Our Favorite Yamazaki Home Products for Small Spaces

Compact shoe racks for varied spaces

Yamazaki Home makes a number of space-efficient shoe racks, constructed of durable-yet-thin powder-coated steel, and two of them are picks in our guide.

The 6-Tier Shoe Rack can hold up to 24 pairs of adult shoes. With a sturdy, powder-coated steel frame that screws securely into a solid wood top, this rack can work as an entryway console or an extra shelf in a closet. This model is a bigger investment than some other shoe racks we recommend, but the versatile design helps justify the price. However, due to this model’s open-slat design, in testing some shoes tended to fall off (depending on their size) during testing.

Maxine and deputy director Julia Bush both own the Slim Shoe Rack. It holds up to eight pairs of shoes and can be tucked right behind a front door. “It nearly blends into the wall, even when loaded up with eight pairs of shoes,” Maxine said. Julia keeps two of these shoe racks in her small entryway, and she said shoes can tend to slip off the racks, due to the tilted-wire shelf design, but its small footprint is hard to beat.

For even more space efficiency (though less shoe storage), the Yamazaki Home Shoe Rack, which we recommend in our guide, can hold five pairs. Some styles, like heels, can tend to fall through this narrow rack’s open shelves. But this unit fits snugly into tight corners or cramped entryways, and it offers just enough space for everyday shoes (boots are a tighter fit).

In her entryway, Katie has two of these sitting racks side by side and tucked neatly underneath Yamazaki Home’s Narrow Entryway Console Table.

Entryway organizers to keep things tidy

Yamazaki Home’s Magnetic Key Rack helps solve the universal question of “where did I put my keys?” And we recommend it in our guide to small entryways. This organizer has five hooks to hold keys, ID badges, and other small items, and an upper compartment can hold mail. You can hang it on a wall or attach it to a metal surface with the magnetic backing. So many people staffers own this entryway organizer that it has become, as editor Marilyn Ong jokes, a “standard-issue Wirecutter staff item at this point.”

For a similar style, the Magnetic Key Rack is made entirely of powder-coated steel. It has a little shelf to hold little items like sunglasses and lipgloss, and it comes recommended by editor Christine Ryan.

Coat hooks for closet-less entryways

Yamazaki Home’s compact Coat Rack is slimmer than the other models we recommend in our coat rack guide. It has an 11-inch base (5 inches smaller than our top pick’s base), so it can squeeze into the tightest entryways. The base can be a little wobblier than some others, but Katie, who’s been using this coat rack for four years, said it never struggles under the weight of guests’ wool jackets and loaded tote bags. This coat rack’s six wooden hooks are evenly spaced to hold a variety of coats and bags, and we love its whimsical look.

Well-placed hooks can help you to keep outfits and towels off of furniture (and the floor), but they also take up precious wall space. Yamazaki Home’s Over-the-Door Hanger is a top pick in our guide to closet organizing because it fits snugly over most doors without wiggling. It sits flush against the door, and it comes in white (to match many doors), so it can subtly blend into the background without screaming “dorm room.”

Plus, the smooth, powder-coated edges won’t damage delicate items like scarves. This item is a great addition to a small bathroom to hang towels, robes, and bathing suits to dry. This rack should last for years: Katie has owned three of them for as many years and says they all still look as good as new.

If an over-the-door style isn’t an option, editor Christine Ryan recommends Yamazaki Home’s Wall-Mounted Coat Rack for holding jackets and bags. In the absence of a coat closet, she hung several of these racks in the entry area of her home. “I love the ’70s look of the black steel and walnut,” she said, and the movable hooks are an added bonus for customization.