Design discussion for hallway closet

[Bushwacked]

Wanted to pick your brains on this … 

I am wanting to get some ideas on how y’all would tackle this design wise … 

Here is how the rest of the house is with the wainscoting… I don’t think a direct match would work in there as chair rail sticks out too much. So maybe some basic wainscoting and a look of separation for different kids areas to store stuff? I would want to try and keep sports bags in here and extras like that. No real need for a true coat closet per say with a bar across the front. 

 

now here’s the inside of it. Only thing we have done is put the wood floors down in the first half. It’s got this random shelf … 
 

 

here is the inside … the previous owners just had the builder toss some carpet on the bench and floor. It’s not actually connected to anything or held in place. I mean it’s fine as it’s the tornado shelter for the house that my kids have turned into a little hide and go seek place and a “fort” of sorts 

[Kev]

Well, you could really do just about anything you want..  Some low profile wainscoting would look nice on the entrance way.  for the actual room, obviously a coat of paint would go a long way.  Perhaps a little better bench with some actual cushions and some storage inside of it?  Then, trim out that cubby with something other than ply and I think this room would look as good as it needs to.

Maybe ask what your kids want in there?

[Coop]

BW, you made mention on here about a guy by the name of Bourbon Moth. I went to YouTube and the only video of his that I watched due to their lengths was “Decorative Casing”. The size of his was extreme due to the size of the room but, I think something along those lines would look good scaled down. 

[Bushwacked]

3 hours ago, Kev said:

Well, you could really do just about anything you want..  Some low profile wainscoting would look nice on the entrance way.  for the actual room, obviously a coat of paint would go a long way.  Perhaps a little better bench with some actual cushions and some storage inside of it?  Then, trim out that cubby with something other than ply and I think this room would look as good as it needs to.

Maybe ask what your kids want in there?

yes, definitely some paint! I was thinking of like a thinner version of what we have without chair rail moulding ... like 1/2 and 1/4 thick pieces to save as much room as possible. 

As for the bench, I was thinking maybe even tearing that one out and maybe going even lower with it? Right now it is about 13" high, I was thinking maybe 7-8" high as a more low profile bench and giving adults more head room. You pretty much have to bend all the way over or slide on your knees to get out of the room anyways. 

Yes, the cubby was going to be replaced with something nice. I put that in about 5 years ago maybe? Just to give them a quick book storage spot with scraps I had laying around.

I asked my kids ... they wanted something like the below coming out into our master since it shares walls haha 

2 minutes ago, Coop said:

BW, you made mention on here about a guy by the name of Bourbon Moth. I went to YouTube and the only video of his that I watched due to their lengths was “Decorative Casing”. The size of his was extreme due to the size of the room but, I think something along those lines would look good scaled down. 

ooooh, will check it out. Is it the casing for his office with the massive built ins? I saw that one and was thinking about that type of look just scaled way down. 

[Coop]

Yep, that’s the one. I like the way he did the rabbet in the top of the baseboards and in the bottom of the chair rail to accept the wainscoting. 

[Bushwacked]

11 hours ago, Coop said:

Yep, that’s the one. I like the way he did the rabbet in the top of the baseboards and in the bottom of the chair rail to accept the wainscoting. 

I was watching the big cabinet built in one .. noticed he does the same for the cabinets sitting on the desktop, he routes a grove in there and slides the cabinets in. Seems like a pretty cool alignment/install trick

[Bushwacked]

Maybe something like this? Not sure on color, but maybe a nice blue help make it more "fun" in there

 

 

[Kev]

Nice rendering!

[Coop]

I think you nailed it!

[Woodenskye (Bryan)]

Nice rendering, but I’m still confused (shocking right).  Is this space open and seen?  In 1 of the early photos there was a door, which if the door is always closed, I would paint and probably skip the wainscot, but with that said, if your now making this open and visible all the time you can disregard my previous statement.  

[Bushwacked]

Thanks guys!

 

7 hours ago, Woodenskye (Bryan) said:

Nice rendering, but I’m still confused (shocking right).  Is this space open and seen?  In 1 of the early photos there was a door, which if the door is always closed, I would paint and probably skip the wainscot, but with that said, if your now making this open and visible all the time you can disregard my previous statement.  

So, yes there is a door on it, however with the kids, the door is almost never fully closed unless they are in there or I shut it at night. So it is normally somewhat open when people are here so that is why I am just putting a little more into it than some basic paint in the coat closet section.