The entryway at the condo had a well organized small closet stuffed with winter wear, rain jackets, hiking and snow boots, and Bella’s many (many many many) belongings. When pressed, literally, we could fit a guest’s coat, maybe two. The few times it was necessary, I called upon my childhood party helper skills and placed coats and purses on our bed, and then bemoaned the inadequacy of our entryway closet space for good measure. Whining solves everything.

I may have mentioned previously that the entry closet was near the kitchen in the original floor plan. There was some re-arranging on my part (I played Sims for the better part of the last 16 years, I am obviously very qualified to make these types of design changes) where the mud room and half bath switched places, and two feet of space was added to the entire width of the main floor to accommodate an entryway closet, adjacent to the entry door. You know, where Entryway Closets are SUPPOSED TO BE.

Never having had a proper entryway closet, I started getting excited about all of the things that could be stored inside. First and foremost, we had a mud room, so we didn’t need to store every day stuff like purses, sunglasses, and gym bags. I could go on but the mud room is for another post.

What we needed to store was:

• Bella’s Stuff
• Bella’s Stuff
• Bella’s Stuff
• Heavy Winter Gear
• Coats & Outerwear
• Ski Stuff

Bella has the most stuff but somehow takes up the least amount of space. She has two drawers; one for little things, boots, collars, muzzles, poop bags; one for coats and costumes. She also has a hook for her leashes. And from time to time, if it gets really wet, we use an adult hanger to hang dry a coat or jacket.

Chad and I each have a drawer and a container. The drawer is for scarves, gloves, and hats. The containers are for ski stuff like snow pants and goggles. Our ski helmets go on the very top shelf. The bottom shelf is excellent storage for the various specialty shoes that we wear infrequently, like hiking/rain/snow boots, or hard soled slippers we use to get the mail or take Bella for a walk.

The hanging space is almost excessive. But you guys, there are extra hangers for guests. When people come over, I can hang up their coats, I can hang up their purses or place them on an extra space on the shelf. I can’t tell you how happy that makes me!

I think the was the first thing in the new house that made me feel like I’d really made it. I don’t know exactly where “it” is because I still don’t feel like we’re adults. Maybe just the fact that we could have a party with all our friends and everyone would be able to put their coat in a closet on a hanger? Hooray!