Something all of us can use when we approach our home is a place to unload our hands and arms before going inside. We need and would appreciate this, our clients certainly would, visitors coming to our homes or those of our clients would, and people of most any age would like to see this.
This makes the entry station – what is being described – as a great universal design and visitablity statement for any home or apartment – even those where it might initially seem impractical.
As anyone drives up (or even walks up) to their home, or one they are visiting – after getting out of their car and then approaching the front door (or side or rear door if that is used most often), there typically is challenge about grasping and using the door handle because they are carrying something in their hands.
Depending on whether someone is coming straight from their office, returning from an appointment or errand, the store where they picked up grocery items for dinner, the mall, the gym, or elsewhere – or if they are a visitor carrying a dessert or other items for a party they are attending – people may have a backpack, brief case, folders or envelopes from the office, gym bag or workout equipment, mail that they picked up at the street on the way in, fast food they stopped to get for the family, a soft drink or cup of coffee they are still drinking, a bottle of water, a cell phone, and possibly more.
What is needed is a place – a surface where people can set down what they are holding or carrying and free up their hands to open the door (or unlock it first if required). Some people have an informal location near the back door where their kids deposit all of their book bags and other items from school. They label such a place where things are dropped off as the “drop zone.” It might be a shelf, cabinet, table, other piece of furniture or just the floor.
Used in reverse, this is a place where delivery people can leave or retrieve a package that is coming or going. It’s where a neighbor can leave something when the person they are calling on isn’t home.
Many people call this place where we can leave items at the front door (but it’s also useful at other exterior doors as well) an “entry shelf” because it is a small shelf affixed to the wall near the doorway. However, this can be limiting in both its design and usefulness. Let’s consider this as an “entry station” or “entrance station” instead to signify that it can be varied with multiple looks and personalities and that it can be personalized to the occupants of the home. It can be much more than just a shelf. It can be something hung on the wall – shelves, hooks, or racks – as a unit or detached and done separately.
The entry station can be a piece of furniture – a table, a bench, a chair, a cabinet, a desk, or anything else that can have a flat surface on it (among other surfaces or cubbies). A planting table is a great idea. Depending on what it is, people can sit on it, have a conversation there with a neighbor or visitor perhaps, talk on the phone, read an email or check their emails, or display plant or colorful glassware or other collectibles.
This station is intended to be used outside the entrance, but one on the inside for a similar purpose is a good idea also (just after entrance has been gained or before one opens the door to leave the interior of the home).
Consider going to a second-hand or thrift store or to an unfinished furniture outlet and purchasing some inexpensive tables, desks, dressers, or cabinets that can be painted or finished to withstand an outdoor environment and presenting this to our clients.
The entrance station is quite versatile and a great addition to any home.