Organizing entryway clutter

We mainly use our back door to get in house arriving from the garage. This entryway is very limited in terms of space. It’s right by the kitchen and the stairs that go to the upper floor. That small area has been a mess for a long time. Our major issue with that mess was finding the stuff kids needed getting out of the house, especially on school mornings. We also have our kitchen fire extinguisher at that corner as well. Finally, I came up with a plan, gave the entryway an overhaul and organize the clutter.

We had a simple coat hook and a shoe storage bench.

• The kids couldn’t reach the hook so they just threw away their coats where ever they pleased. I had to hang them up afterwards.
• There wasn’t any place to put their school bags.
• We had to dig through a pile to find whose’s hats, gloves, mittens etc. which is a pain when we’re hurrying out to catch the school bus.
• I had to put my handbag/purse on top of the pile.
• We used a red canvas organizer to keep the keys but they would get tangled in one pocket. My pet peeve was not being able to find my keys when I needed to run out of the house.

I found what I needed at Target. The cube storage is “ClosetMaid Cubeicals® 6 Cube Organizer” in Cherry color. The new coat hook and organizer is “Wall mount coat rack with cubby storage organizer“.

• We put hats, gloves and scarf on the bottom cubes in order. In the summer, these will be replaced with hats, sunscreens and sun glasses. 
• The upper cube holds everything miscellaneous.
• The upper left cube is for my purse and upper left cube is for my daughter’s ballet bag.
• I repurposed the old coat hanger for kid’s coats and school bags. Finally, they hang their own stuff.
• I and my husband hang our house keys under our own coats and hang the car keys on the last hook.
• We put misc items that need to be picked up (mail etc.) on the way, out of the house in the small baskets in the upper organizer.

Finally, the entryway is organized in way that now everyone knows where to put away their stuff and where to find it afterwards.

Here are some links that gave me ideas and inspiration:
Pinterest boards: http://www.pinterest.com/oraganizedbliss/mud-room-organizing-ideas/
http://www.pinterest.com/juliebestry/organizing-entryways/
10 DIY Entryways you can build