We are having mail cubbies made to hang under on of our cabinets (over the junk and file drawers and near the phone).
I think there are five 6"x6" - ya' know, like wine cubbies - but we're using them for in/out/etc. to try and get all that stuff off the counters.

We hid the "drop zone" in a tall cabinet. Purse, keys mail and electronics charging all live there. And the best part is that the doors close and hide all the mess!

keys on a hook in the mudroom entry...trying to train hubby to do this. backpacks/purse/briefcase/hubby keys on bench in mudroom. mail stays in mudroom until it goes to the dining room table to be sorted--ideally this happens daily. bills and items to keep then go to a small sorting unit/cubby that, eventually, will be back in the mudroom. now it's in the den. i guess that's a lot of places, but we are trying to keep these items off our small amount of counter space and out of the kitchen completely. good luck, this issue is tougher than it has to be, don't know why... kren

alku05 Any chance you have a picture of the hidden "drop zone"
that you made reference to? It sounds like a good idea but can't quite figure out what that looks like.

Keys stay in my pocket, mail goes on my desk, bills go in the trash :-)

Years ago, I had a hanging wall file made for my mom. She wanted something to file mail and magazines for everyone in the house and a place to hang keys. It was really handy. The file was pine, and Mom stained it to match the trim on the windows.

If you want something that is strictly utilitarian, try Office Depot. If you want something really special, try a custom woodworking store.

I did a quick Google search on "wall file" and came up with a bunch of hits.

Best of luck.

Here is a link that might be useful: sample wall files

We have a no-junk-in-the-kitchen rule. ie. everything goes on my desk in the home office. maybe temporarily on the dining table but ultimately on my desk.

We have a cabinet below our message center. We keep our daily car keys in a basket on top of the cabinet. Inside the cabinet we have labeled hooks where the motorhome, motorcycle, family members' house keys are hung. Inside the cabinet are outlets that we charge the cell phones with. I have a small file-type thing that is labeled for DH & my mail. I sort the mail, daily, and put in the proper place here. Also, stored inside the cabinet are office supplies, phone book, appliance instruction manual binder. It's working out very well for us!

{{!gwi}}

I dedicated a kitchen drawer for my DH to put his junk, under the condition that he cleans it out each month. As for me, I go through the mail when it arrives and discard junk immediately. The rest goes on the foyer steps which I take to the office next trip up. My keys stay in my pocketbook and my pocketbook goes in the hall closet on the shelf above my coat.

I hate clutter!!

We put a cabinet in our mudroom, next to the cubbies. We have a mirror with hooks that hangs near it for keys. There is an outlet for cellphone there. I have a standing file holder for mail to go into. Then every Sun. night when dh pays bills, he grabs the mail and takes it to the office in the basement. Works pretty good but the countertop on the cabinet is always every cluttered with junkmail, and whatever else your holding in your hands as your trying to take off your coat and such. I'm planning on a wall cabinet above it or open shelves, haven't decided yet.

Our foyer closet has shelves across the top as well as down the sides. My keys go in my glove basket on a side shelf. DH keeps his keys in a small silverware drawer organizer on a shelf on his side. We have a 10' long closet and only two of us. I actually have a marker on the closet rod so he stays on his side. We have our own bathrooms so that is where my phone goes to be recharged (or else in my car). The mail and my purse go to the home office. This is the first time I have been able to keep the clutter out of the kitchen. It is nice this way - very nice!

We turned ours for the traffic pattern. This photo was taken while the wall paint was drying, so the accessories aren't back on the counter top. We've used this design in two homes. In the last one (cherry cabinets), I had cherry veneer as a backsplash. Since I have an antique bookcase for my recipe books, I've put NC pottery on the shelves above the mail slots. The bottom drawer has hanging file folders. (We recharge our cell phones in the master closet).

Verynewcook, I'll have to take inside pictures of the cabinet this weekend, but it's just a standard tall cabinet on the outside:

DH and I each have our own top drawer under the counter. At our age, they hide a lot of medications.

An outlet in a 12 inch deep cabinet is fantastic for recharging flashlights and cells. I'm so glad we did that.

Weissman, I love your solution! Bills in the trash. That's how one past, way past, cleaning woman cleaned our house. I was amazed. So neat. Deposit slips clipped to checks, in the trash. Bills, to-do lists, school reports, etc., in the trash. And then, SHE, too, went into the trash, in a manner of speaking. lol

Pattyk, after reading the responses I thought I'd just toss in that I also am working at keeping this clutter out of the kitchen--and rest of the house--by stopping it inside the door. I'm still looking for the right piece of furniture to serve as our mail sorting center because it has to look nice enough to display a bowl of flowers in the main entry but also have drawers and storage space below them for trash can and shredder, but when I do that'll take place there, plus message center and key dropoff. (We also have dual his-and-hers closets flanking a windowseat to hold the other stuff that rides in with us, coats, fishing rods, carpet sample boards, etc.) A little sitting room accessible from both the entry and kitchen is where we pay bills and keep our household files.

If your kitchen is where it works for you, great, but I'd strongly suggest keeping it off the counter as I'm guessing you already have more than enough housekeeping to satisfy your nesting instincts. :)

I keep the landing zone out of the kitchen and in the foyer. Putting up a key rack for the keys. Our problem is that DH feels horizontal spaces are sacred...once something is left on one it should never be moved by human hands...so I tell him the cats cleaned the kitchen and moved the stack of week-old newspaper to the recycle bin :=)

We are in the process of redoing our mudroom. We managed to keep our kitchen quite clear for the first couple of months but then clutter (including mail, change and keys) starting creeping in on the peninsula (and the peninsula stools.) We purchased a fairly tall cherry bureau for the mudroom which has 2 door areas (with an adustable shelf in each), 4 narrow drawers stacked vertically between the doors and 2 wide deep drawers along the bottom. This will be a recycling center along with drawers for maps, flashlights and hats and gloves. A paper sorter hutch will sit ontop of the bureau--we'll put a strip in for a charging station. Above will be a wall cabinet with blackboard/magnetic doors. We also have a cherry armoire going in that will have a lot of shelves for all the other clutter. We'll have a bench that opens up to a chute to the cellar for all of the unbreakable recyclables. I searched all over for the right peice of furniture and I'm feeling confident that I found it. AT least my fingers are crossed. I should be able to get a picture next week...if all goes well.

Zelmar, your bench chute sounds terrific. I'm jealous. The closest I come is the open 3-story center to our stairwell that we could drop dirty clothes down (although I've been careful not to point that out to my DH), which is not quite in the same class...