One thing I loved about our old apartment was the foyer. There was a large, deep coat closet, and around the corner was a cube where each family member had a bin of gloves, hats and scarves. We also kept a shoe cubby there; it was out of sight but very useful. All of our stuff was corralled in the closet and cubbies, but close at hand.
Here, we do not have a foyer. Or a coat closet. Or a bin for each family member and their various wintry accoutrements. Cue the sad trombones. Here we have hooks. Hooks on the stairwell going up to the second floor. More hooks in the stairwell that leads to the basement. While I am not intrinsically opposed to hooks, I think they are useless for attractively storing large amounts of functional stuff in a main living space.
The hooks that line the basement stairwell mean that all our puffy winter coats are taking up alot of space in a narrow stairwell. If just one coat was hanging in the stairwell, it would probably not be an issue, but there are five of us, each of us having a heavy winter coat and lighter fall coat currently out, plus the occasional raincoat and umbrellas and five pairs of snowboots. I walk up and down that narrow stairwell at least once a day with a full laundry basket, and every single time I knock at least one coat off, or lose laundry out of the basket.
The hooks on the back of the door for the kids' coats and backpacks mean that its really difficult to close the basement door.
If I owned this house, I would enclose the front porch as a mudroom. That would solve all my coat storage problems. But, I don't own this house, and I do not plan to stay in this house for more than two years, so....an inexpensive, temporary solution is needed.
I do not have a solution to this mess. I have talked before about trying to implement some sort of DIY foyer with armoires, but honestly, there is not enough space in this room to do that. That sliver of space between the sofa and the door is where the armoire would have to go:
Our living room is small enough without cutting it in half with an armoire perpendicular to the door. There is nowhere in the main part of the living room to put a coat closet or armoire.
The only possiblity is to remove the brand new console table (!!! Lisa YOU JUST BOUGHT THAT FOR THAT SPACE!) and put in an armoire.
That would look terrible. No, really, that would be visually awful. It can't go in the corner because there the air return vent is there. (Anywhere in this house you might want to put furniture has an inconvenient air vent on the floor in that spot.) The tall antique secretary looked terrible in that spot, with the diagonal line of the banister cutting the piece up top (I don't have a picture of that, just one of the secretary in the corner.) Plus that would be your view two feet in front of you as your walk in the door--squat, thick, armoire shoved up against a stairwell. U-G-L-Y you ain't got no alibi, you ugly, you ugly, yo mamma said you ugly.
And yet I'm still considering it. It would corral all the coats and shoes behind a closed door. Sometimes sacrifices must be made. I could put it back in the garage when warm weather returns, and bring the console back.....my version of seasonal decorating!
If only I had a mudroom.
Here, we do not have a foyer. Or a coat closet. Or a bin for each family member and their various wintry accoutrements. Cue the sad trombones. Here we have hooks. Hooks on the stairwell going up to the second floor. More hooks in the stairwell that leads to the basement. While I am not intrinsically opposed to hooks, I think they are useless for attractively storing large amounts of functional stuff in a main living space.
The hooks that line the basement stairwell mean that all our puffy winter coats are taking up alot of space in a narrow stairwell. If just one coat was hanging in the stairwell, it would probably not be an issue, but there are five of us, each of us having a heavy winter coat and lighter fall coat currently out, plus the occasional raincoat and umbrellas and five pairs of snowboots. I walk up and down that narrow stairwell at least once a day with a full laundry basket, and every single time I knock at least one coat off, or lose laundry out of the basket.
The hooks on the back of the door for the kids' coats and backpacks mean that its really difficult to close the basement door.
If I owned this house, I would enclose the front porch as a mudroom. That would solve all my coat storage problems. But, I don't own this house, and I do not plan to stay in this house for more than two years, so....an inexpensive, temporary solution is needed.
I do not have a solution to this mess. I have talked before about trying to implement some sort of DIY foyer with armoires, but honestly, there is not enough space in this room to do that. That sliver of space between the sofa and the door is where the armoire would have to go:
Our living room is small enough without cutting it in half with an armoire perpendicular to the door. There is nowhere in the main part of the living room to put a coat closet or armoire.
The only possiblity is to remove the brand new console table (!!! Lisa YOU JUST BOUGHT THAT FOR THAT SPACE!) and put in an armoire.
That would look terrible. No, really, that would be visually awful. It can't go in the corner because there the air return vent is there. (Anywhere in this house you might want to put furniture has an inconvenient air vent on the floor in that spot.) The tall antique secretary looked terrible in that spot, with the diagonal line of the banister cutting the piece up top (I don't have a picture of that, just one of the secretary in the corner.) Plus that would be your view two feet in front of you as your walk in the door--squat, thick, armoire shoved up against a stairwell. U-G-L-Y you ain't got no alibi, you ugly, you ugly, yo mamma said you ugly.
And yet I'm still considering it. It would corral all the coats and shoes behind a closed door. Sometimes sacrifices must be made. I could put it back in the garage when warm weather returns, and bring the console back.....my version of seasonal decorating!
If only I had a mudroom.
I feel your pain - would it be super crazy/inconvenient to put the hooks by the front door and the shoes in the stairwell? Maybe hanging some of the stairwell hooks up higher for the adults? I also think the coats stay put much better if there is a tag or strap to hang them from...like I said I feel your pain and spend a lot of time coming up with temporary solutions, too!
ReplyDeleteWe have a coat closet in the main house, but for now the three of us and a cat are living in less than 300 sq ft., so I can relate. We only have one hook and a closet the size of my fist to put things in.
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