Check out the sit and store.... Comes in tons of sizes. I had one priced at 42" wide and 78" tall in maple and it was about $500 (unpainted). This is the closest I've seen to the custom built-in version I'd REALLY like to have.

Here is a link that might be useful: sit and store

That's really cute ranchreno. Wish I had space for that.

pielady, Sarah Susanka has a book with her Not So Big house series which addresses mudrooms and laundry rooms, etc. It's called Not So Big Solutions for Your Home. Don't forget to post on the home decorating board. Lots of ideas over there.

We didn't have room for a designated mud room, but had to combine it with our entry. By making a detailed list of what I needed that space to do, I was able to come up with solutions. Make your list first and then you'll know the furniture pieces which might work. I didn't have room for any furniture, so a space which most people would put closet doors remains open in my area. Easy for my kids to get in and out of and I still don't have to look at a mess when I come in the front door.

Gloria

Thanks Ranchreno and Gloria for the ideas and links. The Sit and Store is pretty close to what I had in mind and much better than the Pottery Barn stuff I was reluctantly considering. But I will take a look at the book before plunging ahead.

We are building a combo mudroom/laundry. The mudroom portion will consist of wall-mounted benches in an L-shape along 2 walls. One one wall, we will have 2 rows of hooks (one at adult height and one at child height- the latter would probably also work for someone in a wheelchair). We will probably include a shelf above the top row of hooks. I decided against cubbies because I think having the space divided into smaller spaces will cause us to put our stuff in front of the cubbies rather than in them (I have decided our family is pretty lazy). In the current design, we can kick off our shoes under a bench, hang our coats, and set our bags down on the bench.