Mom's Front Entry: HTCI Part One

My Mom's front entry way is laid out poorly. Effectively, her front door dumps you right into a wall with the coat closet behind the door. Either you step to the left and enter the livingroom or to the right into the kitchen before you can even close the door.

 I am standing in the kitchen looking back to the front door. The closet is to the left, behind the curtain.

Because of that, we set up this little "entry zone" in her living room. It helps demarcate the space.

We have done our tour and taken our pictures. Here are some of the problems we saw:

sorry for the blurriness

 

This is the wall that faces you when you enter. Notice her purse on the floor in the kitchen. Living room is to the left--as is the entry bench set up to receive the purse. However, she's always on her way into the kitchen side, especially in summer when you don't have to stop to remove your boots.

For winter, my Mom wants a proper boot tray here for wet boots. However, we agreed that anything here makes moving in and out of this space awkward especially when more than one person comes to visit (like me and my family). We want to see if we can't make room for on in the bottom of the big cubby above.

There are two rugs on the floor. The one on the bottom is apparently stuck to the linoleum.
There are too many things on the floor.
Some of them needed to go into the closet.
Some of them--items leaving the house--need to actually leave the house, or find another home while they are waiting.

This is why things which belong in the closet aren't in it. It's blocked. These things should be in the trunk of the car to be delivered.

This is another reason why things aren't in the closet:

We converted the bifold doors into "regular doors" last year. The problem, of course, is that they won't stay shut, so she has put this elastic over the knobs. The problem with that solution is that there are now too many actions required to open the doors. It is too complicated.

In spite of that, the closet is too full.

(Those drapes by the door are drawn across it in winter to keep out the drafts. She did not take them down during the summer.)

Two people live here--my Mom and my five and a half year old nephew (N).

The entry way has to accommodate everything associated with their coming and going. The car is parked outside at the front.

In addition to solving the problems we saw, we have a few things we need this entry way to do.

• space for drying winter boots
• space for drying a snow suit
• landing spot for N's backpack
• landing spot for N's swim bag and gymnastics bag and items for music class.

We've brainstormed some ideas to help improve this space. In the meantime, Mom is to declutter the closet and remove the closet doors.

I'll let you know how it goes. We are doing this in real time.