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!"