Entryway Bench Ideas For Small Spaces [Maximum Practicality]
A common misconception nowadays – you can’t make a house look pretty if there’s not enough space. But, nope. Small apartments and flats can still look just as lavish with the right furnishings and strategic placements. Today, we plan to share some entryway bench ideas for small spaces – to help you see just how far calculated positioning can take you.
With small spaces, it’s important to install multifunctional furnishings such as small benches with numerous cabinets. Of course, you can also add some plain ol’ wood benches to add to the regality of the room. But with minimalist but compound benches, you can significantly reduce clutter, and make room for more important items in the small entryways.
So, ready to revamp your small entryways for a glorious apartment makeover session? Take out your pen and pad and jolt down the ideas below right away!
6 Tactical Entryway Bench Ideas For Small Spaces
The biggest drawback with small entryways – you often can’t fit enough necessary things in there. The following entryway bench ideas will help you improve that situation –
1. Cute Two-Person Benches
Well, you wouldn’t be trying to fit in an entire family worth of people on the entryway benches, would you now? If the main goal is to create a little sitting arrangement, you should definitely go for the two-person benches.
Because longer benches won’t ultimately provide any utility. Visitors can use the short benches briefly to pull their boots up, tie their lacy heels, etc. Plus, with a cutie-patootie two-seater, you can make room for shoe racks, holders, etc.
2. Cozy Set-Ups With Futons
Got enough space to build a cozy nook? Don’t pass up on that opportunity. Get one of those spacious (but lightweight) bamboo benches and place a mattress and a lovely bed sheet.
You can also utilize the space underneath the bamboo benches to keep books, magazines, etc. Some even install wooden shelves over the head to keep more books and mail. Cozy nooks like these throughout the house can optimize your educational life (or the napping life) greatly.
However, before adopting this specific set-up, make sure your entryway doesn’t experience much wetness. Cotton fabric and bamboo – neither works well with water and thus, you’ll be setting yourself up for a disastrous outcome.
Furthermore, ensure proper lighting in the area if you plan to turn it into a book corner. You can encase the wires with decorative tapes to make them seem like a part of the design.
3. Grocery Benches
This one’s a weird set-up but super worth it if the entryway opens into the kitchen area. Instead of having to take the groceries all the way into the kitchen, you can temporarily store them here. Some people use the lower cabinets to store dry i.e. non-perishable items like rice, lentil, maize, corn, etc.
It’s best to not go for such a set-up with main entryways. Because then you’ll most likely not have enough space for umbrella holders, shoe racks, etc. But if you’ve got a backdoor entryway by the kitchen, use the storied benches like makeshift spice & food racks to save up on space inside.
If you have a dining area next to the front entrance, you can check out 6 Dining Room Entryway Ideas That’ll Surprise Your Guests! This may help you to know more about dining room entryways.
4. Deconstructed Vintage Benches
Let’s face it. No matter how many unique looks we want to go for, eventually, we fall back to being clumsy again. For instance – the first thing we do after we come home is to throw our hats, socks, cardigans, etc. into different dimensions.
And then we end up looking for our lost apparel items all over the house the next day. So, why not curate a functional system to counteract this bad habit directly?
Instead of a painting, use decorative rugs, cloth posters, etc. all around the entryway bench for a deconstructed look. Factually, this style goes even better with a vintage house.
After coming home, keep (or throw, yes we know you do exactly that) the additional clothing items over the bench. Now, the hats, shawls, etc. won’t look too out of place and will even go nicely with the surrounding rugs and mats.
You’ll also be able to find them easily the next day this way. You can create different cabinets for socks, umbrellas, etc. too to shadow the bench as a walk-in closet alongside.
5. Green Benches
If the entryway is by the balcony, you can create a nice little green corner with wood benches. Stack different flower pots and plants on the bench to bring more oxygen inside.
It’s recommended to install this set-up on a bench that you don’t use often, like the grocery bench set-up. Instead of keeping the entryway space completely empty, fill it up with greenery for more freshness within the house.
But don’t put plants that leak on such benches lest you should want to ruin the wood altogether. Use proper plates so water doesn’t leak from the pots to prevent muddiness as well.
You can also use desert plants and flowers to reduce the usage of flowers. Furthermore, you can free up some space in the middle to sit down amongst the plants if you feel like it. It’ll work as low-cost oxygen therapy and you’ll be able to enjoy a lovely afternoon by the balcony with pretty flowers.
6. Artistic Statement
If you’ve got a separate place for shoe racks, mail sorters, etc. then you can use the small entryway space to make an enigmatic artistic statement instead.
And here’s how to do that.
Get rid of anything that doesn’t contribute to the aesthetics within the small entryway. Place a huge painting of your liking on one of the walls, & then place a short bench nearby. You can also place a little fountain or a music box to help elevate the ambiance of the little sanctuary-like space.
You can also place some scented candles (with proper fire precautions) to enunciate the sensory feelings.
And bam, now you’ve got a brand new relaxing place where you can just admire the painting whenever you feel overwhelmed and stressed out. It’s a great tactic to feel grounded and clear your head up before important events.
