Organize the Clutter in Your Entryway

By the time you're reading this, I'll be in Phoenix getting ready to watch the BCS National Championship football game.  My husband & I are taking the kids and heading to Phoenix to watch our beloved Ducks play in their first National Championship.  It's sure to be a blast, I can't wait to share a few of our stories after we get back.

Since it's January and we're all trying to get organized and find places for all those Christmas gifts, I thought I'd share the way I keep my everyday items organized in my entryway.

The next you look at all those keys, sunglasses, electronic items and other things that clutter up our countertops and tables, remember these tips:

* Grab a basket, bowl or box and use it to stash those items that you need close by but don't want just hanging out on the counter.  You might want to choose a container with a lid to really hide your items.  If your container doesn't have a lid, don't worry, just gathering them together will help give your entry an organized look and you will have one place to find those things that seem to wander around the house and lose themselves just when you need them.

*  If you have a plug in close-by, use it for the cords to your electronic items.  Cut a hole in the back of your basket or box and stick the end through, now you can use your container as a charging station.

*  Of course, any container will help you become more organized, but a pretty one also lets you add a bit of your own style into an area where everyone coming & going from your home stops.

For my organization project, I used a couple of my favorite Willow House items.  The Farmhouse Tiered Basket gives me a place to organize my stray items in its bottom basket and a place to display some seasonal decorations in its top basket.  To keep things even a bit more organized and divided into sections, I used two of our small Gail Pittman Alfresco Collection Servers.  In the top basket, I used a grouping of 3 IKEA vases and 3 silk flowers.  At 79 cents each, the vases were my big bargain for this project.  To give my entryway a seasonal look, I change out the flowers every once in a while.  During the fall, I used some sunflowers from my garden to create a cheery, sun-filled look.

Next week, I'll give you some how to tips for the tag I added to my arrangement.  It was a fun craft project we created at the scrapbook store during one of our events last fall.

If you'd like to see the Farmhouse Tiered Basket or the Gail Pittman Collection items, stop by my Willow House page.