Ditch The Baskets: 13 Better Ways To Organize Your Entryway

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The entryway has the potential to become the most cluttered space in any house. And while it's tempting to toss those occasional shoes, sunglasses cases, and out-of-season scarves into a basket, that's rarely the best solution. In fact, there are plenty of ways to declutter your home entryway while avoiding the inevitable eyesore of baskets overflowing with belongings.

As you'll see in the following guide, the trick is to consider which items you need to keep in your home's main hallway, and then match them to a more appropriate type of storage. For example, a dedicated cabinet or storage bench is a much better option for keeping shoes than a basket. Similarly, a basket may not be the most practical way to keep your coats tidy, especially compared to a dedicated rack or hook. The point is that if you're tired of rooting through baskets in a desperate attempt to get out the door each morning, there's almost certainly a better way. To help, we've included 13 simple solutions to restore order to your entryway — and don't worry. None of them include baskets.

While shoes are one of the most difficult, cumbersome items to keep tidy in the entryway, you don't actually need much space in order to make them behave. And while size is obviously important when it comes to shoe storage, especially if you have lots of pairs to store, you'll be surprised by just how unobtrusive some solutions are. Tilt-out shoe storage cabinets are a good example.

These units are designed to store shoes vertically. They feature tilt-out shelves, which, per the description, tilt out and allow you to slot your shoes into position. This saves space versus storing your shoes flat. Units typically come with two pull-out doors, each with two tiers. This modern freestanding shoe organizer from QIVOMAX, for example, stores up to 14 pairs of adult women's shoes across two twin-tier sections. Alternatively, you can remove the central divider from one of those sections to create space for taller-ankled boots.

If you need something a little more versatile to help store your shoes, then cube storage could be a useful solution. Per the name, these storage units occupy a similar amount of floor space to a regular cabinet. However, in place of doors and drawers, they feature open "cubes" that you use to store things. Now, those things could include baskets. But if you're trying to beat the basket-based clutter currently spoiling your entryway's equilibrium, then you might be better off using it more intentionally.

For example, if you have space, you could use a tilt-out shoe storage unit in tandem with a smaller cube storage unit, like this 3-cube entryway bench from Farrino. You can keep your regular shoes in the tilt-out unit, then use the cubes from Farrino's solution for larger pairs of shoes and high-ankled boots. Other innovative ways to use cube storage include creating a kids' backpack and belongings station. By reserving a few cells for their school bags and other going-out gear, you can ensure everything's next to the door and "ready" — ideal on frantic mornings when the kids (or their parents) oversleep.

Keys are one of the most common sources of clutter in any entryway — regardless of the size of the home. Tossed into a basket, and you may as well forget getting to work on time as you attempt to untangle the various keys, fobs, and trinkets that we invariably thread onto the rings. Fortunately, there is a much better way to store them. In fact, there are several.

For example, there are various ways to use hooks to organize your storage, especially in the entryway. Not only can you hang your keys from them, but you can also hang coats, bags, dog leads, scarves, hats — the list goes on. Alternatively, instead of hooks, you could install a magnetic strip to the wall of your entryway. This is a good option in very narrow entryways, where coats hanging from hooks would protrude too much from the wall. Whichever you choose, you'll find it much easier to grab your keys and go — especially if time rarely takes your side in the morning.

Mail is one of the most notorious offenders when it comes to cluttered basket storage. Bills arrive that you'd sooner forget until the weekend; renewal documents come through the letterbox for your various insurance policies. Add a few takeaway menus to the pile, and that mountain of mail can threaten to blow across the floor whenever you open the door. Fortunately, there are plenty of practical and stylish organizers to tame even the biggest stacks of mail. You could use a simple "in-bound" tray, which, provided that you empty it regularly, will provide a cradle for your correspondence. Or, you could fit a dedicated mail shelf to the wall, like this key and mail holder from Fifth Quarter.

Alternatively, if your entryway is small or narrow, and you're limited on counter and wall space, then consider using something more "vertical." It doesn't need to be expensive, either. For example, if you have a magazine organizer, you could use one of those to stash your mail. Better still, use two, reserving one for inbound mail and another for outbound — handy if you have a bunch of greeting cards to mail out ahead of the holidays.

If you use baskets to store your coats, hats, scarves, and other winter-weather wear, they can easily end up tossed messily on top of a pile. Before long, they can become cluttered to a point that you can no longer see the basket. Instead, you're much better off using something that's designed for things that get used daily, like a coat rack. These have hooks to keep your clothes clear of the floor, and they make it easier to grab what you need without ferreting through a mountain of other garments.

You can buy coat racks with built-in shelving, like this solid wood coat rack from Taitiy, which provides space for a couple of bags or pairs of boots, as well as a row of hooks for your coats and jackets. Alternatively, if you already have one that's currently gathering dust, you can repurpose an old coat rack into a useful piece of storage for bags and purses — thus solving another common entryway clutter conundrum.

Baskets offer an easy way to store things like dog leads, balls, treats, poop bags, and everything else that you take with you on your morning walkies. However, they're not necessarily the best solution. Leads can become tangled, especially if you have a selection for different walking routes. Toys become buried, and treats, particularly if the basket is stored at ground level, may feel like fair game to any four-legged family members. To avoid this, there are a few storage ideas that can help to keep your pet supplies in order.

For example, a few hooks can make the world of difference to your dog's walkwear storage. If you already have (or are planning to install) a row of hooks for your coats and bags, then you could always reserve one of those for your leads. Alternatively, you could install two or three lower down — close to the door — to hang their leads, poop-bag dispensers, and other accessories. You could also hang a towel there, which will allow you to dry them off quickly before they shake-and-bake their way through the rest of the house after a winter walk. You could also hang a "bits" bag from one of the hooks, and use it to keep curious canine noses out of their toys and treats.

