An Entryway Bench Gives the Shoes Somewhere to Go

Sit down, pull your boots on, and leave the pair you just took off on the shelf underneath. That is the whole idea of an entryway bench, and it is why a bench by the front door keeps the floor around it clearer than a mat and good intentions ever do.

How much of the shoes you want to see is the main choice. An open shelf keeps them in view and lets wet boots dry in the air. Baskets hide the jumble but stay a pull away, and drawers or doors close everything off for an entry that is also part of the living room. A hall tree adds hooks for coats above the seat, useful where there is no closet near the door.

Width matters as much as style, since a narrow entry needs a slim bench that leaves the door free to swing.

Tribesigns Upholstered Entryway Bench With Shoe Shelf

Two people can sit on the Tribesigns at once, which is what a family entry needs at eight in the morning. The seat is a thick cushion in white faux lambswool on a warm brown frame, inviting enough to wait on while someone finds their keys.

Below runs one open shelf, deep enough for a row of sneakers or a couple of woven baskets for hats and gloves. Move it to the foot of a bed or a kitchen table later and it still looks as if it belongs there.

HOMCOM Narrow Shoe Bench With Flip Drawers

A bench for an entry that looks too tight for one. HOMCOM kept this design shallow, so it hugs the wall and leaves the walkway clear, and the shoes stand upright in two tip-out drawers instead of lying flat. Dividers inside move or come out for ankle boots and heels.

The fronts carry a raised chevron pattern with slim gold pulls, and a padded gray cushion on top makes the whole thing a seat. Fix it to the wall with the anti-tip fitting, especially with small children around.

WINWY Rattan Entryway Bench With Flip Drawers and Coat Rack

This WINWY bench has arched rattan panels set into warm oak, a mid-century look that could sit in a living room as easily as by the door. The arches are the fronts of two tip-out drawers for shoes, and a matching wooden rail of hooks hangs on the wall above for coats and bags, so bench and hooks look like a set. The cushion cover comes off for washing, which is handy in a house with a dog and a muddy garden path.

Tribesigns Two-Tier Solid Wood Entryway Bench

No cushion, no drawers, just thick planks of solid wood with a shelf below. The Tribesigns looks as though a carpenter made it for a farmhouse porch, and it suits a back door or a mudroom where boots come off caked in mud. Add a sheepskin or a flat cushion if you want softness, or leave the grain bare against a white wall, where its dark brown tone stands out.

HOMCOM Shoe Bench With Cushion and Baskets

The baskets are the reason to want this cottage-style bench. There are five, in two sizes, woven in white and lined with fabric tied in little bows, so the shoes, gloves, and scarves behind them are hidden but a pull away. Give each person in the house a basket of their own.

The frame is painted cream white and rubbed back at the edges for a farmhouse look, with a flat cushion on top. The baskets fold flat when you want them somewhere else.

Reibii Raybee Hall Tree With Bench and Shoe Storage

By a front door with no closet nearby, the Raybee gathers a whole mudroom into one tall frame. A row of hooks takes coats and bags, a shelf at the top holds hats and sunglasses, and below the seat sit two wire racks for shoes beside three fabric drawers for gloves.

The look is industrial, black metal with rustic wood-grain shelves. The bench can be set at a different height to make room for tall boots, and the frame comes with fittings to anchor it to the wall.

Tribesigns Solid Fir Entryway Bench With Shearling Seat

Put knotty solid fir under a seat of creamy faux shearling and an entry starts to feel like a ski cabin. The Tribesigns stands on chunky square legs, with a full-length shelf at floor level for shoes or one long basket, and the seat has room for two.

Because the wood is solid, every bench shows its own grain and knots.

HOMCOM Shoe Storage Bench With Rattan Sliding Doors

The sliding doors are the practical detail. They open without swinging out into the hallway, so the bench can stand right beside a door or in a tight corner. Behind them are two cupboards for shoes, and the woven rattan panels leave a little air around them.

Painted white on pale pine legs, with a low lip around the top, it has the breezy look of a beach house, and the top doubles as a landing place for a bag at the end of the day.

HOMEFORT Lift-Top Shoe Bench With Cabinet Doors

HOMEFORT painted this bench a deep blue and gave it grooved cabinet doors with round brass knobs, so it looks like a piece of cottage joinery. It holds two kinds of things. Shoes go on shelves behind the doors, and the seat lifts to a shallow space for the things that otherwise end up on the floor, umbrellas, a spare scarf, a small bag.

The linen cushion comes off for cleaning. Against a white wall, the blue gives the front door a cheerful welcome.

Tribesigns Farmhouse Entryway Bench With X-Frame Sides

Bold X-shaped sides give the Tribesigns the look of a farmhouse trestle, and its length suits a wide entry or a mudroom where the whole family comes through at once. Two open shelves run beneath the seat for boots, sneakers, and storage bins. The seat is set high, which helps when you sit down and stand up again with a bag on your shoulder, and the wide top leaves room at one end for a basket of mail.

Fitting a Bench by the Door

Measure the stretch of wall the bench will stand against, and check that the front door, and any closet door nearby, still opens fully past it. Leave a clear path from the door into the house. Then look at the shoes. Tall boots want an open shelf or a drawer with a removable divider, heels and flats fit flip drawers, and a family’s worth of sneakers is easiest to manage on open shelves or in baskets. On a hard floor, a doormat in front of the bench catches the grit before it reaches the shelf.