Thursday, June 27, 2013

23 UHeart Organizing: A Friendly and Functional Foyer

I would love to call my pal Ashley {from 7th House on the Left}, my long lost sister.  I love her style, her sweet personality, her photography, her organizing methods and how she always makes everything look so beautiful.  And I always get excited to see what she has in store next!

Today, we get to take a peek at her charming foyer and all of her "secret" organizing solutions.  Here she is now!


A few weeks ago, we finally got around to decorating our tiny foyer area.  With it being the first thing guests see when they come over, our overall goal was to show a bit of our personality and make a good "first impression".  On top of that, we also wanted to take it to another level by adding a few functional storage solutions, but we didn't want the area to scream, "Hey, were storing stuff in here!"


It may not be rocket science, and it may not work for everyone, but my method to achieve this was make it look good first, then add the function.  We don't usually put form before function, but the main purpose of this project was to create a welcoming space for guests.

In the basket, we have extra throw blankets for movie nights.  On the table, there's an ever-cycling stack of magazines.  In the bottom linen storage box are video game controllers and accessories.  Finally, we keep playing cards and small party games in the top box.

Here is a bit of a closer look...


I guess you can say I'm a bit of a magazine hoarder.  We have a ton of home-related magazine subscriptions and sometimes it's hard to get around to reading them all.  When a new magazine comes in, we just add it to the stack.  One of my favorite things to do in the morning is grab a new magazine off the stack as I walk through the foyer to my office.  It's fun to flip through a good magazine as I eat my morning Greek yogurt.  It's a great way to start the day with a dose of inspiration.  Once the stack starts getting too tall, I weed out the old issues.


Around here, movie nights aren't complete without a cozy blanket.  I had been eying this chalkboard label basket from Target for months.  I've always said it would be a great toy box for a living room or play room, but since we don't have a need for a toy box around here, we decided to use it to store a pillow and a few throw blankets for movie nights.  In the meantime, I'm keeping my eye out for some fun, vintage quilts to warm things up even more.


We're a kid-free household, but that doesn't mean we don't act like kids once in awhile.  Greg and I enjoy playing a game or two of Mario Kart Wii every now and then.  Even though Greg totally wouldn't admit it, we've also been known to play a game or two - okay, or three - of Disney Just Dance.  Hey, it's good exercise.  The Wii goodie box is just a few steps from the living room, so it's close enough to be convenient when it's time to pull it out.  I also included a little container of extra batteries for the remotes.


In the small storage box, we have decks of cards, our score-keeping notebook, and a few other small party games.  This is a great place to keep these smaller games because they aren't rolling around the shelves in the foyer coat closet where we keep board games.

Overall, we're really happy with how our foyer looks, and even happier that we could make it functional.  We don't suggest putting form before function very often, but this just goes to show that any area in your home {even the ones that are "just for looks"} can be organized and functional.

Happy organizing, everyone!



"I'm Ashley from 7th House on the Left - a blog where my husband, Greg, and I talk about renovating, decorating and living in our first house here in Hanover, Virginia. I’ve been an interior design enthusiast and a long-time fan of all things organizing. Yep, I was the kid with the perfectly arranged Disney stuffed animals, alphabetized coloring books and the categorized and color-coded sticker book. When I'm not busy writing or doing projects around the house, I love classic TV shows (particularly I Love Lucy) and curling up with Greg, Bentley (our 9-pound Pomeranian), a blanket and a good black and white classic movie – I’m a complete sucker for Audrey Hepburn, Doris Day, Katharine Hepburn and Cary Grant films. I'm thrilled and honored to be a part of the IHeart Organizing team and excited to get to work!"

23 comments:

  1. It looks great Ashley! And agree, this is space where putting form over function first really paid off. Very inviting.

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  2. Love this! I love her blog too. I really want that basket but I'm pretty sure mine would end up as a toy box with my 4 year old and one on the way. It may just have to come home with me some day.... And I love the pretty boxes to hold smaller items. I'm in desperate need of that in my home!

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  3. I love it! I'm just curious if any thought went into the fact that you chose open shelving as opposed to concealed shelving? Sometimes the right decision isn't always crystal clear to me, so I like hearing how other people reason it out. Thanks!
    http://practicaldecor.blogspot.com

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  4. looks fantastic, Ashley! I think you pulled off the perfect balance of form & function. And hey, there's no shame in a little Just Dance action. Dora and the Fresh Beat Band give me and the kids a pretty good dance workout too ;)

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  5. SPOONS! I see Spoons! I have a fantastic story about Spoons, Thanksgiving day and a quick trip to the ER...oh, family gatherings, how you bring out the best in all of us. LOL

    Very cute space! Love the idea of keeping batteries in there with the controllers. We have a little one, so that wouldn't work quite yet. But as she gets older, it's something to think about.

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    1. Yesss! Spoons is the best game ever. Lot's of family stories with that game here too, haha!

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  6. Where is the table from? Perfect!
    Erincyoung (at) yahoo.com

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    1. Thanks! The table is from Target. Here's the link: http://bit.ly/YYC0jQ

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  7. I love the glass table. I have to figure out how to store our games around the house.... Unfortunately we have about 30! ahh

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  8. Wow, so organized, I wish I was that organized!! I love the glass table with the shelf under it and the basket and boxes fit perfectly under it!! Where did you find the boxes? Love them.

    Alison

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    1. I picked up the boxes from Hobby Lobby a while back when I was in college. They still have a great box selection though. They have great sales every now and then too!

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  9. PS - I LOVE the idea of keeping board games in a basket like that for when guests comes over. It's genius! And it kind of lets them know that they're in for a good time :)

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  10. It looks so great! I have the same table in my foyer but I think it needs a little touch to make it look organize.

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  11. This inspires me to tidy up our wii gear.
    Thanks.

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  12. I could really use som help with my foyer. It's shaped almost like a zigzag E, somehow, which makes for interesting lighting and not a lot of space.
    I've been trying to figure out some way to give our hallway a cozy feeling from a lamp. But I still need it to light the room enough (or at least one half of the room because of the shape) to see our clothes and shoes.
    We do have one lamp, it's pretty much a "cleening lamp" - bright enugh to make you see all of the dust...
    I really need help figuring out what kind of lamp I should buy! Something for the wall, a table, a shelf? A big lamp or a small one, or maybe a flat on?

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  13. Beautiful entry! I love it! One thing - we have almost identical wood flowers, and use that basket in our playroom to store toys. Over time it may scratch your floor; I caught ours early and just added some felt furniture circles to the bottom, then buffed out the scratches. If I can save you that step though...all the better!

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  14. I love your use of storage with organization. The basket brings comfort to the area. You gave me a lot of great ideas with the chalkboard labels and I love the lamp shade. I too love to read in the morning, whether it be a cookbook or magazine.

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  15. This looks very cozy! Love how organized your things are. Space friendly, beautiful, and very neat. Keep it up! I hope my place would look like this. HA HA :)

    http://tailoryourhome.com

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  16. how big is the basket? do you have a link to that?
    thanks!!
    ps. any creative ideas on how to store books not in a bookcase??

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  17. I love the look! It's very inviting & nice to look at. I have 2 pillows with the same print on them that's on your lamp! Target?

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  18. Where did you get the mirror? I love it!

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  19. Gorgeous! I've been trying to tell my husband that a narrow table, a lamp, and a mirror would be perfect in our foyer (which is basically the space between the two front doors) and now I can show him what I mean! Haha! Thanks for this! We plan to put our everyday shoe storage under the table, but I love the blanket basket idea...gonna steal it for our living room!
    Sarah @ www.marriageisnotforwimps.blogspot.com

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