Foyer Storage. Just Can't Get Enough.

Yeeeeeeah, I hate foyers, overall. The word "foyer" is pretentious, too. Usually, these spaces are cluttered, wet, sandy places that cause panic when a group walks in the front door. That group is usually my family, and the pandemonium is every day. The coats and boots all end up in various places where they don't belong. In this house, the entrance is right at the bottom of the main stairs - whoever designed this house was clearly an idiot. Just saying.

Last year (maybe two years ago), I followed Sherry's example from Young House Love and purchased two RETUR recycling bins from IKEA to use as shoe storage. Best. Idea. Ever. They are easy to keep clean and have a streamlined look that doesn't overload this already super tiny space.

Stoooooorage! This puppy holds a lot. The top one is actually filled with winter mitts/hats right now. And hey, toes!

Best dog ever, keeping it real.

We do have a coat closet, but no one really likes to use it because you have to take your shoes off and walk a few feet before you reach it. So, coats usually end up on the stairs or anywhere else that isn't a hanger in the closet. It's weird. I can't fight it, nor explain it, so I decided to install some coat storage closer to the door. Scientist husband was against this idea, so I've been stewing over this for a few months. But screw it, I'm doing it anyway.

We have a few rental places in town, which is great because we have lots of building odds and ends in the basement. For one particular office space, we had used beadboard wallpaper under the chair rails and still have quite a bit leftover. Since our house already has real wood beadboard in the foyer, I thought this could be put to good use.

I did buy a few pieces of casing to trim off the wallpaper and some quarter round to finish the existing baseboard.

The before.

The in-between. 

I have my eye on this robin's egg blue wooden board with cast iron hooks at a local antiques store. I'm thinking it'll help finish off this project and we can actually hang coats when we first come in. Woot!