Entryway

While my apartment is technically on the second floor, my entrance is on the first floor, with a tiny little foyer and the staircase that goes up to the rest of the apartment.  At the top of the stairs is the large, bedroom-sized closet. When I originally moved in, I put all of my coats and hats and mittens in this closet...however it very soon became apparent that this setup wasn't going to work. The place to hang things in this closet is in the back. And the space between the back and the door is usually filled, or at least not always easily traveled.
  
Since I'm usually in a rush to get out the door in the morning, and it will only get worse as the winter comes, I knew I needed to do something else. I first tried putting my coat tree in the "nook" behind the door in the entryway downstairs, but it didn't work for me.

Before: Leftover plywood from my headboard,

my sewing machine and testing the coat tree out

See how tall the space is??

I decided what I needed to do was put in a rod across the nook to hang coats on, and put a shelf above the rod to store my hats, mittens, scarfs, etc. 

I decided I wanted to go the 'built in' look, so I got some wood to use as supports for the sides, and a precut shelf. I put the trim on the three sides of the nook, and then set the shelf on top and screwed it in. I'll be honest, this didn't turn out exactly as pretty as I imagined, but it is working out amazingly.

With the shelf

Next I need to get rid of the plywood thats left over (anyone want a headboard??) and perhaps do some other decorating up the stairway. I actually have another project in progress for the entry way, and I'll leave you with this teaser: