I use the PLAIN Coat Rack from here at Yamazaki Home as a year-round entryway catch-all. During the winter months my roommate and I use the coat rack for our most-used coats and everyday winter accessories. It is especially useful for storing our coats and jackets that face snow, sleet, and rain because, while hanging from a peg, the fabric has a chance to dry without getting other clothes wet.

If I were to, for example, hang up a winter-weather-drenched coat in my closet it would get other clothes wet and create a whole damp mess in my small space. And! It gets better … When hosting people for dinner the coat rack flexes just how much it can store as guests inevitably over-load the “branches” with their own protection against cold weather.

Once the weather warms up, my roommate and I put away our big coats and jackets and pull our warm weather clothes out of boxes we haven’t thought about since last September. Although our coat rack doesn’t look as cozy with various puffers, downs, and parkas, it takes on a life of its own for the warmer months.

Summer in NYC can mean a lot of different weather, mostly muggy, humid, and hot-hot-hot. But we keep our rain jackets, light coats and shackets hanging just in case. As we are both UV-ray conscious and SPF-obsessed, we hang various baseball hats on the branches for easy access on the way out the door. On the lower rungs we hang our favorite tote bag or purse du jour and use extra space to hang summer activities like packable picnic blankets. —Isabel P.