Question: What do I do if I do not have a foyer OR a front hallway? You walk in and BAM your in the tiny living room! Any suggestions?

-Am

Canadian STYLE AT HOME!!!!!!!!!!!!

we have the same thing. you walk in and BAM dining area. we decided to make an area to hang coats and put some baskets and then put mail and stuff in the office. we don't like to leave mail, keys, etc out. we normally put our shoes away in the bedroom. we decided to just find a 'place' for all the landing strip items.

hey amber I have the same situation going on..
I set up things on each side of the door. I put a shelf with hooks on one wall to hang coats/purses etc. boot tray on the floor beneath. On the other wall I put a mirror, and a small bookshelf with a lamp on top and bowl to put keys in.
It's been working ok for us so far.

My landing strip needs a thorough facial and I can't wait! I find the subject of small entryways fascinating and even though mine is a bit bigger than BAM, it's still rather small. I blogged about it recently and the conclusion is make it grow in the vertical direction as well as make all things have proper homes: http://kotijumalatar.wordpress.com/2010/02/26/pieni-eteinen/

i miss Domino ;-(

Miss Met Home, and House & Garden.

I'm still mourning the loss of Domino : (

Yay Canadian Style at Home!

yeah, Met Home and Domino..... :(

ditto on domino.

my front door is right into the heart of my living area. we hung up beautiful art on our wall that faces the front door, and added a coffee table in front of the couches. who woulda thunk.
we're keeping tabs on our at cure here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/twigandleafbotanicals/

still busy working on it all, though!

I've discovered Living in Style from England.

I need hooks for my landing strip, but I can't find cute ones that are also affordable. I'm thinking something bright and cheery, or maybe a shade of yellow or orange to go with my finch print from beethings. Any ideas?

Oh, and I miss Domino like crazy. I finally let go of my old issues, inspired by the cure... and replaced them with the Domino style book. But I think it still counts.

I miss the old UK Elle Decoration, the one circa 2002, one editor ago. Boy was it amazing! They used to have some of the best stuff in a section inside printed on matte, non-glossy, paper -- for example, a regular feature was a room design challenge that would be taken to 3 different designers one for each price point (high, medium and low). Wow! And at the time, there was a board advising the creative direction of the magazine; one of the board members was Romeo Gigli.

Now UK Elle Deco is really just a standard franchise of the Elle Deco brand -- very dull in comparison to what it once was.

I also miss Met Home (more the earlier versions of it than the later incarnation).

These days, my favourites are Living Etc. and Marie Claire Maison. I also get a subscription to Canadian House and Home, but am increasingly disappointed by its very traditional bent. The current issue, April 2010, is so staid, that I gave it away. A first for me.

Atomic Ranch is really great.

Living Etc. is cool but crazy expensive. Which leaves me with Elle Decor, which I can count to at least challenge my taste each issue.

Met Home was a loss

The door I use most often is the one from my garage, but same problem - BAM - kitchen. Unfortunately, my kitchen table becomes the dumping ground for almost everything.

The front door opens directly into my living room. Like anniekins, I'd like to hang some kind of hooks but haven't seen anything I really like that's reasonably priced.

the entranceway is a big problem in my house. we basically come from the garage straight into the living room, where there are no full walls, only windows. So not only can I not really find a place to hang coats, everything just gets dumped in the corner of the LR. i'm hoping I'll be able to work through this.

anniekins, I think anthropologie has cute hooks and some of them are not too expensive. otherwise, maybe you could buy some plain ones from a hardware store and spray paint them a fun color?

i miss domino as well, and cottage living. I do keep some back issues of both, and find that I read them enough that it doesn't feel like clutter to keep them around.

My problem is that I ALWAY enter my home through the garage into the laundry room and because of the way our house is situated in the neighborhood, guests always aproach it from the back, pull in the driveway and also enter through the TINY laundry room/mud room. I really am at a loss as to what to do in there. We have these huge front loader washing machines that never want to sit still, so any storage between them would be crushed. Any suggestions?

