep shoes, hats, and scarves organized. Hooks on the back of the door also add extra storage space.
This closet (right) featured in Sunset Magazine keeps everyday items in plain sight, and less frequently used items hidden behind closed cabinets.
One way to create more space in the closet involves buying the right hanger for the job. Check out this post for a roundup of over 15 different types of hangers, from tiered racks to folding rods.
If you've got a lot of cleaning and decluttering to tackle, check out this inspirational makeover on Real Simple, which includes tips for whittling down and reducing bulk in your closet.
If you don't have a coat closet (or even if you have a closet, but you need some extra storage), there are lots of stylish ways to use coat hooks in a home. These fun and functional entryway systems don't take themselves too seriously.
For more coat closet alternatives, this post offers a few ideas for open-space closets that can be installed on a wall or in a nook.
Apartment Therapy's Sofa Shopping Guide
Nikki’s Sweet and Cheery Print Studio
Good Food to Share 
The Big Book of Small, Cool Spaces 
Apartment Therapy Presents 
The Eight-Step Home Cure 
Stanley Console by ...
5 Things Paris Taught Me About Travel
Recipe: Ham, Cheddar & Chive Egg Bakes
My closet problem is that the super tiny entryway is the only tiled area for the litter box to go. So it gets tucked half in half out of the closet (the cats are fussy about being all the way inside), stealing half the floor space & making it a hassle to open and close the sliding doors to access the other half of the closet.
Anyone have any solution ideas?
Very cute ideas!!
i have a problem with my hallway closet too (toolbox, shoes, coats, blankets/pillows for overnight guests. and i still have yet to put a vacuum cleaner in there!
i do think those big paperclips are pretty sweet tho!
daniny, if you have the space, maybe you could place the kitty litter box under your bathroom sink, in the sink cabinet. that's what i did. it used to be in the entryway as well! after cleaning out half the contents of the cabinet, i removed one of the doors, slid the box in, and put up cafe curtains on a tension rod to disguise the effect. the cafe curtains meet right where Roger cat steps into his box.
Or, as some people do, you could just put the box (i hope it's a covered one like the booda loo) in the bath tub and just take it out when you shower. i personally won't go that far but i would if i didn't have the space under the bathroom cabinet.
http://www.stacksandstacks.com/hanging-shoe-bag-holds-10-pairs/112/11962/
i use hanging shoe organizers to store hats, scarves, gloves, small purses and other miscellaneous items that seem coat closet-ish.
god, I wish I had a coat closet -- my single closet is kind of a joke.
I'm trying to figure out if I should really use the coat closet for coats. Since the entryway is downstairs on the garage level in my townhouse apartment, that's the natural place for a landing strip. But the coat closet is upstairs, and also needs to hold brooms, vacuum and other items. I can't decide if it's better to keep bringing the coats upstairs or to get a coat tree where they'll be visible all the time.
lurker, sounds like you just answered your own question. you know you want to get that coat tree... :-)
way more practical!
I recently (finally!) did up my entryway with a space to hang my coats. The space is quite narrow so I couldn't fit in a cupboard of any kind, and I didn't want a coat tree. The final solution was pretty simple (and I was very happy to see it featured here on AT). This is what I did: http://notyourgoddess.blogspot.com/2008/10/entrance-hall-part-ii.html