'Craftsman, Mission, and Shaker sort of styles,' while simple, all tend to be fairly refined. Salvaged barn wood is likely to be considerably more rough, warped, sun-bleached and otherwise rustic than is typical of these styles, so they may not be the best guides.

I would try moving around in the actual space, pretending the unit is actually there. Imagining how you will use it may help you get a handle on appropriate sizes of and relationships between the parts, and allow you to make a rough sketch for the cabinetmaker to work from.

Good point, Jon. I guess what I'm looking for style-wise is NOT much embellishment and that was the idea I was trying to convey. My original concept was more like a hall tree, but after thinking about your suggestion to move around in the actual space, perhaps just a bench with shoe/boot storage underneath, and a separate coat rack mounted on the wall above would be the best solution. The salvaged wood has been kiln dried and planed, and the cabinet guy will putty the nail holes and apply a natural stain, so I think that the final effect will not be so rustic, although there are still variations in color from weathering, but we like that for "character". Thanks.

I got some plans from, I think, "Family Handyman" magazine. They typically run plans like this every year or two, sort of their bread and butter project. The plan I have is for a bench with pigeon holes for shoes/boots and a matching wall unit with a coat rack underneath, pigeon holes, and a shelf above. If you wanted, you could get wicker baskets and make your pigeon holes the right size to fit in there.

Ikea also has some similar structures in their Ikea style, that may give you some ideas and dimensions that work.

sample Ikea

Here is a link that might be useful: LEKSVIK