I was thinking about getting a pretty runner to put on the floor there from the door and in front of both the washer and dryer, but am at all for everything else.

Because of the awkward entry way, our landing strip ends up being the end of the kitchen counter because that is the room you enter next. We have hooks on the wall for keys, but not enough room for much more.

and ditto...I miss Domino mag. So sad.

@Am -

We don't have a foyer or an entryway, either; I live in a 400-sqft apartment and the front door opens directly into the living room. It's awful, so I understand your helplessness. Let me offer you some tried and true advice...

1. Make room - Choose either the left or the right side of the door and clear it for your landing strip. Just because you don't have walls around it doesn't mean you can't pretend.

2. Close if off - if you feel like you need separation, try for a screen on the other side of the landing strip. For instance, if you set up a small table to the left of your front door, on the left of the table, put up a folding screen and make your own little hallway.

3. Choose the furniture appropriately - I found a /great/ triangular dropleaf table that I position the hypotenuse (hey, math term!) against the wall. A short, bright stool sits to its right, and underneath the table is our shoe rack (stained to the same darkness). On the back of the door is our coat rack.

4. Edit, edit, edit - You don't NEED a lot of stuff to make an entryway... The stool in our entryway is to sit and put on shoes; it also doubles as seating when we have one too many guests over for dinner. Our table folds out if we need another table, but for now, it offers about two square feet of holding room. A cake plate sits on top of it to collect wallets, keys, and so on. The coat rack does the rest. A recycle bin that I picked up at the flea market catches the spam we get in the snailmail.

All in all, our "landing strip" or "entry way" takes all of three feet, tops, next to our door. Our job this week is to give it a visual separation from the rest of the room by way of a separate color background behind it, to encompass it. We've also hung a new wall light (ikea chic, woo!) and repainted the stool I mentioned to red, to match our dining chairs.

Chin up, dear Am! You can catch me at claire @ futurequeenoftheuniverse . com if you need (more) help.

The last place I lived in was a tiny studio, less than 300 sq. ft. The front door opened into the bedroom end, right at the foot of my bed (the configuration of the room made it almost impossible to arrange it otherwise). But I used shelves just inside the door to put a nice ceramic bowl for keys and sunglasses; the end of my bed was my seat for shoe removal/putting on, and I tucked my most frequently used shoes under the end of the bed, behind the bedspread.

My new place by comparison has almost an overage of entry space--a narrow hall opening onto a 9x9-ft foyer, so I have kind of progressive landing strip: a vintage mantel on the wall, holding a bowl for keys, with a mirror above it for that last check of my grooming before heading out the door; then in the foyer I have a chair next to an entry table where I can put down groceries while taking off wet shoes and hanging up my coat and purse on two nice Anthropologie hooks on the wall. I stow my bags for work & gym in a basket under the table. So far it works well, though I still have to clear it every few days and put away coats and shoes. You can see on my Flickr page: http://www.flickr.com/photos/21382844@N06/4448138838/in/set-72157623532653653/

I set up my landing strip during the Fall 09 Cure, and love it still - it works so well. So this year, we're contemplating a narrow table in the entryway, or a small mail box for the incoming stuff, so it won't pile on our desks anymore. The other Landing Strip task this week will be to assess our front hall closet - some things can be moved to the outbox and others better organized, winter coats can be stored till Fall, and the closet can possibly hold some items from the kitchen area that need a more permanent home.

Also enjoyed my clean house this weekend and several meals cooked at home.

I am having the exact opposite problem from Amberfirecracker :(

I have to walk down a long narrow corridor type entrance to get to the living/kitchen area.

My place is a studio type loft with one wall dividing the bedroom from the living/kitchen area.

