Before and After: A Weekend Project Totally Transforms a Narrow, Cluttered Entryway

Entryways might just be a pass-through area in most homes, but they still have to work hard. They’re the first point you see when you get home, so they need to be beautiful and welcoming—but above all, they need to be organized and streamlined to make comings and goings as easy and painless as possible. That goes double for small entryways!

For Matilda Kristofferson (Hemma Interiors), the biggest challenge her entry posed was its long, narrow shape: about 4.5 meters (14.7 feet) long by 2.5 meters (8.2 feet) wide. She decided at first to hang a peg rails across the whole wall to make use of the long space. “But we still lacked storage and it really felt cold and ‘messy’ most of the time,” Matilda says.

Plus, there was a big eyesore: in the “ugly radiator on the middle of the wall,” Matilda says. “I decided to give it some well deserved love and attention in order to make it a warm, calm and inviting space that embraced you as you came home, and gave you a warm and homey feeling as you left.”

Matilda first emptied the space and painted the walls. “I went for a very soft sage green to gave a calm vibe to the space,” she says. “Our little 3-year-old son helped me paint the walls, which was both fun and nerve wracking!”

When she was done, Matilda re-hung the peg rails that were there previously; mounting them a bit lower made space for open shelving above. Matilda also hung a peg rail at kiddie height so her 3-year-old would be able to hang his coat himself.

To solve the issue of the radiator, Matilda built a stylish cover using scrap wood she already had on hand. She attached it to an open shelf that’s mounted right over the radiator for another bit of storage space; leaving space between provides plenty of space for air circulation, so the radiator is still functional.

Matilda had a thrifted IKEA BILLY bookcase that had been on the wall previously. While it was functional, the open shelves weren’t as neat-looking as Matilda had hoped. Her solution? A glass door for the bookcase, which she fitted with cane webbing for a bit of clutter camouflage.

Now, the entry not only offers more storage—it also has a cleaner, more welcoming look. And because Matilda used so many things she already owned, the total cost was only 170 Euro for the weekend-long project.

“My favorite part of the makeover is that we were able to create a whole new space without buying a lot of new things, or throwing out what was already there,” Matilda says. “It feels like we got a whole new room in the house. Instead of a boring transportation space it is now a warm and calm space that makes me so happy. I also love all the extra storage we were able to add.”

Inspired? Submit your own project here.