Entryway

A narrow console in a small entryway is often only 10 to 14 inches deep and 30 to 42 inches wide. Decorating it is a tabletop problem: keep the front edge clear for keys and bags, put height at the back, and leave a landing spot for mail. This post stays on the table surface—not the door, not the full hallway path. What’s in this post A tray that holds the vignette Candlesticks for height A tabletop tree on one end Garland along the back edge A key bowl that stays useful A tray that holds the vignette Without a tray, objects drift and look like clutter on a 12-inch-deep top. A 15.7-inch round wooden decorative tray (on Amazon) gives the arrangement an edge. On a 30-inch-wide console, center the tray or shift it slightly off-center and leave 6 to 8 inches of bare wood for a bag. Lift the tray in January and the table is done. ...

Lots of apartment front doors open with one wall right next to them and another wall at a right angle a few feet away. You end up with a corner and nothing else. Most entryway advice assumes a long flat wall, so it doesn’t help. The good news is that corners are efficient. You get two walls’ worth of hanging space and you don’t block a walkway. Measure first Stand in the doorway and open the door fully. Note where it stops. Anything you put in the corner has to clear the door’s swing, and if it’s behind the door, you’ll lose access to it every time someone comes in. ...

Lots of apartments don’t have an entryway at all, just a front door that opens into the living room. But even two feet of wall next to the door can do the job of an entry if every piece earns its place. Everything an entry needs to handle: coats, bags, keys, shoes, the mail, and one last look in the mirror on the way out. Hooks before anything else The first thing to sort out is where coats and bags go, because otherwise they end up on a chair. A wall coat rack with a shelf (on Amazon) gives you hooks below and a little ledge above for keys, sunglasses or a plant, in about two feet of wall. ...

If you decorate for Halloween, most of it comes down on November 1 and the entry sits bare until Christmas. A harvest look instead, with pumpkins, dried leaves, wheat and warm wood, looks right all through October and November. Then for Thanksgiving week you just add a few things rather than starting over. The porch and door Pumpkins in a group. Three or five, in a loose triangle: one big, two medium, two small. Mix colors, a white one next to orange next to a blue-green heirloom. Odd numbers and different heights look like a harvest; even numbers look like a store display. ...

The entryway is the first thing anyone sees when they come in, and usually the last place that gets decorated. It doesn’t need much room. These ideas work in an entry as narrow as three feet, and nearly all of them come down without a trace. If you have a console table Even a 30-inch console is enough. A lit garland across the back. Lay a 6-foot pre-lit garland (on Amazon) along the back edge of the table and let the ends pool a little. On a 30-inch console that leaves about 18 inches hanging at each side, which looks generous without sliding off. A narrower table needs only 4 feet. Tuck a few pinecones or dried orange slices into it. Pick one with a timer (six hours on is typical) so you never have to remember to switch it off. ...