It's like a tunnel. As you walk in, you are surrounded by walls and then the bathroom door is on the left, almost immediatly on the left. I have a bit of space for a coat rack next to the bathroom door but immediately after the coat rack is the bedroom "nook." It's not until you pass the bedroom that you come to the kitchen and living space where I could potentially have a place for a Landing Pad. ("strip" sounds... awkward...)

When I come home, I always go straight from the door to the kitchen table, bypassing the coat rack only to return to it after I've set my purse and bags down on the kitchen table. Most of the time, my coat and scarf never make it to the rack.

Ugh. I am just having the hardest time...

I have a little 3'x3' space where you come in through the front door and on your left and right are closet doors. I've got this tiny Ikea bench / stool in a little nook past the closet on the right, but it's kind of awkward because I do the no-shoes thing, so I have to take off my shoes, shuffle and drop my things on the bench, then shuffle back and hang up my coat and scarf. Not as awkward as my bathroom door not closing though.

I have a nice little area for a landing strip but it's cluttered with junk right now. I purchased a 2 tier folding tray table from the Hell's Kitchen flea market a while back and I've been meaning to paint it black and get it fixed up. The weather is finally warming up for outdoor spray painting. I also framed some wallpaper to create wall panels to dress up the area. I'd love to lose the coat rack but I need to be honest with myself about how I live. The coat rack must stay.

Katielicht, how could I forget Anthro! Thanks! I'll add that on to my list of things this weekend, along with new knobs and drawer pulls for my bedroom furniture.

For those with no real entryway, my parents have this same issue, which has always bugged me. I would try a small bookcase, which provides just enough room to tuck away shoes and bags, along with a flat surface for keys/change/ipod whatever, to the side of the door. I have a bookcase from Pier 1, I think it's called the Bookseller's bookcase. It holds sunglasses and keys on the top shelf, my books for school on the "book" shelf, and slippers and flip flops for walking the dog, plus my purse, on the bottom shelf. It's no more than three feet long and is just the right size. On one side of it, I hung a cheerful print and am going to hang hooks for the coats that wind up on the backs of my dining room chairs, as well as leashes. If you lack wall space, try a traditional coat rack. Design Public has some cool, modern ones. If you live in a rainy area, you could add a pot for umbrellas next to the bookcase.

It doesn't have to be a entry way ROOM, but just an area where all your stuff from the outside world has a place before it winds up around the house.

Vogue Living from Australia, and still miss Domino and Met Home...

Me too...Love Canadian Style at Home!!!

http://www.lonnymag.com/

The Domino 'people' have started an online magazine...

Depending on the day and the situation, we either come in the front door or the back. We use the back door if we've had to use the car, front door otherwise - and it probably ends up being in equal proportion. I'm not sure how to interpret the landing strip when you regularly frequent two different ports!

I'm not exactly sure where or how I would find space for a 'landing strip.' I do have a 9 foot long hallway when I come in, but it's narrow (3.5 feet wide) and it houses one of 3 closets in my apartment. I hate to call it "wasted space," but sometimes that's what it seems like. I don't even keep too many photos or paintings on the walls since it's too easy to knock things around when I or anyone enters or leaves. After that I'm in the combo dining/living area. I definitely do NOT want to add to that area ... I've been decluttering every room, and want to keep that sort of "airy, open" feel the rooms are beginning to show.

Thanks mikroma and plumeria. Great advice. :) bfootnovellista, thanks to you too! My living room probably isn't as small as I made it sound, but the furniture takes up too much space. Thanks so much for you advice!

*your* advice. ;) I really like the idea of adding a screen or a little table on the side. I'll look into adding color too!

brianna, don't give up! Is there room for a tiny table in your entrance? Otherwise, I like your idea to create a landing space in your kitchen since you already put your stuff in there!

