Reclaiming our spaces: My entryway

If you've been reading the Simply Organized blog for long you've probably seen my entryway many times.  I continue to tweak it as my family changes.  Before my oldest daughter started kindergarten I set up a drop zone, which you can see here. 

This is what my entryway has been looking like:

I didn't have time to give this area a major overhaul.  But the main thing we needed here was a place to sit while still having some storage.  Now that we no longer have half vinyl/half carpet on the entryway floor, I have been dreaming about a perfect seating bench.

But, it needed to have storage potential.
It needed to be sort of a low bench.
I couldn't afford much.
My space is sort of narrow.
And I didn't want to assemble anything!

I thought I was going to have to somehow make my own which might have been more difficult than assembling something with particle board.

But you know, one day I found myself at a different Target than my normal.  And I had this bench from Heaven on my mind.

When I found ottoman cubes on clearance for $12 each I exclaimed, "That's it!" and the stranger in the aisle with me gave me a very strange look.  High on adrenaline, I smiled then vanished to the front of the store and grabbed a cart.  I was so worried the stranger would see my find so desirable that she would grab up all the black ottomans that were left.  To my relief when I arrived back at the scene the little guys were still waiting for me.

When I got home I tried one out:

Okay, that would work but I really needed to use at least two:

This is better but I lost a lot of storage removing the table and the baskets that were on the wall.  So I tried three:

I like the streamlined look of three cubes but I still really missed the old vintage table.  So I added it back:

Ottomans from Target, Vintage table from Precious Cargo in Fayetteville, AR, locker basket containing gloves and hats from Clever Container.

So, this is it for me.  This gives me the most amount of storage of all my choices.  One ottoman for each of my kids.  I can still put school papers into either side of the table (there are little drawer type things that are magazine size).

However, when I was at the store I had a clever idea:

The file box can hold files (should you choose to do this for yourself). But I will use it to contain the misplaced items that the girls have left in my bedroom or kitchen!  And the backpacks can also fit right beside the file box.  I could also use a more narrow file box if the backpack needs more space in the future.

I feel pretty clever and of course I am totally giddy about reclaiming this space!  I wish I'd had time to make this space more pretty but I just didn't have time.  The goal is to reclaim the space.  By focusing on the need for seating and storage I got done what I needed.  I am using the extra ottoman in a different room now instead of returning it.  At $12 it's an easy item to use elsewhere.  I reused a mesh wire file box I just finished using elsewhere.  So I only spent $24 for this space.

Could your entry use a tweak?  Think about what you want from this space.  Think outside the box and have fun.  I did.

See what space Jacqueline reclaimed over at Creative Outpour.