I would love to see more examples of this.

love the idea but it simply wouldnt work. in the above photo there's one small coat. A typical closet would have tons of coats, jackets, scarves, etc. rather unsightly. but i agree with above post, love to see more examples

There's a reason why closets have doors.

THAT IS AMAZING.

We actually did this. We bought a bench from Overstock.com and an Eames hang-it-all. Great place to set your keys and wallet when you get home. Here's a crappy iPhone pic I took a couple of months ago.

That really is a bad picture. I'll try to take a better one later.

It looks fantastic. I actually had someone else come over and look at it.

However, have lots of gear for 3 people, plus raincoats and various hats/gloves/scarves, different boots for rain, regular snow,really deep snow, wet snow etc.

It wouldn't work for us. However, it has got me thinking about how my linen closet could be improved.

The picture is GREAT but that's not a working closet--that's a photo shoot. It looks great the same way a model's hair looks great in the shampoo ad. I do love the idea of a bench and drawers, though. If I could make that work in my (smaller) space, it would be a huge improvement.

I love the way this looks, but if my closet contained only what's in the picture above, then I wouldn't actually need a closet.

It's perfect if you live in the south and don't have a lot of outerwear. Considering I live in a 100 year old home with limited closet space to begin with, in the north (lots of outerwear) and my hall closet is actually around the corner in my dining room, this wouldn't be practical for me. I do have a bench and a coat rack in the front hall to deal with the frequently used items.

I did this in my house, which has a fairly tight entryway, no room for a console table, etc. However, it did have a double closet like this right in the door. I took the bi-fold doors off and built a bench that ran the length of the closet supported around the perimeter and with 2 support pieces beneath, which created the three openings. Rather than drawers, I bought three matching bins that slide in and out. I hung "wainscotting" inside the closet and mounted the hooks to that. I also made a cushion for the seat..and have a light hanging from above.
As for function: there are three of us now, and it functions quite well, even in the winter. Each of us has a shoe bin, there is a basket on one end of the bench for hats, gloves, leash, etc...and we keep our coats much tidier. Since it is out in the open, we keep it neat, which is much better than throwing our stuff in the closet and shutting the door. We now have a spot to sit to put on our shoes. Plus, it made the entryway feel much more spacious.

amarie,
pictures?

We did this in our small condo, too. We realized that with the doors on the closet, it became an unorganized dumping ground with junk everywhere. With the doors off and everything spiffed up, we keep it so much neater. We have a big basket for shoes, and a coat rack for coats (and we hang more than one on it!)

I have two blog posts that show it here:
http://underwatercondo.blogspot.com/2011/05/hard-working-space.html
http://underwatercondo.blogspot.com/2010/11/mission-accomplished.html

So in my opinion, this is a great post and not unrealistic at all!

This concept makes total sense to me. You where one coat at a time, why do ALL of them have to be at the front door. I wish I had a closet at the front door to do this with, but alas I have to settle for a coat rack and a shelf.

For everyone who's saying it looks like an unrealistic closet -- yes, because it's not a closet anymore. The idea isn't that you take your closet doors off and have a doorless closet; it's that you get rid of your closet and have a mini-mudroom instead.

I think this all depends on how many other closets you have. We only have one hall/foyer closet on the whole first floor (looove old houses!).

This works well if you are a either a very organized person, or if you are "bad" with closets with doors -- (stuffing them crazily) this would make you re-evaluate what you truly need and what you are willing to treat well and take care of. Extra "junque" can go. Coming and going would feel nicer if you had a styishly organized space like this. I've de-doored a few closets in homes and I never regretted it. it does seem to add positive space.

I love the idea of this, and think it could be adapted to allow more coat storage and even have doors that close it off when you want a more formal entry.

I don't see how this could work if you live in a city like Chicago or NYC where you NEED winter coats, and plenty of them.

This is a nice idea for a mudroom, but it isn't at all practical for most people.

that really looks nice.. but I agree with another comment that in colder weather areas that wouldn't be as feasible.. however, for a small business that would be beautiful

I could get away with this because we live in a warm climate and only have two coats each.

Hiding the vacuum cleaner or making it look more attractive would be a bit more problematic.

Hmm.... I'm thinking this could very well be a possibility for us, if I could get my husband on board. It might mean some weeding out of unnecessary items in each of our own closets, but that could easily be worth it. I like the idea of wiring a light in there, too.

I have actually been thinking about doing this for quite a while! I love that other people have shared their similar set-ups as well. It's very inspirational.

