Living Room + Entryway Closets

Depending on the age of your house and the style of its layout, you may or may not have a closet within the living room. If you do find yourself with a closet here, count your lucky stars. More storage space — especially the kind behind closed doors — is always a plus. A closet in one of the less-trafficked rooms, such as a living room, can solve problems you didn't know you had.

One approach is to dedicate the space to the things that fall outside the daily workings of a home. Ginny Snook Scott of California Closets says this can be the perfect landing spot for the items that rotate through our homes while we're busy welcoming and celebrating others. She recommends that clients treat this space as an entertaining storage hub of sorts. "We recommend hanging linens, which can keep them wrinkle-free and ready at a moment's notice," she says, "and this is a perfect space for them."

It's also a good spot for large trays and oddly shaped serving items. Because this closet won't be used on a daily basis, it can be a safe home for the odds and ends — some fragile, some just bulky — that rotate through our lives, like vases, candlesticks, board games and such. Scott also notes that her own family room closet includes a gift-wrapping station complete with a tall desk and baskets and drawers for ribbon and wrap, where she can prepare a gift at a moment's notice.

Decorator Rebecca Hawkins says that the more creatively you think about outfitting the space, the better it can work for you. "If your closet has plenty of room, you could put a pretty chest of drawers in there so you'd have drawers for all the little things," she says. "But I've seen people hide media equipment in spots like this. Anything needed for televisions, computers or music — even Wi-Fi equipment."

And that brings us to another approach to decking out the living room closet. Because it doesn't get rummaged around in as often as others, this can be a good spot for hiding some of your home's necessities that you don't want to spotlight. Think Wi-Fi network adapters, maybe even home security systems or fireproof boxes — anything that must be in an easily accessible and central location but also out of the way.

Think about how you can best use this closet space for the practical necessities that keep your home in good working order or the things that make entertaining a little bit more effortless. Regardless of which approach you take, you'll be glad to have the peace of mind knowing that things are safe and sound — and behind the door that keeps it all neatly out of view.