5 messy things that guests always notice in your hallway – and the low price (but high impact) clutter busters that’ll hide them from nosy visitors

Your hallway is the first thing your friends, family, and visitors see when they enter your home. How it looks sets the tone for the rest of your house and invites nosy guests to make their first impression, and that comes with a lot of pressure for it to look perfect.

And while it’s always a good idea to be inspired by the things people with a tidy hallway always have, I know from first-hand experience that you can’t always trust your own judgment. After all, when you live in a space for so long, and your cleaning schedule becomes almost robotic, it’s incredibly easy to become houseblind to your own clutter.

This means your visitors can spot things in your hallway that just don’t register with you anymore, which is why I thought I’d remind you of the messy things guests always notice in your hallway so you can tackle them head-on before they arrive.

1. Cluttered shoes

There are so many benefits to being a shoes-off household, but ditching shoes at the door can result in a lot of clutter - especially if you have a small, compact hallway with limited space for proper shoe organisation. And when guests arrive and add even more shoes into the mix, your hallway can become an instant mess.

This is why temporary or permanent shoe storage is key when hosting. Personally, I swear by this shoe storage hack I used while hosting over Christmas, where I invited all of my guests to pop their shoes into this Storivo Shoe Organiser (£14.99 at Amazon) when they arrived. I stashed it under a table and out of the way when in use, and then folded it down for easy storage when they’d gone.

There are so many other options you could choose from, though - and sometimes simply asking them if they’re happy for you to move their shoes into another room can work wonders. But if you want to add proper shoe storage into the mix, just make sure to avoid anything big or bulky, and opt for something that’ll hide the actual shoes from view.

2. Messy coats and bags

A hallway is one of the most practical areas of the house, and it’s often where many families store the ‘outside essentials’ - like their coats, bags and school backpacks. And while this makes sense for everyday life, nosy (and judgmental) guests can often think that this collection of essentials looks messy.

And while you could simply let guests think what they want, those who want to make a positive impact on their visitors could consider organising these things in advance of their arrival. Personally, I always find that a coat rack is so much tidier than hooks on a wall, as all the coats and bags can be kept in one small area rather than cluttering an entire wall. This coat rack, £34 at Habitat, is the perfect size for a small hallway.

In fact, I prefer to keep hooks among the things people with a tidy under-the-stairs cupboard always have. But I do think that slimline units that can house both shoes and a small selection of coats can also work in a larger hallway - as long as they’re not encroaching on essential entryway space.

3. Piles of post

I don’t know about you, but my hallway always becomes the dumping ground for the post that comes through the door. I don’t know what to do with it, so I place it on the console table and hope that it (along with the rest of the pile) magically sorts itself out. But this is one of the messy areas that guests always notice.

Of course, I don’t want my nosy visitors peeking at my bills or my next doctor’s appointment, either, so sorting out this pile of post is in everyone’s best interest. And while the best way to combat this clutter is to file it in a different room and in something like this Albers Chrome Filing Cabinet (£85 at Habitat), there are other ways to organise it while still keeping it in the hallway.

Focus on storage solutions that will keep all of the post together in one tidy corner of the hallway, or you could be inspired by Jenny, our Senior Digital Editor, who set up a family command centre to deal with all of these important documents and reminders.

4. Bulky furniture

Unless you’re blessed with a hallway of dreams, most people’s hallways are relatively small in size. And just like the messy things that guests always notice in your bathroom, using the wrong furniture can make a space look cluttered and chaotic.

Bulky items like big storage benches may seem like a surefire way to organise your hallway and keep all of the essentials in one area, but using them in the wrong hallway - i.e a small one - can actually have a negative impact. That’s why it’s well worth ditching the bulky furniture in favour of slimline, space-saving ones instead.

Our Print Assistant, Maddie, swears by the IKEA Bissa unit for her narrow hallway, and almost every retailer out there now offers space-saving furniture that’ll still add practical storage to your space. They’ll make a hallway look so much tidier and combat the messy look they might have previously judged you for.

5. Those ‘when I get round to it’ items

A hallway often becomes a halfway house for the things that don’t quite belong in the home. These are the ‘when I get round to it’ items, like the parcels that need to be taken back to the Post Office, the piles of kids’ clothes that are waiting to be picked up by your mum friend, and the other temporary items that don’t have a home in your house.

And while it makes sense to keep them in your hallway so you don’t forget, these items can instantly make a space look messy - which is something your nosy guests will undoubtedly judge you for. That’s why the first port of call should always be to relocate them before your guests arrive, or, better yet, actually take them to the Post Office and drop them off at your friends’ house.

However, if you don’t have space, making the most of a clutter bucket could be a solution. These come in so many different shapes and forms, and one option I love is utilising a stair basket to keep these items nearby but out of reach of prying eyes when you’re hosting.

Combat this clutter, and your guests won't have any reason to judge...