Entryway Ideas
I really like how this looks. We could use kitchen cabinet faces on the cuboards. I like the small counter area - would be good for putting mail/keys, etc. Angi: Any of the cubbies could also be used for mail and keys. There are also places for hooks. I'm also thinking we could put hooks on the *front* of the cubby shelves behind the bench -- I can't find any pics that show this, but I can't see why we couldn't do that, for hanging lighter weight things like dog leashes and keys.
What if we had more than one door that opened out (hinged), and one closet had a recessed bench like this, and the other had an actual closet w/ bar for hanging things? Angi: I really prefer sliding doors there, especially since the front door already opens into the space. And I really don't want the bench behind a door.
What about shorter cabinets on either side for hanging things, rather than one wide closet? Angi: closet placement depends on how deep we can make it / how much space we can take from the garage. One issue with 2 cabinets like this is that they'd have to be hinged doors rather than sliding. I really prefer sliding for this space. and for this house since it has so many sliding/pocket doors already, they will fit in just right.
All open-front storage. Not sure I'd like that. We need some spaces with doors over the fronts to hide clutter, reduce dust/dog hair Angi: right, closet doors will hide that entire space. I wouldn't mind some cabinets with doors and some cubbies and some open shelves, but it will be more affordable to just do open front cubbies and shelves and then use storage cubes -- the folding cloth ones, in whatever colors we pick -- to make it look neat. We can also always add cupboard doors later if we decide we want them.
Maybe we should find a way to split the hanging space in the closet portion. We don't have that many long coats, maybe we do one side that's for full-length items, and the other side has 2 short bars, one above, one below, for shorter jackets? Angi: I agree. I'm thinking, though, that we can start with a big empty closet on that side, with just the typical shelf or two at the top and bar, and we can add organization stuff to it ourselves once we put things in and see what we need in that space.
another thought, recessing part of the cabinets, but not all, which helps create a natural bench space. The cuboards behind the bench could be extended all the way to the floor so the space behind isn't wasted. Angi: This is basically what I have drawn up, except with open cubbies and shelves behind the bench rather than cupboards with doors.
Example of bench tucked in behind the door.
Q