The entrance to a country home needs to offer practicality, functionality and style.

As you enter your home, a nook to unload your items from the day is essential. From work boots to school bags, raincoats to car keys, a drop off point makes decluttering your person convenient and efficient.

However, entryways can quickly and easily become messy, unless you invest a little time into the design.

We’ve put together some points to consider when designing your entryway:

Enclosed storage. Deep drawers, boxes, cupboards - space to store away dirty boots or worn schoolbags so that everything isn’t in plain sight.
A bench to sit down on – for family members to take a seat while they put their shoes on or take their shoes off.
Hooks for bags or jackets. Keep in mind any hooks that store wet raincoats will need to have something waterproof below them, so don’t hang them over any soft furnishings!
Baskets, drawers or pigeonholes for smaller items such as keys, mail, phones. You can allocate a space for each family member.
A phone dock or charging point.
Throw cushions for the bench will brighten up your entryway and they can be easily swapped to stay on trend.

From rustic to contemporary, below are a few entryway inspiration images.

Many furniture stores will sell entryway hutches, or if you’re handy with the hammer you can make one yourself.