Moving the first floor’s one closet to someplace near the front door makes a lot of sense. Right now we hang our coats on pegs, put our briefcases & gym bags on a bench (which means you can’t sit on it), and keep our shoes on some old shelves I originally bult to fit beind a door in the old house. All of this makes for a somewhat messy foyer area.
While verifying some measurements, I also discovered what I think is some dead space next to the house’s chimney — space that could be used for storage. Here’s the current plan; front door is at the top.
The space on the right in this drawing has a place for all of our day-to-day items I mentioned above: briefcases & gym bags in cubbies, our daily-use coats on hooks, shoes under the bench. The new closet on the left (that’s a plumbing/electric chase in the corner) would have a hanging rod and be used for off-season storage and guests’ coats. All this would be hidden behind doors that match what’s already in the house — in fact, the door for the new closet could be the one from our current closet. The wood floor can also be extended (and some stained areas patched) with wood salvaged from the sunroom.
There are some other things we would like to do to the foyer if budget and time allows: an octagonal window on the stair landing to let in some more light, replace the stair treads with clear-finished (rather than painted) wood, reconfigure the lowest stair slightly so it’s easier to use with the front door open, re-case the front door so its moulding matches the rest of the house. We’ll price out these optional projects and may want to tack them onto the remodel.