Coat Racks & Stands

How many times have you walked into a home or an office, and found there is nowhere to hang your coat? In those winter months when we step into warm heated rooms after being out in the cold, there is nothing worse than having nowhere to store your coat – particularly if it has been raining and you don’t want to carry it through the house of building, leaving a trail of water behind you. Investing in a coat rack or coat stand is a simple solution which provides adequate space to hang up both coats and hats and other outer wear – with some designs taking up more space than others.

Different types of coat racks

As a general rule, coat racks tend to offer a little more space for multiple items – with some hanging from hangers on a rail, while others are designed with hooks. Some of the best coat racks are created with built in shelves along the bottom, ideal for storing shoes, boots and bags – keeping them out of the way in an orderly fashion. One way that some retailers have made their coat racks even more attractive is by including a bench seat into the design – making them ideal to sit along the wall of a hallway, where users can sit to put on or take off their shoes, before reaching for their coat and heading straight outside. Those with bench seats where the seat is able to be lifted for concealed storage are particularly popular with modern homeowners who value a maximised use of space and minimalist designs.

The benefits of coat stands

Coat stands are far more likely to be found in traditional homes and office spaces, relying on height and series of coat hooks which allow you to hand coats at different levels – ideal for families with children who can reach the lower hooks, and also enabling more coats to be hung without all of them creating a mass of material on one single level. TOP TIP: One thing to note when purchasing a coat stand is that often these are built with a single pole structure up the centre – and as such, are subject to balance in a way that coat racks are not. While most coat racks have solid bases which are weighted to avoid issue, there are times when a particularly heavy coat could offset the balance and cause the rack to tip over, meaning that the ideal stand should be selected to ensure safety – and you should also ensure nothing of great value is located in a place where it could be knocked over if the stand should tip over. Coat stands may not provide the seating or shoe storage that coat racks offer, but what they do allow for is a good use of space which utilises height rather than surface area; slotting comfortably into a corner without taking up too much of the room.

Finding the right coat storage for your home / office

Whether it’s for your home or your office, both coat racks and coat stands offer a useful solution to storage which can look organised and stylish. Some of the best designs of coat stand are minimal and natural in material, while the best coat racks blend into their surroundings with neutral colours and wood materials. To find the best range, head to department stores and homeware retailers, with a particular focus on hallway furniture collections and practical furniture items. For something more stand out and unique, consider looking at smaller retailers who focus more on design aesthetic than the mass market, or else pick up something neutral from the high street and add your own stylistic décor.