Make Your Hallway Work in Winter: Wet Coats, Muddy Boots and Lost Keys Sorted

Your hallway is the first and last place you see every day, and in winter it carries wet coats, muddy boots, umbrellas, school bags and parcels. When none of these has a home, they spread onto the stairs and the kitchen table. A few changes turn the hallway from a bottleneck into a working space.

Seven changes for the busiest corner of your home

1. Put down a proper doormat. Use two if you have room: a coarse mat outside to scrape off mud and a soft, absorbent one inside to catch water. Most of the dirt that reaches your floors comes in on shoes.
2. Add a boot tray. A rubber or metal tray with a raised edge holds wet boots and stops puddles spreading across the floor. A layer of pebbles in the tray lets water drain away from the soles so boots dry faster.
3. Fit hooks at two heights. Adult hooks at about 160cm and a lower row for children mean everyone can hang up their own coat. Hooks hold more than a coat stand and take up less floor space.
4. Give each person a basket. One basket per person on a shelf or under a bench holds hats, gloves and scarves. Nobody has to search a shared heap on a cold morning.
5. Create a drop zone. A bowl or tray for keys, a wall hook for the house keys you need daily, and a letter rack for post stop the small things that get lost. Keep keys away from the letterbox for security.
6. Add somewhere to sit. A narrow bench makes it easier to pull boots on and off, and a bench with a lift-up lid or cubbies underneath doubles as shoe storage.
7. Edit by season. Take sandals, sun hats and light jackets out of the hallway and store them elsewhere until spring. Only the things you use this season should earn space by the door.