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We have a little mud room and had a bench and three hooks for couple of years but I just needed more storage. With two kids, their backpacks, ballet bags, multiple coats, hats, etc it just ended up piling up on the bench.

We recently got this
https://www.jossandmain.com/storage/pdp/diehl-60-wall-mounted-coat-rack-lrfy2047.html

And game changer. So on top of my three hooks, it gave me like six more. We put the backpacks on the bottom hooks and jackets on the top. So much more organization and I wasn’t looking through coats to get to backpacks etc.

We actually installed cabinets (kitchen cabinets) above our hooks and bench to get maximum storage and also have it be hidden so it doesn't matter what we keep in there. Basically like @crazydoglady's picture but above the hooks there are cabinets that go to the ceiling. We store sunscreen, bug spray, random tools, and a bunch of other stuff in there and its really helpful!

@Foodnerd81: Actually yes - if you have the room, a separate wall for hooks would be ideal! We never actually sit on our bench because the coats are in the way and its always covered in bags, but we only have this one little wall section to cram everything in! Kid coats don't get in the way but mine and DH's do.

Gah, I loathe open storage. It never looks as good as when it's styled in magazines.

If I had the space, I'd do a big closet with shelves on the bottom for shoes and a coat rack, with a double hung bar on one side and a couple of hooks on the back wall on the other.

Plus a place to sit...it's useful for people of all ages, including myself!

We don't have a mud room, but we've done a couple storage things lately that I really like!

We put up three kid height hooks. My son hangs up his coat and bag. My daughter can't really yet but tries (18 months)

Then inside the closet we put a storage unit similar to an IKEA kallax. Each kid has one bin for shoes and one bin for hats/mitts. They both know where to put their stuff back and where to get it out.

Our mudroom is one of my favorite features of our house and now that I've lived with one like this, I'm not sure I could manage without it.

Stone tile floor, so its low maintenance and I don't worry too much about water. There is a small area to the left of the door that is just big enough for a drying rack, we keep one there for hanging up wet snowpants and coats (mittens and hats get hung by the wood stove).

There is a large, floor to ceiling cubby/bench set up. So four sections- each section has a lower cubby box where we keep shoes, then there is a bench area. Above that are locker type cubbies with hooks for hanging coats. Above that is another box cubby, and above that is a long shelf that runs the length of the unit. its not super well utilized right now, to be honest, but we keep stuff like beach towels, some off-season gear, bubbles, sunscreen, etc up there.

There is a giant closet with sliding barn-style doors. On one side of this closet we stack wood for our woodstove. On the other side we keep two strollers, as well as a ton of random stuff on shelves. Also not super well organized right now. We are in the process of cleaning/organizing our whole house to make it easier to sell in the future and this is next on my list! We also keep chicken food, bird seed, and some potting soil there for easy access (we also have an outdoor shed, but its nice to have this stuff nearby).

We purchased a standalone cubby system from plow and hearth, and we use it for mittens, hats, scarves, and gardening stuff that lives indoors (as opposed to the stuff in the shed).

We also have room for a separate bench, and a small table which is nice to have to set packages on. We have two boot trays for wet boots. There is also a small cubby area where my hsuband (to my extreme annoyance) keeps a giant pile of tools.

The mudroom has so much space, its not very well utilized right now but we keep a TON of stuff in it. Our basement isn't always dry, so we can't really keep anything down there. My husband has some part of his brain missing that prevents him from putting shit away or being annoyed by the pile of shit in his cubby- but I keep everyone else's relatively organized.

I can try to take pictures later if it would help- but as I've mentioned several times its not well utilized right now so its mildly embarrassing!

This is our entrance. Unfortunately in this house it’s where everyone enters, I’d prefer this as a connector between the garage with a separate entry for guests. Open storage is challenging but nothing in my house looks like a magazine- this mudroom is very functional. Plenty of space for getting dressed and even when we get lazy and don’t put away a stroller or something, there is still room to move.
First photo is from the front door looking right, second is looking straight ahead to the back door. Third photo is of the cubby unit.

We just did our Mudroom! I NEEDED closed storage in addition to open storage. I Also went “overboard” on the hooks but my cubby has my work bag and kid/mom backpack and work jacket, warm practical jacket and a vest .. which only leaves 1 free hook, yes you can double up but it gets crowded! I do wish there was a lower drawers or shelf for a basket lower that small kids could reach!

@MrstypeA: I really like the cupboard closed door storage above the cubbies. Makes so much sense! Thats the part of our cubbies that gets messiest, it would be nice to just close the doors!