Entrance Bag and Coat Organizer (#4)
This is a design that the client had in mind for an entrance storage unit with four open boxes for backpacks and a few shelves for other bags and outdoor-related items. it also includes a hangar bar for coats and a few other bags. In the future, hooks and custom shelving could be added to the sides to increase the utility.
I built it using construction and paint-grade pine boards; a 2x8 which I milled into the upright posts for the towers, and three 1x12 boards and some spare 1x6 pine off-cuts which were turned into the boxes and shelves. I secured the box sides and bottom to the posts (each post being 32") using semi-hidden 1 1/4" screws from the inside of the boxes, then attached two box sections with posts for each tower using 3" deck screws. The top shelf has screws into the top posts from the top of the shelf to secure it. The middle shelf has two crossbars giving it 9" of vertical space and is screwed into those crossbars with 2 screws on each side. There is also a crossbar at the bottom to stiffen the structure's base with a 3" deck screw per side.
For the finish, I sanded to 220 grit on all of the outside visible surfaces, 120 on the rest. I added some 45 degree chamfers on the outside edges of either 1/8" or 1/4" depending on the part in question and I sanded the other edges to ensure fingers don't get cut. I finished the piece with a very light color oil based stain (after using the same brand stain prep solution) to bring all of the various parts to a similar color, and then added a single layer of semi-gloss oil based polyurethane to protect the boxes from the bags being taken and replaced over the years.
Front view
Slight angle to see the semi-gloss finish
Detail view of hangar bar and middle shelf support and chamfer details
