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In many homes, the hallway is the most heavily used space. It presents an opportunity to reflect your own unique style, creates a vital first impression on everyone who visits, and can greet you with a sense of relaxation and tranquillity every time you return home.
Despite this, many people overlook their hallways when it comes to maintenance, or view them more as a passageway between rooms rather than a space to itself.
For this reason and others, hallways can also attract a lot of clutter. It’s easy to put down items and forget about them as you move between rooms, and the hallway can also provide an ad hoc storage space for letters, packages or other deliveries.
It can also get messy if the people in your household or their guests regularly bring in mud, rain or other effects of the weather. If there are no solutions to these problems, clutter can quickly build up.
Here, the storage experts at Clever Closet will provide five helpful tips to assist you in creating more storage space, organising your belongings, and decluttering, so that you can ultimately enjoy a hallway that stays tidy for the long term.
1. See where you can create more storage
There are challenges that can get in the way of this sense of organisation. In particular, hallways often have limited room to add storage solutions like shelves or cupboards, meaning that storage options are severely limited.
Nevertheless, many people store a lot in their hallways and if there is no organised system in which to keep them, these items can quickly cause clutter.
However, there may be untapped storage space in even a small hallway. If you think that adding extra room is a solution, consider whether an under-stairs storage unit could be the answer.
This is often a convenient approach as it can make use of the space that many homes have but which often goes unused. By installing a new storage unit under your stairs, you can create more space and quickly address problems of clutter.
There are other innovative solutions you might consider, including a variety of hidden storage options – explore options and see what would be suitable for your home, as you might be surprised how fast and convenient it can be to install this kind of unit.
2. Get creative with the storage you have
Whether you decide to add storage space or simply work with what you have available, you can also approach storage space in creative ways to get the most out of it.
Hanging items from hooks is a great way to clear floor or table space, and there are a lot of hooks available that are suited to a large variety of hallway items – these can include keys, shoes, dustpans and brushes, and other items.
In some cases, you can also buy special wall mounts for common hallway items. This means you can save space on storing irons, mops, buckets and other devices, provided you have the wall space to do so. This can create more space, or at least keep these items organised and uncluttered.
3. Cut down on how much you aim to store
A good way to manage hallway clutter is to move items to other rooms when you don’t need them. Many hallways are used to store a host of items that need to be quickly accessible on the way out of the house.
This includes coats, shoes, umbrellas and other outdoor items, which in a lot of cases are all stored together in the hallway and take up a lot of unnecessary space.
A seasonal approach is a good way to resolve this, if untidiness is caused by too many pieces of clothing. Most people have a variety of coats and shoes, some of which are suitable for water weather and some that are better for colder climes.
Rotate these items out of your hallway during the seasons when you don’t need them, and store them in a wardrobe in another room instead – this can free up space without removing any of the convenience of accessibility.
4. Invest in organisation tools
Sometimes, clutter arises when people are unable to undertake tasks or address problems immediately. Instead, things are left in the hallway as a reminder, or because the person intends to come back to the problem shortly.
In these cases, there are a number of organisational tools you can use to stay on top of these items.
If you have an under-stairs storage solution with separate drawers or a tallboy space, you can use these for extra organisation. Rather than simply piling things inside, sort them according to your needs – have one for each occupant of your household, for example, or to make the maximum use of the space, arrange items in the way that they best fit together within the drawer.
Finally, you could assign one drawer as a storage space for projects that are underway or that relate to tasks you have not finished (or started). If everything in the drawer is “to-do”, you will be able to return to the same place to find everything and work through your responsibilities in a more organised way.
Other tools include letter organisers, which are much tidier and more useful than piles of unopened post, and rows of small hooks for keys, which are very convenient compared to bowls or other storage solutions.
If you have a problem with specific items, search for a product that is specifically designed for this need and you may find the exact right thing.
5. Develop good habits
If your hallway is cluttered, make a conscious effort each time you pass through to take one item with you and put it away. Everything that ends up in the hallway should have a place for storage in another room.
If it doesn’t, you should find a permanent home for it, or throw it away. That way, when you are on your way from one room to another, it is easy to pick up an item and carry it to its destination on your way there.
You may also need to get into the habit of using your organisational tools. Each time you pass through your hallway, visit the places where things are stored for later and see if you have the time to properly organise them – for example, a letter holder, a “to-do” drawer, or any other solution that works for you.
Working with one item or task at a time keeps things very manageable, but will add up to high levels of tidiness and organisation over time.
By following these simple tips, you are sure to find a solution that will help to keep your hallway tidier – or even better, completely revolutionise your approach to organisation.
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