For my particular closet, it has one door and then it extends a little ways beyond the door frame into the corner, so my plan is to put a bench, hooks, boxes etc. in the doorway area and then put overflow coats in one of those canvas hanging bags and tuck it back into the corner. It would still be a little bit visible, but out of the way, and visually streamlined because the bag will contain the coats.

I live in the frozen tundra where we have coats for ever eventuality. Plus I have two musicians in the family that have to store amps and axes somewhere other than my living room, so the front hall closet houses it all. Not to mention that the headroom for the stairs to the basement cuts through that closet . . . . .Nope - not gonna happen at my house. But it's a nice idea.

No, no, no, lol!

This doesn't work in the real world as a replacement for a closet, because most people don't have matching items they can "curate" (hate that word!) and "style."

I like the bench idea, but only if you already have another closet you can use to actually put stuff in!

This could only work in warm places. I wouldn't be able to fit enough of my winter gear in here, let alone anyone else's.

If you had TWO hall closets this could be great for guests. The bench offers a strong incentive to take off one's snowy boots, which is a must where I live. It looks really nice but I agree it seems staged.

I love it! Of course I have no entryway closet or space to speak of. We just have a coat rack in the living room, so pretty much anything would be an improvement. I do love having a place to sit and take off shoes right inside the door.

I think everything about this picture is ugly and boring... and that is with only one jacket two matching hats and a purse. Put doors on it and fill it with great coats. If you need a place to sit use a chair.

I think this works if you would really like an entryway, it is beautiful.

I don't think the point is to take the doors off of an overstuffed closet as is but more to repurpose a closet. But, yup I live in a warm place and we don't even have mudrooms here. But an entryway with a place to sit to take off your shoes is perfect for us as we don't wear shoes inside.

I agree it looks staged, like a real simple article.

Love it in theory but its unthinkable for a Brooklynite. As it is my apartment is barely bigger than that closet!

In my dream home, I would love to turn a closet into a reading nook or an entryway like that. But I'm going to have to keep dreaming for a while, or move to the suburbs (gasp!).

Dear Mom:
Do this in the front hallway. It would look so pretty.
Love, your kids (well, the girls, anyway).

that's true, eliz, but some of us live where there is actually mud. And winter.

I think it's pretty and completely unrealistic for a lot of us.

@Charlotte. Yup, as a Chicagoan it's completely unrealistic for me too. Because I live in an apartment and can't lose a closet. I was responding to the multiple comments that seemed confused about the point of the post. It's a suggestion about using a few square feet near the door as something other than a closet.

It has nothing to do with the weather, actually, because if you have other closet space to put all your coats and stuff in, you can have as much winterwear as you want and still do this.

I've seen hall closets that extend past the doors on the side; if you have one of those you might have your cake and eat it, too.

Just leave the coat bar in, and slide the coats sideways out of sight. Then, when you need them, slide 'em out and grab.

I should note; I don't have a hall closet; I have a series of hooks next to the door. The current season's coats live on the hooks, other coats live in bedroom closets.

Some of you need to think outside the box a little.... I live in the Midwest ..and yes we need all season clothing, but this is a great way to have it all. Just think a little. Cabinets, curtains, baskets, even totes, can be used in an area like this. And in any arrangement that works. I know I store out of season coats, snow pants, boots ...etc. in our bedroom closets or in totes somewhere else. This is exactly what I'm looking for. A place to sit & put on/take off shoes. My kids can also put their book bags on one end of the bench or on a hook instead of on the floor in front of the door. Mittens, gloves, hats, and shoes even can go in the bottom and top storage areas. My sister did something like this to a bedroom closet. She left the rod in a few areas to hang clothing, and made custom curtains to hide those things. My closet doors are always falling off anyway, from things being in the way when I try to close them. I will definitely be doing this in my home. I cant wait!

I think the point of this is to learn to simplify. THIS picture is styled but it's a great idea and shouldn't really matter where you live. We live in Chicago and we do need winter gear...but we are trying to simplify and have less clutter. We really only need 2 coats each: 1 big warm puffer coat for snow storms, shoveling, etc and 1 nice wool pea coat. So this picture could suit a family of three or four. Pack the stuff away you don't need for the season and decide what you truly need. Each bin on top could house 2 pairs of gloves, 2 scarves, 2 hats each. If you don't find the bottom drawers useful, you can leave it open and put a snowmat under the bench for snowy boots and shoes. It would encourage the family to take off their shoes/boots and stow them under the bench nicely rather than just kicking them off all over the foyer. You could use double hooks instead of the single ones in the picture and could easily fit 4 across which would house 8 coats or some coats and a few bags, school bags, etc. I think this is a lesson in learning to simplify. Unless you have really ugly coats, I think you can make this realistic and still look pretty.