You might try using the peg board idea but instead of hanging the coat on the peg itself use a hanger that hooks to the peg. This would flatten the coats to the wall and give you more room to maneuver.

I don't have any closets in the house except in the bedrooms. 2bed/1bath huge kitchen tho-
I'm having the same problem, my husband thinks I"m a nut I keep looking for clothes to give to goodwill because I have no room. I think what I'll do is designate the second room closet for jackets and boots.

We actually TOOK OUT the coat closet. Our house has no central hall. You had to walk around the entire house, and bedrooms ajoined so you walked through a bedroom to get to the next. That was WEIRD...and we needed another non-bedroom room. So I removed the closet and the bedroom closet and now you walk through that little area from one room to the next. Luckily, each area had a little indent around the fire place. So I put a peg rack on the wall, mounted a shelf below for shoes (or cat hiding), and then HUNG two more shelves from the ceiling (because the plaster was unstable there). Then I hung a red velvet curtain below the two hanging shelves. We love it, although it mostly hides the vaccuum and computer bags right now... it is very handy for guests.

GGG

I'll take your eat in kitchen to no coat closet....and a door to the garage, which is on my agenda. What about an eating bench with storage? Doesn't even need to be an actual eating bench, some interesting storage benches are around that a cushion could be added to. Probably not a great idea for "good" coats, but winter/sport stuff it might work.

We have a small ranch, 3 BR with small closets. We needed more closet space and decided to convert the smallest BR to closet/storage space and utility room. I do ironing and sewing there. We bought the racks/shelves etc. at Lowes and they were easy to install. Obviously, this may not work for folks with children.

We converted our coat closet to a computer workstation, and put up rows of hooks in the mud hall. Winter coats only seem to get in the way if there's more than one on the same hook, otherwise they lay pretty flat.

Can you put up lots and lots of hooks, at staggered heights?

Our house had no coat closet when we moved here in 1973. We added a 32" x 33" coat closet when we moved the kitchen in 1978. In the kitchen remodel we are just finishing we converted the "new" coat closet into a pantry, a much better use of the space. We have a coat tree inside the front door and a row of hooks in the basement stairway instead.

What about some sort of free standing unit- like a wardrobe closet? Here's a link to give you an idea of what I'm talking about.
I personally haven't had good luck with Ikea but I was on the site checking out closet storage systems since someone in another post raved about it and I came across this. I thought it might help you out.

Here is a link that might be useful: wardrobe

Just from a functional point of view, even bulky coats don't take up as much room if you hang the coat from a hanger and then hang the hanger from the hook rather than just putting the coat over the hook. I have peg thing in my hallway leading from the mudroom (we always come in the back door) and I hang my winter coats off of hangers.

I designed our house and purposely didn't put a coat closet on the first floor, because I knew I'd never actually open the closet to put away my coat. However, we do have a mudroom area, and I bought a bench/shelf set from Pottery Barn that works beautifully for us. It also helps that we each only have 2 coats (1 dress, 1 sport).

Here is a link that might be useful: matching bench and shelf

I want to thank everyone for their suggestions. While putting in a free standing closet of somesort (like Ikea) would be nice, I really have no place for it. I nearly bought a coat tree a few weeks ago, which could possibly be put in the foyer, but the only place I could put it was right in front of my prized antique cuckoo clock, so I nixed that one. The best suggestion here was one I should have thought of myself, so I thank those who mentioned it. The spot where my coat hooks are is not very wide and made narrower by hanging bulky winter coats. Hanging them on hangers and THEN on the hooks is a great idea! Why didn't I thnk of that!?!?!?!? In the times of year where several different coat weights are often needed, I can hang a lot more coats there and they'll all be flat against the wall. Great idea!
Deb in PA

Deb, do you have a basement that you could possibly put a closet in? (Under the stairs is usually a good spot). Then you could use the hangers in your coat spot upstairs and (store) the others downstairs. This way you won't have to keep them in your clothes closets.

Lou