Parenthood has made us covet mudrooms. A spot for boots and all of our winter accoutrements would be fab, but our last condo's front door opened right into the living room and our current house only has a small foyer. We've managed to improvise with a mudroom-ish landing strip that has a spot for all of the essentials.
Like this Pottery Barn setup, a bench is incredibly useful in the entryway; my son eagerly hops onto ours for the routine of suiting up. If space is limited then a chair will do the trick. A boot tray contains the slush and a bin or basket keeps mittens, scarves and hats from scattering. For the mudroomless among us, what are your best tips and solutions for keeping your home's entrance clean and uncluttered?
(Image: Pottery Barn)

White Enamel Flatwa...
Great minds think alike- posted about this on my blog a few weeks ago!
http://cleansmartsimple.blogspot.com/2010/11/entryway-bliss.html
I can't believe you would taunt us with this awesome coat rack that is now no longer available!!
If you're handy you can follow Ana White's wonderful instructions here:
http://ana-white.com/2009/11/plans-for-entry-storage-benchshelf_2314.html
Thanks - I am getting inspired to somehow contain the three meddlesome magical muddies and their boots (and their dad :-))...
One of my summer projects was to turn one of our hall closets into a nice mudroom style entry way. I took down the doors and all the closet fixtures and we put in a bench with shoe storage, a dresser with our bags, hooks and more to make it a great "landing spot."
I would LOVE to see the closet turned mudroom!!
I've seen the shelf/hook and cubby thing at millstores in my area. If you can't build your own, they are often a cheaper alternative to Pottery Barn, etc, and you have the option to paint or stain them however you like!
LaneC, do a google search for "twig coat rack"--there are other options out there....grandinrode.com; Crate and Barrel has one, but it doesn't ship until March!