@AmberFirecracker - i was thinking... i saw this on ebay:
http://cgi.ebay.com/Wall-Mount-Plate-Rack-Holds-up-to-12-Full-Size-Plates_W0QQitemZ290372438227QQcmdZViewItemQQptZFolk_Art?hash=item439b8bc8d3#ht_719wt_941

it is a plate rack, but with a few hooks for keys and if it has a shelf on the bottom it could be cute. not sure if it is a fit for your style, but i am sure there are other wall mounted items that would not take up any room on the floor. i saw the beautiful brass soap holders once in an antique store once and something like that would have been perfect. just a thought.

I miss Country Home and Cottage Living. I subscribe to Country Living (UK version..and much better than the US version), and Marie Claire Maison (although I don't understand the language...just high school French class words, here and there). Both are visually gorgeous and better quality, overall.

I need two landing strips, and a way to remember what is where! I am lucky to have a two-room entry in the front (small room with just a radiator and a closet, then a larger room between the living and dining rooms) and a large porch/mudroom in the back.

We have the closet for coats and shoes by the front door, but nowhere to put smaller items, diaper bags or mail. The back room has a shoe cubby thing, and we have drawers for smaller things like keys and wallets, but all four walls are windowed, so there is nowhere to hang hooks and furniture placement is tricky.

I am looking for a coat rack for the back room, and a table to go by the front door. Both rooms need rugs, and I want curtains by the front door because one of the windows goes into the closet. I also think we need some baskets or something in the back for things like mittens and hats. And a trash can, because I always seem to be bringing garbage in from the car.

I just bought Canadian House and Home for the first time and loved it.

We have plenty of room for a landing strip - too much I think given that whatever we have is always covered in stuff - and yet my GF insists on walking past all the suitable hooks/shoe racks/post tables/key holders and dumping her stuff in the living room! Maybe I need to get rid of some of the options...and some of the coats and shoes! It's rather crowded and cluttered at the moment.

Plus we also use the back door which opens into the kitchen and so stuff gets dumped in there too.

@AmberFirecracker: Unfortunately, there is no room for a table. The width of the entry way is about the width of the door itself! (with a few inches of extra room)

I think I may brainstorm how to create a suitable landing pad in the kitchen area. It is really the only potential place for my purse, grocery bags and coats to land.

This will take some crafting, but I'll get there!

Thanks for your help!

My front door opens into my kitchen -- the counter is on the left (not much of it at that), there's a small closet for coats (and so much more) on the right and one of those narrow metal baker's racks on the right next to the closet. I have a tiny bit of wall space over the counter that also has the light switches and the intercom on it. Am mulling over the idea of making the "landing strip" for papers, keys, mail on the outside of the closet door (already have the inside of the door in use for dogs' leashes, scarves, hats...). I might have to have a chair to sit in to put on boots and shoes a few feet away. Would it be too weird to paint just the wall with the front door a different color to try to make it seem a bit more separated from the rest of the kitchen?

This cure is killing me! It's my first and a lot more work than I anticipated. Problem is the amount of STUFF I have even when I thought I only had a very little. And I am doing my best to spend less than $50 on my spring cure. So far I invested in a kitchen sink organizer and some spice jars ($36). I have put them -- they are magnetic on my fridge which is within arms reach of the stove and so easy access. I am finding that the more I clean and try to re-organize the more there is to throw away and tidy up! Holy mackerel...

I miss Country Home so much. Also Martha Stewart's Blueprint. And Domino. I subscribed to all three, so my heart broke when they all went away. I just subscribed to Country Living for the first time. I also get Sunset.

Ahhh..the landing strip. My apartment opens on the ground floor to a set of stairs inside my apartment - which lead up to the dining area. No entryway to speak of. But at the top of the stairs just to the right is a tiny corner into which I've tucked an antique nightstand and and hung a small mirror in a wood frame that has three hooks on the bottom of the frame. On the nightstand is a pretty little bowl which holds my keys. On the hooks on the frame are various bags (a pretty reusable shopping bag, my purse, and a cute bag used as a lunch bag).

What would perfect the little corner is an old-fashioned coathook stand.

As for magazines, I am happy Lonny has surfaced online. I also love Living, Etc.