You walk in, and your eyes land on a single wooden bench, hooks above it, nothing else. No console table drowning in mail. No basket of forgotten scarves. No decorative mirror that makes the 4-by-6-foot space feel smaller. This is what an entryway should be: the threshold between outside and inside, stripped of sentiment and stuffed with purpose.
If you’re unclear on what is an entryway exactly—it’s not your living room. It’s not a display shelf. An entryway is the transition zone where you shed weather, drop keys, store the things you actually use daily. A Scandinavian entryway does this with the kind of quiet efficiency that makes visitors think you have your life together, even if the rest of your apartment is chaos.
Define the Space First
Before you buy a single piece, measure your entryway. Not your whole apartment—your actual entryway. The stretch from your front door to where the living room or hallway begins. If that distance is less than 3 feet, you need different advice than someone with an 8-foot run. How to decorate an entryway depends entirely on its dimensions, and forcing a long console table into a tiny vestibule is how you end up with $400 of regretted furniture.
Most apartments have between 3 and 6 feet of usable entryway space. Work with this number. A Scandinavian entryway thrives on constraints—that’s where the style’s genius lives. You’re not fighting your footprint; you’re optimizing it.
What Can You Actually Put in Your Entryway?
The answer: only things you use or need to see when you arrive home. A coat. Shoes. Keys. A bag. Weather on your jacket. An umbrella. That’s the functional core. Everything else is decoration pretending to be utility, and you should skip it.
This is where the Scandinavian approach departs from magazine entryways. You will not see a decorative bowl of pebbles. You will not see a framed print of a forest. You will not see faux plants or a side table with a table lamp. Those pieces make entryways feel cluttered and act as dust traps.
What you will see:
- A bench (for sitting while removing boots)
- Hooks (for coats and bags)
- A shoe storage solution (because shoes live here, not on your floor)
- A mirror (functional, not decorative)
- A small container for keys
- One plant, real, in a ceramic pot (optional)
That’s the entire brief.
The Bench: Foundation Piece
Your entryway bench is the anchor. It does two things: it gives you a place to sit while wrestling off winter boots, and it creates visual weight that makes the space feel intentional rather than like you forgot to furnish it.
For a small entryway, an entryway bench should be no wider than 36 inches—narrower if your space is tight. Anything longer won’t fit, and anything that sticks further than 12 inches into your room will make walking past it miserable.
Hay New Order Bench (gray lacquered oak, 100cm) — $845 from Hay’s official site. This is the Scandinavian answer to seating: Minimalist, durable, and honest about its materials. The slated top looks clean, doesn’t trap dust, and the depth is 35 inches, so it sits tight against a wall. Worth the price if you’ll keep it for 10 years.
IKEA Pinnig Bench (birch, 80cm) — $80. If your budget is anything south of $300, this is the bench. Not precious, unfinished wood that you can stain, hooks included on the back, and it’s 31 inches wide. You’re buying the form and the function, not the designer name. Pair it with a linen cushion from a thrift store for $15 and you’ve spent $95 on the focal point of your entryway.
Hooks, Shelving, and Where to Put Shoes in Your Entryway
Hooks are non-negotiable. Three to five hooks mounted at eye level above your bench will hold coats, bags, and scarves. They cost between $8 and $40 each, depending on whether you buy them from IKEA or a design shop. Choose hooks that are simple and metal—no ceramic, no decorative flourish. They should be invisible unless something is hanging on them.
For shoes, you have options. An entryway bench with built-in shoe storage (like the Pinnig above) is ideal if space allows. If not, a low open shelf or a simple wooden shoe rack tucked beside the bench works. Closed shoe storage defeats the purpose—you want to grab what you need fast.
String Shelving System — $160–$240 depending on size and finish. This Swedish modular shelf system is genius for narrow entryways. You can configure it horizontally at low height for shoes, add a narrow shelf above for keys and a wallet, and it looks intentional. The metal legs are thin enough that the space underneath stays visible and uncluttered.
If you’re in a tight squeeze—a small entryway entryway ideas situation—a leaning ladder shelf from a hardware store (around $40) can hold 4–5 pairs of shoes against the wall and won’t feel as committal as wall-mounted storage.
The Practical Mirror and Nothing Else
You need a mirror. One. Not for vanity—for checking that you don’t have something on your face before you leave the house, and for making a tiny space feel less tomblike.
Size matters. In a small entryway, a 24-by-36-inch mirror is sufficient and won’t overwhelm the wall. In a longer entryway (6+ feet), you can go larger, up to 30-by-40 inches. Frame it simply—wood or metal, nothing ornate. Hang it at eye level, roughly 60 inches from the ground to the mirror’s center.
Norm Architects Mirror (white oak, 70x100cm) — $595 from &tradition. This is a statement piece if your budget allows. It’s a frame inside a frame, very Danish, very intentional-looking.
Wayfair Basic Wood Frame Mirror (24x36) — $45. Does exactly what you need it to do. Hang it and move on with your life.
Do not hang artwork next to the mirror. Do not lean framed prints against the wall. Do not turn your entryway into a gallery. The mirror serves its function and should be the only reflective piece in the space.
Key Bowl and Container (or Don’t Bother)
This is where entryway design gets personal, and also where most people buy something they don’t actually use. A dedicated key bowl looks nice in photos. In real life, you probably drop your keys on the bench or in your bag.
If you want one, Skagerak Norm Bowl ($65) is a minimal wood vessel that doesn’t look like a souvenir from a cabin. Otherwise, a simple ceramic dish from a thrift store for $3 will do the same job. The point is not to buy something that says “keys go here”—it’s to have a place where keys go, and that place should be within arm’s reach of your door.
One Plant, If You’re Not Forgetful
A real potted plant in the corner, something low-maintenance and tough like a Zamioculcas zamiifolia or a Pothos in a 6-inch ceramic pot, humanizes the space without cluttering it. This is optional. If you kill plants regularly, skip this entirely.
The Budget and the Final Picture
A minimal Scandinavian entryway costs between $200 and $1,500, depending on whether you buy mid-range Hay and String, or IKEA and thrift. Here’s a realistic build:
- Bench: $100–$400
- Hooks (set of 4): $40–$80
- Shoe storage: $50–$200
- Mirror: $40–$300
- Container for keys: $5–$50
- Plant (optional): $15–$40
Total floor: $250. Total ceiling: $1,070.
The result is an entryway that functions. Coats hang. Shoes live somewhere intentional. Your keys are findable. The space doesn’t feel like a furniture showroom. When you walk in on a gray Tuesday morning, you can drop everything and move into your apartment without friction. That’s the whole point, and it’s worth the thought.
