I am the one that picks up the mail in our house, and I am a “drop it on the first available flat surface” kinda girl. It doesn’t make it any easier to sort as I come in when I’ve got an almost potty-trained pup waiting by the door for me to let her out. So all these factors combined to make our dining table and desk in our tiny apartment the resident clutter-catchers. Clutter makes my man crazy, so I had to think up a solution to this problem, and fast! I am constantly losing important pieces of mail or other articles when we “clean up” before someone comes over. (You know how sometimes “cleaning up” means shoving everything in a drawer or box really fast? Yup, guilty as charged!) I’ve tried for awhile to get things organized, but our set-up is all wrong, we should make it as easy as possible on ourselves to sort as we go.
Here’s the breakdown:
-I’ve had my eye on the LEKSVIK desk for some time now, and I think it’s perfect for our “landing strip” as we enter the front door. It’s solid wood, so I can always paint it later if my tastes change, and it has a handy drawer for stashing important things for the entrance to our little home. As an added bonus, it could be used elsewhere later as a writing desk, make-up table, sofa console, etc. I like to pick versatile furniture whenever possible.
-The EKTORP BROMMA footstool in Blekinge pink will be perfect to stow underneath the desk. The top lifts off for storage, so it will be nice to have a permanent home for all our throws that we use when we cuddle up on the sofa for a movie.
-I’ll probably hang two pendant lights above the console with white or cream shades for extra light, because our living room is extremely dark almost all the time, even when it’s bright and sunny out. And of course, I’ll attach them to the Handy Switch. Ignore the cheesy commercials, this product is really cool, especially in rooms like our living room that have no overhead fixture. We currently have a floor lamp and two table lamps, but it’s just not enough light.
-I really want to paint an accent wall in our apartment, so I’m thinking about something like this green. I recently painted a wall a similar color, Benjamin Moore’s Medieval Times, and it is truly beautiful. I’ll have to get a few paint swatches to make sure it’ll work here.
-I’m planning on getting this GRUNDTAL magnetic knife rack to hang our keys when we walk in the door. It’ll be handy to have them right there by the door, since one or both of us are looking for our keys quite often. And since it’s a really strong magnet, it will be really easy to just hold the key ring up and keep on walking.
-A few of these wire letter trays will help us keep our paperwork organized when we walk in the door. I’ll probably assign one to Shawn, one for myself, and one for bills. That’s still a little up in the air, and we can tweak it as necessary. Thank goodness they’re not too expensive, so we can get as many as we need to keep everything under control.
-I’m in love with the olive lacework Amy Butler fabric, so I’ve been trying to build the room around that. It’s just gorgeous! And, luckily, Shawn agrees! (Well, I’m sure he wouldn’t pick it out himself, but he liked it best out of the ones I was contemplating.) Since this is really just a wall in our living room, we don’t have a true foyer, I am trying to tie it in with everything else in the room.
-I got a few of these small oak cabinets on clearance the other day for $1.99 each. I’m thinking I’ll probably paint them and/or decoupage something to the fronts of them to make them a little more “me.” I may use them in the “landing strip” area, or I may just save them for use above the desk, since we have a lot of little things that need to be stashed there, also.
Other things that I’m still on the lookout for are: artwork to personalize the area, possibly some hooks to catch the dog’s leash, jackets, sweaters, and bags as we enter the apartment, a wastebin for paper recycling (so we can toss that junk mail as soon as we walk in), and a basket for pet toys, since they’re taking over!
I am a huge lover of Photoshop, and I am saving my pennies for the wonderful day that I will be able to buy it for my very own, but in the meantime, I didn’t have a way to make collages. Then I found polyvore.com via Holly from Decor8 and Haus Maus. She blogged about it here, and I’ve enjoyed playing with it since then. It’s a nice little stand-in for Photoshop, until I can get around to buying it. And it’s really fun to look through the collages that other people make, there are some very interesting and beautiful collages there!
So there’s my proposed landing strip! I’m really looking forward to getting this area under control. What do you guys think? How have you organized your entryway? Any tips you would give me to help this area run smoothly?
