I have a very small entry way and wish to have a rack to hang bags and coats. From the picture, the only walls that I have to work with near the door are in an L shape, one has a mail slot holder and the other had 2 lightweight art pieces on it. I would love to be able to mount a peg coat rack for coats and bags on at least one if not both walls.

The trouble is, I can't find any studs behind the front wall (I used a studfinder--there is brick on the other side for the front of my house, and the side section with the art has a recessed bookcase on the wall behind it (see bottom image). The nail holes for the art are drilled into the precise height of one of the book shelves. Does anyone have an idea for how to make this space better able to hold a mounted rack capable of holding significant weight? I'm no carpenter, but would love to hear anyone's ideas. The vertical wooden sides of the bookcase are not accessible from the entry side, unfortunately. I've considered securing the shelves to the bookcase by drilling screws into the side, but that would be visible and I'm not sure how much help (if any) that would have on something drilled into the entry side.

Any ideas for organizing the entry would be so helpful--the peg rack is all I have been able to think of. Though not shown, I currently have a freestanding coatrack there and while it can hold a lot of stuff, it takes up valuable space in a small area and my kids have pulled it over on themselves multiple times.