Welcome Home! Welcome Guest! Welcome Friends! The entry way proclaims this message to all who enter into it. It is your homes first impression to those who have never entered before. It is the greeting we long for after a hectic, rough day. What sights, what smells greet you as you enter? I started on the outside for this spring cleaning endevor. I have been looking for some time for a spring / summer wreath for the front door. I was glad to find this at Target. While I enjoy the floral wreaths they just did not seem to match the craftsman style of the house. The front door is an important feature to your home. Sweep off the porch, get rid of those cobwebs and birds nests. I am currently doing battle with a robin who is insisting in nesting under the porch rafters. She is making a daily mess out of our porch!Inside I replaced a small bookshelf that sat under the window with a larger bookshelf that had previously been in our DOD's room. Mr. has been remodeling her room and there was no longer space for this set of shelves. Our entry way is only a very small section of a small room.
This area is serves as the computer room
as well as a music room. It is a high traffic area that gets really dirty and cluttered quickly. One of the things we have trained ourselves to do is not leave things out that are not being used. Everything has a place and everything in that place really keeps the area picked up and saves my sanity! A constant battle area is the small table next to the door. Everyone wants to set and leave things on it. I have a zero policy tolerance for that. We also do not keep family shoes in this area. We have a cubbie by the back door where each person is allowed a pair of shoes. Above and beyond that we all keep our shoes in our rooms. The one thing yet to be done in this room is to resolve our computer issues. We really need a new computer. We looked over the weekend have decided on a lap top. That will remove the behemoth of a monitor and open up surface area on the desk for a working space. It will also clean up a lot of the cords that clutter behind the desk. The curtains have been freshened, the rug beat, the floor scrubbed, the window cleaned. I sorted through the drawers on the bookshelf and took out many learning games that our children have outgrown and no longer use. One of the drawers contains all of our camera and ipod cords which are each labeled with whose cord and to what gadget the cord goes to. It was a fairly quick morning project.
One of the things that I have done in every room of the house is to place small lamps for softer lighter. This is true in the entry way as well. The little light by the table is turned on when we leave for an evening and its warmth greats us whenever we return home. Now that I have cleaned up the visual appearance of the entry way I want to make sure and remember to create a pleasant aroma in this area. Our spaces should please all of our senses. A scented candle does this nicely. Vanilla is my favorite home scent closely follwed by the scent of baking bread!
