Hang up Your Coat and Stay a While

We're getting ready to get some bids on a few remodeling projects at our house this fall. I love, love beautiful spaces, but if they aren't functional in your day-to-day life, where's the beauty? I have big plans for the area coming off the garage. We have a walk-in pantry, small coat closet, recessed built-in desk, and a 1/2 bath all crammed together.

When the snow comes and everyone is wearing jackets and mittens, most of the time they end up on all the doorknobs going into the rooms I mentioned, on the banister going upstairs, or on the back of the breakfast room chairs. Drives me bananas! I can't blame the 7 and under set of my family because it's extremely difficult to open the coat closet crammed with stuff and get a stool to get a hanger because the rod is so high. Then there's no where to put gloves, mittens, and hats except in a bin on the floor of the closet.

So my plan is to knock out that coat closet and 1/2 bath (we have another 1/2 bath 2 rooms away, so that's not an issue)and create a "mudroom" with cubbies, hooks and open, accessible storage. My other plan is to enclose the recessed desk and put a floor to ceiling pantry with doors that open out. This is the one I had in my house in Mississippi. It's not very deep, which I like.

I then plan on making the walk-in pantry into a "mail/computer" nook with a built-in desk. I'll still have to use the back part of the pantry for small appliances. Here's my crazy pantry now.
You may say, "Wow, that's a lot of space! Why would you want to give that up?" The answer is...every time I need something from the pantry, I have to walk past the built-in desk, around the corner, and into the pantry. The hard time comes during clean-up, particularly when making school lunches. I have to round up all the items and make several trips to the pantry, when I could take a few steps over to where the desk is now and put everything away quickly.

I also love the idea of having my mail and bill paying area behind closed doors. No matter how hard I try, my desk area is alway scattered with my calendar, school forms, and to-do lists. My back door is also the home of a bulletin board for invitations, etc. I'd like to have the bulletin board in my "office", and get rid of the visual clutter as we're rushing out the door.

So what do you guys think? Sound like a logistical nightmare, or practical plan? Any ideas you'd want to share? I'll try to post some pictures of the area soon. It's a stinkin' mess right now. Have a restful Sunday.