Coats, hats, shoes, and dog leads aren't the only items that clutter up entryway baskets. Cases for sunglasses can be left strewn, especially during the summer. Keys, as we've seen, can also become buried and tangled if tossed into the pile. To help keep smaller items separate while making them handy to "grab and go," you might be better off using a drawer.

For example, if you can find a console table, then that's great. That drawer can be used to house your sunglasses, keys, and other smaller items that might otherwise get lost or damaged if thrown into a basket. To take it one step further, look for a console table with a shelf at the bottom, like this narrow 2-drawer console table with shelves from HOOBRO. This will provide you with space to keep things like tall, muddy boots clear of the floor — especially useful after wet, winter walks. Alternatively, if you absolutely insist on using baskets, then that shelf will provide a useful place to slot them. Crucially, it also includes two drawers, which you can use to keep those clutter culprits like glasses and keys stored safely.

If your entryway flows immediately onto your stairs, and you have a cupboard beneath them, then is it working as hard for you as it could? Turning the unused space beneath your stairs into storage is a fantastic way to alleviate your reliance on messy baskets. It's especially useful for out-of-season items, like heavy coats, keeping them out of the way when you don't need them instead of languishing at the bottom of a basket.

How you go about this is down to you and the nature of the space beneath your stairs. If you have a single door, but a larger space inside to work with, then you could convert that awkward fixed cupboard into a series of smaller pull-out drawer units. Alternatively, you could do away with the doors entirely and expose the underside of your stairs. With a few clever installations, you can turn that unseen, hard-to-access void into an attractive and highly practical storage space.

Using shelves is one of the best entryway storage hacks for small, confined spaces. Instead of messy baskets which tend to greedily gobble up floor space, they capitalize on your hallway's vertical space. You can use them for several items, like keys, glasses, and any other smaller accessories that you like to take with you whenever you leave the house. And if you also have coats, leads, and bags to keep tidy — don't worry. You don't necessarily have to choose between shelves and hooks.

There are plenty of products that combine the two, like this wall-mounted coat rack with shelf from Sifenma. It features a handy shelf, which you can either use for storage or for keeping more decorative items like pictures and plants on display. Crucially, it also includes five hooks, for hanging things like coats, hats, keys, and your pooch's leads. You needn't buy something like this, either. If you have even a basic set of DIY tools, you could easily fashion a shelf and a hook rack yourself, then install them so that one sits beneath the other. That way, you can specify the appropriate amount of hooks and create a shelf that's wide and deep enough to accommodate your belongings.

In a similar vein to the previous suggestion, multifunctional cabinets and benches can also help to alleviate your reliance on baskets. Shoe storage benches, for example, provide a place to keep your shoes neatly stored, while also giving you a place to sit and tie your laces. If your sole issue with baskets is that they get in the way, then the shelf beneath the bench can help to "hide" them and stop them from tripping you up.

To take it a step further and really lean into the multifunctional storage trend, you can also buy shoe storage benches that provide internal storage. This shoe rack bench seat from IUNVR, for example, has three shelves for keeping your family's shoes tucked away. It also includes a fold-up bench seat, with a void underneath for storing smaller items like keys, sunglasses, and umbrellas.

These clever little contraptions allow you to hang your coats, like you would with a regular hanger. Only, because they fold in half, they effectively halve the space that you need in order to store your bulkier garments. They can eliminate your need to fold up larger jackets and pile them into a basket. And because the "seams" of the folded garments sit flush against the wall, they promise not to stick out too obtrusively in your entryway.

Of course, you'll need to install a rail to hang them on. However, you need only install it an inch or so from the wall. With that done, you can pick up a set of folding hangers fairly cheaply, like this four-pack of space-saving hangers from NAKBINX. These currently retail for $17.98 and are each strong enough to hold garments up to 40 pounds in weight.

There are lots of ways to use over-the-door shoe organizers around the house, but one of the most obvious places to install one is in your entryway. They're designed for shoes, which are the most obvious thing to store in them. However, you can also use the little pockets to keep things like gloves, sunscreen, rolled-up shopping bags, and even sunglasses neatly stored — instead of muddled messily inside a basket.

To make the most of this idea, you'll need to choose the right type of over-door organizer for your space. If you have room, then something like this 2-in-1 metal hanging closet organizer from NEYCIL provides a versatile storage solution for a variety of common entryway clutter. The included hooks and ring clips can be used to hang coats, hats, and dog leads, while the four adjustable shelves provide space for those smaller items like sunscreen and shopping bags. The other thing to bear in mind is where you hang it. Ideally, you should only hang it over an interior door — perhaps the one leading into your living room or kitchen. It's best not to hang it on your main front door, as the hooks that go over the top may interfere — and potentially damage — the weather-tight seals around the frame.

In entryways that are constantly cluttered with baskets brimming with smaller, bitty items, like wallets, sunscreen, and keys, an apothecary cabinet offers a versatile and attractive solution. They usually come with multiple drawers, which can keep smaller items organized and out of sight when you don't need them. They come in different styles and installation options, too.

For example, this vintage apothecary cabinet from Cinnvoice includes five drawers for storing awkward, smaller items. It also features five open cubes for keeping various items on display, plus a lift-up hutch for anything that you need to keep safe behind a door. It can be installed freestanding — perhaps on the counter of your console table. Alternatively, it can be mounted on the wall, which allows you to then use the built-in hooks — ideal for hanging other items like shopping bag organizers, keys, dog leads, coats, and more. It's typical of why apothecary cabinets work so well in the entryway. It offers a variety of ways to store the different items that would otherwise wind up tossed into a basket, keeping them safe from damage while making everything nice and easy to grab-and-go.