Clutter Control- This is how we do it...

I had a temporary roommate whose stuff would explode all over my living room when they got home. I was on a reclaiming the floor space riff and they weren't geting the subtle hint that I didn't want their stuff all over the room when they came in the door.

I decided I needed a defined space for them to drop their stuff. In Japanese homes they have a genkan (a place to put your shoes) when you enter a home. I wanted a genkan but didn't feel like doing the bamboo thing on the floor.

I went out and got two doublesided placemats (red and black) that were on sale for $2 apiece.

When they came home, they saw their stuff piled neatly on the red genkan. It was much better in the living room after that.