The landing strip is one of our favorite spots to decorate. Why? Well, being a small space it usually comes together quickly, and we're all for instant gratification. Also, little decorative touches there can instantly become useful (and time-saving) additions in your day-to-day routine. Like keeping mail organized...
Having a spot to drop off mail when you come in every day ensures that bills and correspondence won't get lost. This idea for using an old heating grate as a mail slot is fun and original, and also makes use of your wall, keeping your landing strip (usually a pretty small space) free for keys, wallets, etc. While these instructions are for painting the grates, we think they'd look just as nice in their original, vintage patina state. Do you have a creative solution for keeping your mail sorted? Let us know.
Full instructions from Do It Yourself.
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Comments (17)
I love ideas like this. Fabulous!
very clever, and exactly what Apartment Therapy is all about......
I'd like to have a source for these- and instructions for how to chop them in half.
The ones I've seen look like those above and have not been chopped in half. They can be found at antique fairs, garage sales, flea markets, etc.
-lily
Why, oh why, do AT contributors and readers continue to perpetuate this whole "landing strip" idea? Who started it, anyway? And, why would one want mail stuffed into heating grates hanging on the wall in the entrance to one's home?
I am a lone voice crying in the wilderness, asking people to re-think this cluttered, messy, unattractive way to "organize". It isn't organizing when you merely take a stack of something from one spot and throw it in another.
AT has had some great pieces on home storage and organization, yet still presents these junky, messy, disorganized ideas.
Oh, I need a drink, I can tell. Or, a nap. Or, a drink and then a nap. Getting cranky from all the clutter before my eyes...
Thanks for the clarification K T G and Lily
This is such a cute idea!
i don't know where one would find grates like these.....anyone seen one?
Ms. Pea, you are indeed a lone voice. The landing strip idea is a core concept to home organising in Apartment Therapy.
I'm not opposed to having a spot to put things by the front door, but I'm wholly against the repeated use of the term "landing strip." Gah! It's a wax job people! Re-read the entry thinking waxing and lines like "the landing strip is one of our favorite spots to decorate" and "we're all for instant gratification" take on a much ickier tone. Call it a door station, or a entry station, or a entry catch-all, but enough with the landing strips please!
When I think of the term landing strip, I think of a place where airplanes touch ground at an airport--i.e., the runway. I'm an English major; If I thought of all the negative connotations attached to certain words I wouldn't get anything done all day.
Yes, PLEASE stop calling it this. And I agree with the poster above - this isn't an organizational tool. It invites clutter and "forget about itness"
@Ms. Pea
The idea is that when you walk in and your hands are full, it's great to put something away and not just toss it down somewhere to be put away later. And then, when you're leaving in a rush, all the items you need are at hand and not scattered throughout your home (keys, outgoing mail, umbrella, shoes).
In my experience, this is a fix for clutter, not a cause. When I lived with 4 roommates, I could never find my mail in the "obvious" places they would toss it. I made an organizer labeled with our names and hung it in the kitchen, and voila, no more problems.
You sound like a bit of a curmudgeon. If this isn't for you, that's fine, but that doesn't mean it's not for everyone.
@LilyC
Agreed! A landing-strip is an anatomical term and I don't apply it to my decor. Ick.
For those who don't understand why some of us cringe at the term "landing strip": http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Landing_strip_(pubic_hair)
If you are looking for these types of grates, you should check out a salvage yard. They're becoming more popular...a lot of Habitat for Humanity groups have a "Re-Store" and I know I could find something like this at Community Forklift in the DC area. Generally, anything that could have value is deconstructed and resold when a house is being removed. That way, people just doing renovations can buy period wood flooring and paneling, fixtures, grates, doors, etc. Also a lot of surplus materials (tile, carpet, hardware, paint) and used materials (appliances, kitchen cabinets, windows) show up there. The inventory tends to vary widely, so you have to go regularly and be ready to pick through the piles.
What an attractive way to keep the mail off the entryway table and still in sight!
Good idea!
love the idea too! hate the term either!--to this aspect, I must say that as I a non native english speaker the term landing strip always sounded weird to me, so you cant imagine what a relief it is to get to know Im not alone on that ;P