3 Ways To Maximize The Bench Space In Small Entryways
So far, we have talked about some common bench setups for small entryways. Now let’s share some strategies on how to maximize the bench space in small entryways.
After all, if lack of space is the main issue, then that’s the problem that should be resolved first, right?
1. Spacious Pedestal Area
If you’re working with 50 sq. feet instead of 100, how would it work out if you double layered the 50 sq. feet area instead?
Think about it.
You can still place all the things you placed on a single plane in the 100 sq. feet area. The only difference is that – now you’re using two parallel planes instead to layer half of the things on top of the other half.
Sounds inglorious, no?
Well, it’s not that complicated. And the idea of having a spacious pedestal area helps you understand just that. Imagine having to have a separate mail sorter, bookshelf, umbrella holder, shoe rack, etc. alongside the entryway.
Now imagine having a bench with three different cabinets underneath to keep your mail, books, and shoes in. Instead of having to install three different furnishings, you can now use a single bench to store all the items listed above.
2. Geometric Mapping
Place the bench according to the overall entryway shape. If it’s like a long corridor, use a long but narrow bench to maximize maneuverability.
Again, if it’s more like a circular space, then use round and compact benches to make the room feel more coordinated. With small entryways, it’s all about the right placements to reduce the amount of clutter.
So, if you use extremely wide benches on narrow entryways, the entire room will feel dysfunctional and disheveled. The same logic applies to long and stout benches in round rooms.
3. Clear Pathways
Lastly, as mentioned above, the less cluttered a place is, the more spacious it will seem. Hence, you should ensure clear pathways around entryway benches for maximum space.
For instance – if you’re already using benches with multiple inclusive racks and cabinets, don’t use additional furnishings. Don’t place items like mailboxes, bookshelves, etc. i.e. items that you don’t need anymore.
You can still use hooks and hangers on the walls above for various purposes. But specifically keep the flooring space clear enough so people can move, walk & run around freely.
Entryway Bench Ideas *NOT* To Follow For Small Spaces
We figured out a lot of to-dos so far in terms of bench placements near small entryways. Now let’s find out about some tricky bullets to dodge in such cases –
Heavy Benches
Don’t place sofa-like heavy arrangements near the entryways. Not only does it look out of place, but it also hinders your maneuverability while walking through the doors.
For entryways, especially small entryways, you want something lightweight and fun – that you can easily place somewhere else at a moment’s notice.
Heavy bench systems will add to the overall clutter and you’ll hardly get to use them for anything other than sitting. So, if you want a *strictly* sitting-based arrangement, large sofas or benches *can* work out at times.
But otherwise, it’s best to avoid heavy furniture at all costs.
If you want to know about the best-suited furniture for entryways, check out 34 Entryway Furniture Ideas: Make Authentic First Impression.
Box Benches
By box benches, we mean the ones with no hollow spaces underneath. These types of benches have no openings on either side, making them seem sturdier.
But here’s the drawback with box benches. You can’t store things like old newspapers, magazines, etc. under the bench. Plus, you’d have to lift the entire bench to access the floor underneath while cleaning the house.
Needless to say, that’s a whole lot of extra work for nothing too special. Hence, if possible, avoid box benches as well.
No Cover-Ups
Even lightweight benches can leave scuff marks on the floors with too much friction. So, to prevent that, it’s a good idea to use cover-ups or little cloth pockets under the benches.
However, make sure that the material you’re using isn’t too slippery because otherwise, the bench won’t stay stable. Polishing the bars before placing the entryway benches is also a neat trick to adjust the surface discrepancies.
Lack Of Color Coordination
Finally, let’s talk about some aesthetics. Just because you’ve got a small entryway, doesn’t mean you should place just anything in there to fill the void.
Nope, you should still prioritize the royal color chart and make sure the carpets match the drapes. If the rest of your house sports a rustic yet vintage look, try going for minimalist wood benches. Maple, mahogany, etc. wood types look majestic with such décor themes.
Again, you can go for a light-colored oak or spruce bench to highlight the colorful furnishings above. The art of décor hinges on the ability to be minimalist by allowing the watchers to focus on only what you want them to focus on. And something as seemingly minor as an entryway bench is just the right illusory furnishing to play off these tricks.
Final Word
So there you have it. Hopefully, you found today’s tips and guidelines on entryway bench ideas for small spaces useful. Always remember to avoid negative spacing when you’re dealing with small entryways. You have to make the best out of the space you’ve already got, to maximize functionality.
And a pretty cool way to do that is to use benches with hidden drawers and cabinets. That way, you can keep your keys and other essentials in one of the drawers, and then important mail in another. Again, you can customize entire shoe racks on the lower side, to save a huge amount of space.
Overall, it’s important to make sure the bench is sleek but sturdy enough to handle the load. You can also customize designer benches to make sure they go with the house décor. Also, whichever wood/bench material you go for, always make sure it’s waterproof & stain-proof to ensure longevity.
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