An entryway just isn’t the same without a place to hang your coat when you come home. The coat rack has become one of the basic necessities for this sort of space and since you have to have one you might as well make it look nice. In the tutorials and examples that follow you’ll find plenty of ideas and designs to choose from and you’ll also learn how to build a coat rack yourself if you ever feel like it.

How to build a coat rack bench – simple projects

A coat rack, bench and shoe storage in one piece

Creating combos like this is a super helpful and practical idea if you’re dealing with a small entryway or you prefer compact and simple designs. This piece has a coat rack at the top with five hooks placed horizontally along a wooden board. It also has a simple bench with a shoe rack underneath. It’s enough for a small household. Check out the tutorial for it on instructables for more details.

A coat rack made of wood and metal pipes

Before you dismiss the idea of building a coat rack yourself based on difficulty, check out how easy it is to make one using metal pipes. You can use the pipes and fittings to build the support structure and skeleton of the coat rack and you can also add attachments like a small bench at the bottom or an extra storage shelf. You can find out more about this project on makinghomebase.

A headboard turned into a bench

Yes, this is not actually a coat rack but it’s too cute and inspiring to not mention it. This lovely entryway bench was made by repurposing a super cheap headboard and it looks absolutely fantastic on top of also being super practical. You can learn more about it from jenandjercook.

Wooden coat rack with bench and storage shelves

It’s super easy and enticing to combine the entryway coat rack with other elements such as a small bench that you can sit on to tie your shoes or a storage shelf for some of your accessories. Combining these elements into a single piece of furniture helps you save space and makes a lot of sense in the case of a lot of layouts. Check out this clever design from honeybearlane if you’re interested in making something similar.

Wall-mounted coat rack and freestanding bench combo

As practical as it is to have a sort of all-in-one piece of furniture with a coat, a built-in bench, shoe rack and shelves that doesn’t really give you much flexibility and versatility. On the other hand, separating these elements does. How about a simple wall-mounted coat rack complemented by a freestanding bench instead? You can learn how to build one from this tutorial offered by erinspain.

An entryway stand with cubbies

There’s a lot of different variations to consider when it comes to something as simple and as basic as an entryway stand or coat rack. For instance, the design featured on houseupdated has a series of storage cubbies which are super practical. The large ones at the bottom are perfect for storing shoes and using boxes and baskets is a lovely and clever idea. The smaller ones at the top are nice as a decorative detail but can also hold smaller things like some pairs of gloves for instance.

A cozy entryway nook with accessories

Isn’t this entryway area just perfect? The fact that it’s built into the wall, sort of like a nook, makes it look super cozy. It’s also full of accessories which add a lot to its design. The decorative stripes fill in the empty space quite nicely and there’s plenty of storage for a space as small as this one. Check out elizabethjoandesigns for more details and info.

Layered coat rack and farmhouse bench combo

It really doesn’t take much to make an entryway look inviting. Take this one for instance. The bench is a really nice accessory, featuring ornate legs and a farmhouse-inspired wooden seat. The space on the wall is taken advantage of with coat hooks arranged on two rows and there’s also a cute shelf at the top to frame everything nicely. You can find a tutorial for this lovely bench on bentleyblonde.

Cute entryway bench with built-in storage

If you want something simple and small to pair with your existing coat rack, how about this lovely little bench featured on remodelaholic. You could build one yourself and it would actually be pretty easy. You can customize it with cute decorative legs or you can give it caster wheels to make it more mobile and easy to move around.

Wide bench and coat rack combo

When building your own furniture you get to choose exactly how big or small you want a piece to be so it perfectly matches the space and your style. In the case of an entryway coat rack or bench you can adjust the dimensions based on the layout and overall dimensions of this space. The design featured on littleredbrickhouse is nice for a long and narrow type of entryway.

Shiplap coat rack with bench

When building an entryway coat rack you often need to choose a material and style for the back panel. You have plenty of options to choose from. Some are super simple and designed to blend in and others are meant to be both practical and decorative. This particular tutorial by DIY MAN shows you how to make a faux shiplap back which adds character to the bench and coat rack.

Wooden coat rack with an industrial twist

It’s important to focus not just on the functional part of the design but also on the aesthetics when building your own furniture. There’s lots of options to choose from if you prefer a particular style. If for instance you’d like your DIY coat rack to have an industrial vibe but you don’t really want to use any metal, check out this tutorial by DIY Montreal. It shows you how you can make an industrial-style coat rack using only wood.

All-in-one hall tree made out of wood

You can’t really go wrong with an all-in-one entryway tree like the one shared by Handmade Haven. This one is quite small but it has plenty of nice and useful features. It serves as a coat rack, it has a little bench that you can sit on or use for storage and it also has space at the top and bottom for storing various accessories. It’s all made out of wood and it looks absolutely wonderful.

Simple hall tree with a rustic twist

If you want to make your entryway look and feel more inviting and comfortable, some styles are better than others for this task. Consider adding a subtle rustic or farmhouse twist to your design without overcomplicating it and still maintaining a simple aesthetic. This DIY hall tree bench design shared by Ana White shows you exactly what we’re talking about.

An organized coat rack

Something else to keep in mind when shopping for an entryway coat rack or looking for design ideas for one is organization. If several people are sharing the coat rack things can get messy pretty quick. The design shared by The Wood Whisperer in this tutorial tacks this issue. As you can see, this hall tree is divided into four compartments, one for each family member. It’s a simple but also elegant solution.