New Uses for an Old Closet — The Entranceway

Some may argue that the front hall is the most important part of your home. It’s what first greets you as you walk in the door and it’s where disorganization first rears it’s ugly head. And if you find that your front hall closets tends to become a bit of a mausoleum of unworn coats and unused sports gear, maybe it’s time to think outside the box, throw out the old coats or store them somewhere not so high traffic and turn the closet into a usable and needed front hall bench and hook.

So come and take a load off with this rejuvenated closet. For visual organizing types like Smarts and Organics, taking an unused closet and turning it into an easy to use hook and entranceway bench is a much better use of space than a closet whose door always remains closed. The picture to the left is from the House & Homes March 2011 issue. The little bench is great for keeping shoes contained and not scattered all around the house with a set place to take them off. We might suggest adding a few matching baskets underneath the bench to hold all those shoes!

What is great about these closets is that not only are they a fun innovative use of space — something that will naturally appeal to Smarts and Organics — they also offer a functional and accessible solution to front hall storage that is more likely to be used. Yes there’s always the danger of clutter, but we wager that there will be less coats on chairs and the floor and more coats hanging on those hooks. We would never recommend this solution for Classics or Funs, but this really is a great idea for types who tend to dump all their stuff at the front door!