The foyer or entryway is the first impression that a guest will have of your home, so it’s nice if it’s both beautiful and functional. Today I’m talking about entries, and specifically about Entryway Essential – both front entries and rear entries and how to make them work for you.

Entries have a couple of important jobs – they’re a place for presenting a friendly welcome to your visitors (in the case of a front entry), and a place to accommodate preparing to enter a home or leave it (applicable to both front entries and rear mudrooms). And it’s nice if the entry can do those things in a stylish and functional way. These elements will help your entry work as efficiently as possible:

• a chair, seat or bench to make it easy for you and yours guests to sit to take off/put on shoes if your home is a “no shoes allowed inside” zone
• a place to put shoes that have been removed
• a closet or hooks for hanging up coats
• a surface to drop keys and packages while you’re doing all those other important things above
• and a mirror as an added bonus for last minute tweaks

I’m sharing a few of my favorite entries with you today. All of these entries incorporate at least some the elements above, and it’s fun to see how these functional workhorses come together in different decorating styles.

                                                           House Beautiful

Here’s another pretty and traditional entrance. I enjoy how it shows off the personality of the occupants at the same time that it takes care of business.

Better Homes and Gardens

I love this gorgeous, spacious entry with its gorgeous stairwell details, pretty lights, and welcoming art. What a treat for a guest to be welcomed into such a beautiful space!

But let’s get real here – not many of us have entries that look like that. Lets talk about what you can do if  you’re not blessed with a spacious entry area. Here are some inspiring photos of small but hard-working entries.

If you don’t have much space in your entry, then keeping it clutter free is even more important. This entry manages to look inviting with a colorful pillow and plant. And the bench and coat closet are handy for shoe removal and storage.

This minimal space manages to fit in a shelf, an umbrella stand, and a coat hook. Not bad for a few square feet of real estate.

This small entry doesn’t allow room for seating – but it still looks inviting and offers some important essentials – mirror, surface to drop keys or mail, basket for corralling shoes or in this case throws, and even an umbrella stand.

The mid-century modern dresser is perfect in this streamlined entryway, and the drawers for storage are a nice plus. Notice the little peek at coats hanging from hooks on the right.

Part of me wishes I could live in a minimalist, sparsely decorated space. Unfortunately, that part of me always gets overruled by the other part of me that wants comfort and convenience, but I really love how this clean modern space manages to still function as an entry. No seat for removing shoes, but still functional and pretty.

Even if you aren’t fortunate enough to have a dedicated mudroom with fancy built-ins, you can still outfit your rear entrance in a way that will keep all the clutter organized. These cubbies hung on function like lockers and the hooks on the wall corral umbrellas and jackets.

Thanks for stopping by, and I hope you picked up an idea or two that will help your entry function like a champ! Have a great day, my friends!