Whether you call it an entryway, hallway or a very fancy foyer, there’s one thing all of these spaces have in common. This often-overlooked section of the apartment has the power to set the stage for your entire home, no matter how large or small it is. In my case, calling it an entryway or foyer would be on the generous side. It’s basically a few feet of hallway that follow my front door. Until now ;)

It’s all about coordinated style — also known as the art of thoughtfully mixing, matching and layering pieces around a certain design theme or color palette. This makes it easy to revamp your space without just tossing everything you own.

Now, onto the first “room’ in my house: the entryway!

I’ve always loved the idea of having a mudroom. Life with a mudroom seems like a good life — you come into your home, discard the outside world and get cozy in your space. Growing up, this space was always filled with muddy rain boots, snowsuits just waiting for winter and slippers for everyone in my family.

STEP 1: CLEAN UP AND RESET

As I mentioned, our hallway has been pretty unused. At one point, we did have a few hooks on the wall but could barely fit anything on them, so it always ended up looking like a scene from the show Hoarders. So, the first step here is to clean up so that you can evaluate how to transform your space. We recommend collecting ideas, products and materials you love on a Pinterest board so you can virtually see how the space might come together.

STEP 2: USE PAINT TO DEFINE YOUR SPACE

Because I’m a renter, I’m always looking for ways to define different spaces in my home without major construction. To turn the entryway into a mudroom, first I had to figure out how to make this section of hallway actually seem like its own room. Paint to the rescue! As you’ll see throughout this series of posts, I have a thing for blue! It’s fairly likely that just about every room in our apartment will end up being a shade of blue — but you’ll have to stay tuned and see!

STEP 3: INSTALL A COAT RACK

Remember all those pesky coats? They need a home. This white 8-hook mounted coat rack is a great option. Before choosing a coat rack, be sure to measure your space to see what will really fit. Hallways get skinny pretty quickly, so it’s important to make sure you’ve got something that will work. This is handy because those four hooks are actually eight, and the storage up above is stellar.

STEP 4: ADD IN A SHOE RACK AND RUG

You don’t want to be traipsing city dirt and germs all over your apartment. Both my husband David and I have a good number of shoes in our regular rotation, and it’s nice to keep this out of our main closet. We stacked up two of these white metal shoe racks to create a ton of shoe storage in a very small space. They stack easily and the size is adjustable, so even my size 6 shoes can fit without falling. On the floor, we’ve got an allen + roth geometric woven accent rug. My pup Turkey most definitely approves!

STEP 5: DESIGN DETAILS

Now that you’ve got your main pieces in place, it’s time to add in a few more organizational and aesthetic details. We found this simple wood hook at Lowe’s and used Rust-Oleum spray paint to paint it a very pale blue so go with the general look. To make sure the shelves in the coat rack don’t end up looking too cluttered, we recommend using bins to house things like gloves, scarves, hats and, let’s be real, doggie bags and treats. As you can also see, I have a pretty serious sunglasses collection so used a jewelry rack to get my sunnies all lined up. Finally, I wanted to make sure we had some version of a memo board or bulletin board to pin up concert tickets, photos and so on. Instead of going with the traditional framed board, I nailed three cork trivets right into the wall. To extra color, use spray paint to create the two-tone effect you see above.

STEP 6: MINI GALLERY WALL

We could also call this campaign the “No More Blank Walls” campaign! I’ve been collecting art for years and years and years. It’s been sitting in piles, both framed and un-framed ever since we moved to San Francisco almost five years ago. It’s time to put it up! Because I didn’t want the hallway to feel too crowded, I went with mostly bright, white artwork in white frames. This helps it feel less cluttered, especially in an apartment. We’ll go more in-depth on how to create your own gallery wall when we get to my living room. For now, suffice it to say that a level, a hammer and a picture hanging kit are all essential.

Now that is one good looking entryway, don’t you think? Looking for more design inspo? Follow Lowe’s on Pinterest.