Home without a coat closet?

[JoeWras]

So, we converted the coat closet to a pantry/appliance closet. The coat closet is not near the front door, it is in the break nook. So using it as a pantry made sense. For coats, we have a small armoire near the front door. The conversion can easily be reversed.

However, I'm thinking of doing a small kitchen remodel. This coat closet nestles next to a small pantry, very small. In 4 1/2 feet of wall space, we have three framed walls. Removing them would free about about a foot that is currently dead air. The walls have no utilities and are not load bearing.

I can replace that space with open counter and cabinets, freeing up sight lines, and providing a coffee counter, which is currently only 12" and too small. The pantry would be cabinets, so its walls would only take up about 1.5" of linear wall space, versus the approx 12" currently used.

This is non-reversible. If I do it, then the house doesn't have a traditional coat closet. Bad idea? Deal killer (in normal times)? Doesn't bother us, but with our luck, we'll be selling at the bottom of a market where every nit is picked to death.

 

[ivinsfan]

What climate do you live in? Here in the Northland not having to place to put heavy coats boots/gloves would be an issue..I think it's location dependent.

 

[pb4uski]

Our Vermont house doesn't have a coat closet. We have a 5' wall just to the right of the main entry door that has 7 double hooks about eye level across the wall for coats, etc and a small shelf above that has 3 woven baskets for hats, gloves, etc. Below is a bench with a shelf for shoes and we also put shoes on the floor under the bench.

 

[ivinsfan]

Our Vermont house doesn't have a coat closet. We have a 5' wall just to the right of the main entry door that has 7 double hooks about eye level across the wall for coats, etc and a small shelf above that has 3 woven baskets for hats, gloves, etc. Below is a bench with a shelf for shoes and we also put shoes on the floor under the bench.

Is it an older home? Ours is a 100 years old and doesn't have a coat closet sadly...it can be a PITA in winter. We do pretty much what you do.

 

[pb4uski]

No, it is a new build as of 2011-2012, so we designed it that way. Part of the reason is that we have a small footprint and a closet with walls takes up space that we didn't have to spare.

 

[JoeWras]

What climate do you live in? Here in the Northland not having to place to put heavy coats boots/gloves would be an issue..I think it's location dependent.

Southeast. I use a real winter coat about 3 days a year. The rest are light coats and jackets. The armoire gets use about 4 months of the year.

 

[ivinsfan]

No, it is a new build as of 2011-2012, so we designed it that way. Part of the reason is that we have a small footprint and a closet with walls takes up space that we didn't have to spare.

OK maybe I'm wrong and coat closets don't matter, oh wait a minute don't winter down South?

 

[ivinsfan]

Southeast. I use a real winter coat about 3 days a year. The rest are light coats and jackets. The armoire gets use about 4 months of the year.

Then I think it's fine to remove the closet..

 

[SnowballCamper]

No coat closet here in PNW. Just a coat rack by the carport door.

 

[Car-Guy]

The last two houses we had both had coat closets but I converted them for other purposes. Our newest house (which we spec'd out) was built without a coat closet. Not much need for a coat closet in Texas anyway, especially these days.

 

[Golden sunsets]

We bought a new to us house with no coat closets earlier this year. The house was built in 2012. We're in the snowy northeast. I say closets plural because there are 2 entry doors, one front foyer door with no closet and one direct entry door from the attached garage into a back hallway. I do think this is an issue for us and resale, but we are solving it in 3 ways. 1) Adding a coat tree by the front door for guest coats, 2) adding a coat hook system across an expanse of flat wall near the entry to the garage, for our most used seasonal outerwear and 3)adding 2 built in closets in the garage next to the door to hold our winter/fall coats and boots. We are installing a new closet system in the owner's suite closet, so the garage closets and wall hook system are part of the same project. We recognized the closet deficiency when we first looked at the house and knew we would have to address it.

 

[Markola]

Here in Minnesota, we have the full range of gear all the way up through “parka”, along with various gloves, scarves and hats - even ski goggles. Our 109 year old house does have a coat closet but the door becomes difficult to close. All of that stuff is upstairs now during summer and forgotten, especially today, when it’s 100F and we’re under a heat advisory. Up here, we call our weather “character building,” which helps us cope through what it really is: “optional” and “mildly insane”.

 

[Qs Laptop]

If I do it, then the house doesn't have a traditional coat closet. Bad idea?

Do you normally enter the house via the front door? If so, how far away from the front door is the coat closet (now pantry and appliance closet)?

I ask because when you had the traditional coat closet were you walking into the house, then walking 10-15 feet into the breakfast nook and then putting your coats in the closet? That seems inconvenient. If the front door is the usual way you enter the house it makes sense to hang your coats in the nearby armoire and not traipsing through the house to hang up your coat.

