Mudroom Bench with Storage: Read the Table, Then Read the Answers Below It
A mudroom bench with storage is two things sold as one: a seat you sit on, and a box you put things in.
Three figures decide whether a given bench works for you: the depth it takes from your passage, what it is rated to carry, and how high the seat sits. On the 2 listings I read in full, that third figure was not in the specification table at all. It existed on one of the pages, further down, in an answer to a buyer’s question. That is a different kind of claim, and it is worth reading as the different thing it is.
- 18.1 inThe Simpli Home product depth, from its table
- 17 inIts seat height, from a seller answer, not the table
- 265 lbIts capacity in the details table. A shopper answer says 165
- 13 x 15 x 11.5The inside of the box, also from an answer
The Simpli Home page gives a weight capacity of 265 lb in its details table. A seller answer on the same page repeats it. A community answer on that same page says: “Approximately the weight limit is 165 lb.” Both figures are on the page. The 265 lb is the maker’s published line in the details table. The 165 lb is another shopper’s answer, and it is not the maker’s figure. Do not average them and do not split the difference. If that gap matters for the way you will use the bench, put the question to the seller before you order.
Do not stand on it to reach a high shelf. The page publishes 265 lb and does not say whether that figure is for sitting or for standing on. Standing puts your weight on a smaller area, and a lid is not a floor. Use a step stool instead. And do not treat a bench as a safe surface for a child to climb: it is furniture to sit on.
And one rule in plain words. Anything tall that stands on the floor gets fixed to the wall. That applies whatever it weighs and whoever lives in the house. The Anchor It campaign from the Consumer Product Safety Commission is where to read what their own pages publish about tip-over.
The other bench publishes no capacity at all. The IKEA KALLSO sidesteps the question entirely: the only weight on that page carries the label “Packaging”. It is a shipping weight, and the page publishes nothing about what the bench itself will take.
The seat height is the figure to go looking for. Page 5 of our free Entryway Fit Planner asks you to take it from a chair in your own house that you like getting up from. That gives you something to hold the listing against, table or no table. Download the planner
What a mudroom bench with storage actually holds
44 vs 13
The Simpli Home page does give inside dimensions, again in a seller answer rather than a table: “the dimensions of the storage space are Width- 13 inches, Depth- 15 inches, and Height- 11.5 inches.” Hold those three next to the outside of the same bench. The bench is 44 in wide. The storage space is 13 in wide. The compartment takes a fraction of the footprint, and that is the most useful line on the page for deciding what you can put away.
Take your bulkiest winter boot and measure it standing up. If it is taller than the inside height, it goes in lying down, and the compartment holds fewer pairs than the photo suggests.
Three figures, and where each one hides
1
The depth it takes from your passage
The Simpli Home is 18.1 in deep, and that one is in the table. Our mudroom storage solutions guide has the tape test for deciding what your passage can give up.
2
What it is rated to carry
In the table on one of the two pages, and absent from the other. Read the label on the row, because a weight listed under packaging is the box rather than the bench. And see the warning above for what happens when two different figures appear on one page.
3
How high the seat sits
This is the one you have to go looking for. Neither of the two tables on the Simpli Home page has a seat height row. The figure exists on the page, but in a seller answer: 17 inches. Ask for the seat height, not the product height, because product height is the top of the bench, which on a piece with a back or a lid is not where you sit.
What your listing is not telling you
Open the product page you are looking at, then answer three questions about it. Nothing is sent anywhere, this runs in your browser.
Seat height, not product height. Product height is the top of the back or the lid.
The seat and the box fail differentlyso read the listing twice
The seat fails by being the wrong height or too shallow to sit on. You perch instead of sitting, and you stop using it to pull boots off, which was the point.
The box fails by being the wrong shape inside. A box sized for shoes lying flat holds nothing tall, and the outside of the bench tells you nothing about that.
So read the listing twice. Once for the seat, once for the box.
The figure that is missing from the tablethe pattern that made this article
The Simpli Home Warm Shaker entryway bench publishes a clean specification table. Product depth 18.1 in, product width 44 in, product height 22 in. The table even publishes a seat depth.
The height of the seat is not in it. Neither of the two tables on that page has a seat height row.
It exists on the page, but somewhere else. A seller answer in the questions section gives the seat height as 17 inches. That is the seller answering a buyer, not a published specification.
Now compare that with the IKEA KALLSO bench. Its measurements section lists a depth and a height, and no seat height either.
Why that figure matters more than the ones they do publish: product height is the top of the bench, which on a piece with a back or a lid is not where you sit. Dimensions.com gives 18 to 20 inches as a typical bench height, and presents that as a typical range rather than a standard. The Simpli Home seat, at the 17 in the seller gives, sits under it.
A seat below that range is not a disaster. It is a different piece of furniture from the one in the photo, and you want to know before it arrives.
That habit of asking where a figure came from is the same one behind our piece on how deep a reach-in closet should be.
Before you buy this instead of something elsefour reasons to walk away
Do not buy a storage bench if what you own is tall. The only inside height I found was 11.5 in. Tall boots, a vacuum, folded strollers: those want an open shelf or a cabinet, not a lidded box.
Do not buy one for a hallway you walk through sideways. The Simpli Home is 18.1 in deep. Our mudroom storage solutions guide has the tape test for deciding what your passage can give up.
Do not stop at the specification table for the seat height. If the only figure on the page sits in an answer underneath it, ask the seller to confirm it before you order. If the seller will not say, you are buying a seat without knowing how high it is.
Do not treat a bench as a safe surface for a child to climb. It is furniture to sit on. And anything tall that stands on the floor gets fixed to the wall, whatever it weighs and whoever lives in the house.
What I could not verifytwo things, said plainly
They shape what this article can tell you.
On the 2 bench listings I read in full, neither published a seat height in its specification table. 2 pages is a small sample. I am not telling you that the industry does not publish it, I am telling you what I found on the two I checked, and that you should look for it rather than assume it is there.
And I found no inside dimensions in any specification table on those two pages. The one set of inside dimensions I have came from a seller answering a question. If the listing you are reading puts them in the table, that is a better listing than either of the ones I read.
Questions people ask3 questions
How high should a mudroom bench be?
Dimensions.com gives 18 to 20 inches as a typical bench height, and says itself that this is a typical range rather than a standard. The Simpli Home seat sits at the 17 in its seller gives. That is below the range. Lower seats are easier for children and harder to get up from. The figure to find is the seat height, not the product height, and on both pages I read you have to ask for it.
Can I stand on a storage bench to reach a high shelf?
No. The Simpli Home publishes a capacity of 265 lb in its details table, and the page does not say whether that figure is for sitting or for standing on. Standing puts your weight on a smaller area, and a lid is not a floor. Use a step stool instead.
The listing says 265 lb and a shopper answer says 165 lb. Which is right?
Go with the seller’s figure and treat the shopper’s answer as a flag worth asking about. They are not two measurements of the same thing. One is the maker’s published claim, the other is a stranger’s impression. If the gap worries you, that is a good question to put to the seller before you order.
Taking the tape to the door this weekend?
The Entryway Fit Planner gives you the depth, the clear wall and the seat height in one sheet. Five printable pages, with a source line under every published figure.
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