Does your house have a grand front foyer that belongs in a fancy magazine? Well, ours definitely doesn’t. This week in the 52-Week Decluttering Challenge, we’re taking on the clutter we see when we first enter our homes. You might call this area a mud room, front entrance or foyer. Whatever you call it, there’s probably an opportunity to declutter the place where you enter your home to make it more welcoming.

This post was originally published in June 2021 and republished in June 2024.

Years ago, I visited a co-worker’s house. He lived in one of the more upscale neighbourhoods in our city. When I entered his house, I was struck by the sight of the front foyer. It was massive. I’m not kidding when I say it was the size of the entire main floor of our house. It was very sparse and uncluttered, which I suppose is easy when you have that much space.

Whether your front hallway is large or small, it’s the first thing you see when you enter your home. It’s also the first thing your guests see. Keeping it tidy and uncluttered can be a challenge, especially in a small space like ours.

Are you ready for week 24? Let’s get decluttering!

What is the 52-Week Decluttering Challenge?

In this year-long journey, we’re tackling one task at a time with the goal of cleaning up and organizing our homes. If you’ve just joined us, no worries. You can jump right in with this week’s challenge. Just check out the first two posts in the series to download your free checklists.

• 52-Week Decluttering Challenge
• Week 1 – Easy Decluttering Checklist

You can get easy access to all previous weekly posts on the main Decluttering page.

Week 24 – Declutter the front entrance

Here’s where I started this week.

As I set out to declutter the front entrance, I realized there are a couple of challenges with our house that make it really hard to keep this area clutter-free.

First, our front entranceway is very small. That’s good because it means we can’t keep a lot of stuff there. On the other hand, it’s bad because it can easily look cluttered, even if there’s not a lot there.

The second challenge is we don’t have a back door. We have a patio door that we use to go out to our deck and back garden, but all of our daily comings and goings are through the front door. That means we have to keep all our coats, shoes, boots and other outdoor things here. As I’m sure you can imagine, it’s a bit of a nightmare to keep organized.

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This week’s decluttering and organizing tips

Because we don’t have an abundance of space in our front entrance, this week’s tips are all about space-saving storage solutions. Before we get to what I got rid of, here are my tips and learnings from week 24.

Relocate what doesn’t belong

In a small space, it’s critical to keep only items for your immediate needs. This means relocating bulky out-of-season items that don’t belong. You can see my relocate pile below. It’s mainly winter coats and boots. I hope by now we can safely put them away in the basement until next winter.

Maximize use of space with smart storage

Our front hall closet is tiny, so we need to use every inch of space. This is an area where I take advantage of several space-saving storage solutions.

• A hanging shoe organizer keeps in-season shoes off the floor but easy to access.
• A shoe storage cubby on the floor is a great way to keep running and walking shoes out of sight and organized.
• Baskets on the upper shelves keep smaller items like hats, gloves and scarves organized and out of the way. I label the baskets so I can easily find what I’m looking for.
• The deacon’s bench serves two purposes. It’s a place to sit to put our shoes and boots on, and it provides extra storage space. I also like the way it looks, even though removing it would open the space up a bit.

What I got rid of

Here’s what I got rid of this week from our front entranceway. I also got rid of a bunch of stuff from the area beside our patio doors, but I forgot to take pictures.

In total, I removed 21 items.

• 8 pairs of shoes
• 2 pairs of boots
• 3 summer hats
• 2 pairs of flip flips
• 3 stray gloves with no partners
• 3 hangers

And here’s how our front entrance looks now. It’s much less cluttered and more welcoming.

Bonus decluttering task!

It’s always nice when we can squeeze in a little bonus decluttering activity. This week, my daughter decided it was time for a long-overdue closet decluttering. We got rid of about 40 items from her closet. I call that a win!

Oh, and I Marie Kondo’d her drawers while I was at it. I love vertical storage!

2024 Update

It has been three years so I’m rebooting the 52-Week Decluttering Challenge to see how much I can get rid of in 2024.

Three years on, I still haven’t figured out the magic solution to keep our front entranceway clutter free. It’s an ongoing challenge. Even so, I didn’t find a lot to get rid of. Just 5 items—a pair of flip flops, a pair of sneakers, a sun hat and a stray glove.

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So that’s week 24 done. Between the two tasks, it was a productive week.

If you have friends or family members who could benefit from a little less clutter in their lives, please share this post and spread the word!

Does your house have a large front entrance or a small one like mine? Tell us how you keep it organized below.