No doubt you would get much more use out of a cabinet pantry and a larger, airier coffee counter.

I say go for it. Turn that coat closet into a pantry and coffee counter.

 

[PaunchyPirate]

NW PA here. We get winters. I don’t have a great solution for a coat closet. Just a small one that is not convenient to the outside door.

I’ve often said that if I ever built my own home, it would all be designed after I specified my mud room requirements!

 

[Qs Laptop]

Here in Minnesota, we have the full range of gear all the way up through “parka”, along with various gloves, scarves and hats - even ski goggles. Our 109 year old house does have a coat closet but the door becomes difficult to close. All of that stuff is upstairs now during summer and forgotten, especially today, when it’s 100F and we’re under a heat advisory.

We repainted the rooms on our main floor several years ago, including the front coat closet. However, I've never put a coat rack in there, instead it houses the vacuum cleaner, the steam mop, some shoes, and other stuff. It's a terribly inefficient use of space. But no matter, because with an attached garage we rarely use the front door to enter/exit the house. Instead we have a coat tree right inside the area where you enter the house from the garage.

Guests place their coats on the coat tree as well, unless there are a good number of guests, then the coats go on the bed in the main bedroom. (The front closet is rather small and couldn't hold a bunch of winter coats.)

I'm also in Minnesota so the winter coats get stored in the spare bedroom closet in the spring/summer/fall.

Up here, we call our weather “character building,” which helps us cope through what it really is: “optional” and “mildly insane”.

Yes, the "theater of seasons" is "character building" and "builds longevity". As if living here until you are 100 is desirable.

 

[Lewis Clark]

Most Florida homes that I am aware of do not have coat closets.

 

[ivinsfan]

We repainted the rooms on our main floor several years ago, including the front coat closet. However, I've never put a coat rack in there, instead it houses the vacuum cleaner, the steam mop, some shoes, and other stuff. It's a terribly inefficient use of space. But no matter, because with an attached garage we rarely use the front door to enter/exit the house. Instead we have a coat tree right inside the area where you enter the house from the garage.

Guests place their coats on the coat tree as well, unless there are a good number of guests, then the coats go on the bed in the main bedroom. (The front closet is rather small and couldn't hold a bunch of winter coats.)

I'm also in Minnesota so the winter coats get stored in the spare bedroom closet in the spring/summer/fall.



Yes, the "theater of seasons" is "character building" and "builds longevity". As if living here until you are 100 is desirable.

Well hey if you make to 100 living here, obviously it was desirable.. to me it's not the coats it's the boots, the hats and the gloves that make it cluttered.

 

[Aerides]

Most Florida homes that I am aware of do not have coat closets.

Me - in Florida, reading this thread... A what now?

 

[Ronstar]

OP - If you plan on living your house for a long time, and you would enjoy the extra counter space/ coffee bar, then go for it. Make your house satisfy you, not the next owner.

 

[ivinsfan]

Me - in Florida, reading this thread... A what now?

OTOH I have no idea what a hurricane is..

 

[street]

^^ Exactly what I would do and do what pleases you. We like the free-standing tree type coat hanging rack. I prefer them over a closet and more practical for people when they come by.

 

[Mark1]

Our Vermont house doesn't have a coat closet. We have a 5' wall just to the right of the main entry door that has 7 double hooks about eye level across the wall for coats, etc and a small shelf above that has 3 woven baskets for hats, gloves, etc. Below is a bench with a shelf for shoes and we also put shoes on the floor under the bench.

We don't have a coat closet, but like Pb4uski we have hook racks built on the wall by the front door and within the mud room coming off the garage. We actually prefer it over a closet, but then we are very informal folks. Our house was built in 2014 with a rustic style, so it goes well with the rest of the house.

I say "go for it".

 

[Jerry1]

I don’t think it will matter. We have a coat closet near our front door. However, we come in through the attached garage. No closet there. We just did the wall up with a nice coat rack. It’s a casual family room when you walk in through the garage, so some hangage on the wall is no big deal.

Also, my coat closet is pretty darn full. If company comes over and needed to shed their coat, they’re going on a bed our something. Bottom line, no closet, no big deal IMHO.

 

[Marita40]

Minnesotan here with a fleet of coats and jackets. My 100 year old house has a big coat closet at the front door, and a coat rack at the back door. They are both 100% necessary to me. That said when guests come the usual practice is to pile coats on the sofa (if not in use) or upstairs bed.

 

[savory]

Answering, will the lack of a coat closet be a resale issue when you sell the house?

In this sample of one, we are in the process of moving to a townhouse rental in the northeast. It does not have a coat closet. We did notice that there was a closet for coats. But, at least in our case, it was no where near a game breaker. It had so many more important features, much higher on our want list. We will solve this potential problem with a coat rack or similar after we move.