Never Lose Your Keys Again With An IKEA Entryway Hack

Of all the innocuous things you carry on your person while venturing out to stores like IKEA, your keys are perhaps the easiest to misplace. Evidence for the use of lock-and-key systems dates back to ancient Egypt. Locking all your doors and windows is even considered one of the biggest home security tips you should follow when traveling because it can deter thieves looking for an easy job. It's no wonder that keys and the sense of safety they represent hold such a strong cultural memory.

But of course, your individual memory can be much more fallible. It's a smart idea to keep a handle on smaller details like where you left your keys by designating a "home" for them in heavily trafficked areas. This could be the key to happiness with your main entryway. While you'll probably want to invest in a more comprehensive key holder if you have different sets to keep track of (especially across multiple residents), this clever hack uses a $10 napkin holder and a few other accessories for an easy, stylish key storage solution. If you've got that DIY itch, it's plenty easy to hack together your own wall-mounted rack with IKEA accessories, some nails, and a couple of hooks.

This clever idea for a homemade key holder using an IKEA CISSAN napkin holder was posted by user @lawnleisurelounge. This particular product is made from woven strands of dried water hyacinth, a plant that's native to Brazil and considered an invasive species in the United States, but is durably waterproof. The Instagram hack takes advantage of the basket's porous weave by using it like a pegboard.

To do it yourself, set two nails in the wall using a level tape hack, and hang the base of your CISSAN directly onto them. Inside the basket, embed some bend hooks in a two-by-three pattern. This works without needing to screw hooks into the wall. Because keys are pretty light, they can hang perfectly with little extra support.

Though you can spruce up any home's entryway by turning an IKEA basket into a stylish key holder with some additional hooks, creating one for a space with multiple tenants really adds extra value due to how customizable the hack can be. While @lawnleisurelounge spray painted her bend hooks black, you could do the same with a broader variety of paint colors to differentiate whose keys go where. Since you're already nailing items into the CISSAN base, you could even create custom printouts to further segment spaces. Then go further by stringing holiday-themed decor like Halloween cobwebs or LED Christmas lights around the rim when the season is right, adding another vector to design your home however you want.