Trunkroom Channel English

Leave and return home more pleasantly and smoothly with neat entrance storage

[Points for organizing your entrance]

In many of the homes that we visit to do tidying up work, we find the floor just inside the front door covered in shoes, and the shoe shelves crammed with more shoes and accessories. Have the shoes forced into your shoe closet become squashed out of shape or moldy? First of all, take them all out and check.

—Do you have any of these?—

  • 前Shoes that you’re not sure when you last wore
  • Several times more umbrellas than there are people in your home
  • A space-consuming golf bag you only rarely use
  • Inadequate storage boxes that you don’t make full use of

[3 points for entrance storage]
(1) Aim to use 80% of your shoe storage space
- If your shoes are packed in tightly, it is harder to put them in and out. Poor ventilation also increases the likelihood of mold damage. Keep in mind that you need an appropriate unused storage space to be able to pick out the shoes you want to wear without any fuss.

(2) Assign shelf space for each person, different seasons, etc.
- If you haven’t chosen where each pair of shoes belongs, people will just return them to the nearest empty space, which can lead to irritation if they can’t find them next time. Assign places to simplify storage for everyone and make going out smoother. Do so fairly so that the shelves aren’t full of the wife’s shoes with nowhere to put her husband’s.

(3) Remove unnecessary items to make space for necessary ones
- A golf bag or other sports equipment not only takes up a lot of space but also makes the entrance look cluttered. If you only use items rarely, try keeping them in a trunk room. A trunk room that allows 24-hour access is handy because you can pick up your golf bag in the morning on your way to the course, for example. The extra space in your entrance can be used more effectively for keeping items you normally need when going out, or perhaps an emergency evacuation kit.

[Various points on entrance storage]

—Shoe storage—

An easy way to divide the shelves between family members is according to their height, so children have the lower shelves while their mother and father use the middle and top shelves respectively. Another way could be for a husband to use the left side and his wife the right. It’s easy to maintain a suitable number of shoes by making it a rule that when someone buys a new pair, they must not put them in someone else’s area! Knowing that if you buy a new pair you will have to throw away an old pair to make space could prevent overspending.

Putting women’s pumps in toe first and heeled shoes in heel first makes it easier to take them out next time. Keeping everyday shoes directly on a shelf and not in a storage box also makes it quicker to access them later.
It’s OK to use boxes to store footwear that you don’t get a chance to use often such as out-of-season items, boots, and formal shoes, but it’s also good to use a trunk room. If you use the latter, choose one with adequate temperature and humidity control. It’s probably much better for your shoes than in the entrance to your home.

—Umbrella storage—

Basically you only need as many umbrellas as there are people in your home. If you have more, organize them. If you use an umbrella stand, get one that’s the right size. Having a large stand for a small family is a waste of space.


Many homes don’t seem to have a fixed place for keeping folding umbrellas, but it’s handy to keep one in the entrance so you can just grab it on your way out. You can save space by fitting a hook to the back of the door to hang it on.

—Other items and ideas—

Child’s going-out kit: When you go out with your child, you have to take many small things such as mosquito repellent, sunscreen, a hat, and so on, so we recommend that you store them all together in one box.

Choose a place near the front door to keep your keys and your seal for accepting deliveries. Keep them in a box on a shoe shelf, hang them on a hook fitted to the inside of the door, or devise some other way. If you’re not a naturally tidy person, we recommend you keep them in something like a tray, box, or small plate to reduce the sense of clutter.

Have you ever realized you’ve forgotten something after putting your shoes on at the front door? Keep a supply of the things you often forget near the front door, such as handkerchiefs, tissues, disposable facemasks, etc. This will drastically reduce the problem.

Evacuation kit: Due in part to the recent earthquake disaster, many homes must be keeping emergency items such as a rucksack, helmet, lantern, etc. But we often find them stored where they would be inaccessible in an emergency, such as at the back of a closet or in a storage room. The ideal place to store an evacuation kit is near the front door, where it can be quickly grabbed in the event of a disaster. Even if storage space is limited, this kit will be a big help in an emergency so make room for it somehow by reorganizing some other less necessary items. It’s also a good idea to regularly decide who will carry the rucksack and other things.

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