You’re in the process of moving into your new home. Boxes of furniture and clothes and plates sit stacked all over the place, hopefully in the right rooms. Each time you walk in or out, running errands or bringing in bags from a Target run, you (or your kids) tend to leave things behind. Shoes, backpacks, jackets, stacks of mail. Pretty soon, you’ve got piles of random stuff cluttering the front room in your home. It’s not a pretty sight that greets you when you’re coming in from the garage. If this is sounding familiar, don’t worry! You can tame this chaos by turning that entryway into an organized drop zone.

Make a Decree: What Should Stay, What Should Go

This is the entryway from your garage into your home, and everything in it should have its own place. Don’t let this room become a repository for all things you can’t fit anywhere else – decide what should stay here, and what needs to go. For example, it makes sense to store coats and boots here, especially in the cold months when you and your family need to bundle up before going outside. But unpacked boxes or library books? It doesn’t make sense to store those things here. Once you’ve decided what should stay here and what should be taken into the house, it’ll be easier to keep this place tidy.

Hang Hooks to Hold Jackets and Scarves

If your entryway includes a closet, that’s great! But if you don’t have a dedicated place to hang coats, consider adding some hooks to the wall. You can find a wide array of attractive, stylized hooks at most hardware stores, making it easy to match them with your home’s décor. Hanging jackets on hooks is undoubtedly better than heaping them in a pile on the ground.

Extra Tip: If you have young kids, be sure to hang some hooks at the right height for them! Encourage them to hang up their own coats and scarves when coming into the house.

Keep Your Keys Handy

How many times have you gotten halfway out the door only to realize you can’t find your keys? Keep these important items in one place and give yourself one less thing to worry about. Find a designated spot for your keys, wallet, sunglasses, and anything else easily misplaced. You can opt for a low table, a key bowl, or smaller hooks. Keeping these items in the entryway to your garage goes a long way in taking the chaos of your home’s “drop zone.”

Add a Bench and Take a Seat

Nobody wants to stand in the entryway while holding groceries trying to kick off a pair of shoes. Adding a bench to this room actually does double duty here. You can use this bench to set down whatever you’re holding (great if you’re trying to snag all those bags in one trip!) and it’s also handy to sit on while taking off or putting on boots in cold or rainy weather. Consider using the space below your bench for extra storage as well. This is perfect if the room off your garage isn’t very spacious.

The most important thing in organizing your entryway, or any room in your new home, is consistency. Prevent this room from descending into chaos by planning ahead, making it easy to put designated items away, and keeping your most important belongings in one place. You can even add potted plants, artwork, or decorative pillows to brighten the room that greets you. Soon you’ll have a highly organized and tidy drop zone, setting the tone for your new home.