Why a Spring Entryway Reset Is the Easiest Decluttering Win

We are well into March and it snowed here in Seattle yesterday – ugh. My brain badly needs a Spring reset and I’m going to find one through my favorite means; decluttering my entryway! The second entry in my Spring Decluttering series – here’s why an entryway reset  is such a game changer for your home and your mind.

Number one: it’s the first and last impression your brain experiences as you come and go from your home. All of those small impressions make a big difference over the course of a day or a week. We are (mostly) finished with Winter now, and our entryways have quietly collected detritus over the course of the season. Coats, jackets, shoes, bags, mail and various other items landed there and stayed, acting as a visual reminder of everything we haven’t dealt with yet.

Number 2: as far as decluttering goes, the entryway is low-commitment and high-impact. In other words, you get a lot of bang for your 20-30 minutes. It’s the decluttering equivalent of a cold plunge; it’s uncomfortable for a minute but doesn’t last long and leaves you feeling wonderfully refreshed. Let’s walk through the process of resetting and refreshing your entryway for Spring.

Step 1: Assess

The first step of the entryway reset is a visual assessment of the accumulation. Most entries feel chaotic because they are golding more volume than the space can reasonably handle. This is true whether you enter and exit through a spacious mudroom or a small foyer. Most entryway clutter falls into four categories.

Seasonal Overflow

Boots, coats, hats, gloves and anything else that stuck around after the winter weather subsided.

Package Central

New arrivals, intended returns, eventual dontaions and things you borrowed have all piled up.

Paper Accumulation

In a mostly-digital world, we all continue to receive an alarming amount of paper mail. Not much of it is important, but it represents a visual to-do list that accosts you every time you come or go from the house.

Way Too Many

Shoes, shoppping bags, sunglasses, leashes, caps. These are things that should live in the entry for convenience, but over time the number has multiplied.

Take a few minutes to scan your entry and mentally place your clutter into these categories. It will be helpful as you dive into Step 2.

Step 2: Declutter

Before the entryway can be reset we need to shed the clutter we just identified. Three quick rounds of decluttering executed in a aparticular order does the job efficiently.

Trash

Grab a trash/recycle bag and get going. Shoes/boots that have seen better days? In the bag. Extraneous package materials? In the bag. Junk mail? Toss it. Bonus points for any random broken items you were planning to fix but never will. They can also go in the bag.

Car

Let’s get the donations, store returns, items that need to go back to friends into your car. That takes a only a couple of minutes, tops. But (this is important) – don’t stop there. Take another couple of minutes to commit to a day/time (today, if possible!) that you will execute these errands. I know you’re busy, but if you come up with a plan now you won’t be staring at a pile in your trunk in 6 months. PRO TIP: I do all of my errands in one loop and reward myself at the end at the Starbucks drive-thru.

Re-Home

The winter stuff (or most of it, if winter is lingering where you live) can go back into off-season storage. Make sure you definitely still like and use everything you are packing away. There might be a jacket or two that should go with the donations in your car. Don’t waste time and effort packing away something you don’t need.

Also peel off the extra shoes, bags and random things that migrated to the entry and take them back to their regular homes. The key is to keep only a few necessary items in your entry for convenience. All the things that migrated from other parts of the house need to hurry back home.

Okay, that was the most time-consuming part of the process and I’m betting it didn’t take you long. It’s all downhill from here!

Step 3: Reset

I’m always saying that decluttering solves 80% of organizing problems. This holds true for your entryway reset. Now that you’ve stripped away all of the unneccesary and extraneous stuff it’s so easy to efficiently organize what’s left.

All you really need in an entry is a few hooks for jackets, leashes and caps. Maybe a basket or two for shoes and incoming/outgoing packages. And some sort of receptical for mail – keep it on the smaller side and commit to stripping out the junk mail as soon as it comes through the door.

In most cases, you don’t need any fancy organizing systems – less stuff does the trick!

Reset & Refresh

Your entryway sets the tone for your entire home. When it’s overrflowing (usually at the end of a season) the house feels chaotic before you even step inside. But after you’ve decluttered the difference is immediate and impactful. And now, with just a 30 minute effort, the smallest space in your home just delivered the biggest sense of relief. Congratulations, your home and your mind are now reset for Spring!