I Should Have Bought This Magnetic Entryway Solution a Long Time Ago

Almost every week, I have a version of the same experience: I finish grocery shopping and arrive home to start heaving bags of food into the house. I lug them from my driveway to my side entrance — a sliding glass door off my porch — and place the bags on the kitchen floor. I whip my keys onto the counter and start unloading.

My keys languish on the counter until I have the mental energy to go put them in their spot: a little dish near my front door in the living room. The way my apartment is set up, I often arrive home through the side door, thus straight into the kitchen. There’s this more formal entryway setup in my front living room — complete with an Open Spaces Entryway Rack — but it’s no use when I’m not entering through that door.

Here’s where a very simple fix comes in: the Yamazaki Home Smart Magnetic Key Holder. For so long, I felt like I couldn’t create a second entryway drop zone in my home. (It’s a strange mental block to have, I realize.) But the key holder has proved that I can — and that I should have a long time ago. It’s a very deserving winner of the best Entryway Organizer from Apartment Therapy’s first-ever Organization Awards.

Because this little number is magnetic, I was able to stick it on my fridge, which is conveniently just to my left every time I walk in the side door. Now when I come home from the store (or anywhere, for that matter), I can hook my keys onto the holder attached to the fridge. I enjoy the impermanence of the magnetic holder; the freedom to move it around the front of the fridge as I see fit. I switch up the magnet and photo display on my fridge every so often, so being able to move the key holder around, too, is a nice bonus.

Let me be clear: The holder is still excellent for folks who don’t happen to greet their fridge immediately after getting home. Although it’s magnetic, the holder also comes with an attached adhesive strip that allows it to stick to walls, which makes it a renter-friendly entryway solution.

My favorite part, though, doesn’t relate to the key holder’s intended utility or convenience at all. The tiny shelf on top of the holder, complete with a little lip around it, adds an extra 100 points for style. The shelf lets me display whatever I’m feeling like that week, from a Polaroid of my brother and me at my cousin’s wedding, to a miniature book of Mondrian paintings. I suppose I could stick something practical on the tiny shelf, but for now I’m sticking with tiny trinkets and keepsakes I love. To have a useful and adorable entryway accessory rolled into one is doing wonders for my post-grocery shopping chaos. 

Want to see more award-winning organizers? Explore our 2023 Organization Awards for our top picks.