The entrance is pretty small and I need a place to hang jackets and backpacks without taking up much space. Is it worth going for one of those modular coat racks like Hay or Muuto, or should I play it safe with something from Carrefour? Do they hold weight well or do they fall off the wall after a month?
Modular coat racks from brands like Hay or Muuto are well-designed and hold weight without any problem if you install them correctly, but here's the important bit: the problem is never the coat rack itself, but how you anchor it to the wall. If you put the wall plugs in places where there's solid brick or concrete, a designer coat rack will hold without batting an eye. Now, if your entryway has thin drywall or something weird, even the best coat rack in the world will fall down the same. So first things first, take a good look at what's behind that wall.
That said, the branded ones have better-engineered profiles and higher-quality wood, but they're bloody expensive for an entryway. A decent coat rack from Carrefour or a similar store does exactly the same thing if you install it properly: it hangs coats without sagging. The difference is that the expensive ones last more years without getting scratched, but if all you need is pure functionality, don't drop that kind of cash. What I would do is avoid those tiny cheap drywall coat racks that come with plastic plugs to mess around with: those are the ones that fall down.
My advice: pick something you like the look of at a mid-range price, buy good wall plugs (if the wall needs them, expansion ones), and don't skimp on installation. Drill straight, get the plugs in properly fitted, and let it sit for a day before loading weight on it. That way it'll hold up for years without any issues.
What really matters is where you hang it, not the brand. Even though it seems obvious, most people install coat racks in drywall areas without looking for the structural studs, and of course everything falls down after two months. If you find a wooden or reinforced drywall stud and use decent expansion anchors (not those cheap plastic ones), both Hay and something from Carrefour will hold jackets without any problem. The difference is more in the design and how modular ones adapt better to tiny spaces like yours, but if your entryway doesn't have much room, honestly, a basic coat rack that's properly mounted will work exactly the same as one that costs 150 euros.
The difference between a Carrefour coat rack and a Hay one isn't so much about material quality, but rather the design and durability of the anchors. I had a tiny entryway like that years ago and made the mistake of buying the first thing I saw in a home goods store. Two months later, when I hung a heavy backpack over a jacket, the whole thing came down. Not because the rack was bad, but because the wall I mounted it on was all soft plaster.
What happened after that taught me that the real secret is finding where the studs or wall anchors are in the structure. Expensive coat racks hold up exactly the same as cheap ones if you install them in the right spot, and they fail just as easily if you don't. Brand ones do usually have better expansion bolts and more robust hardware, so if you drill properly into a decent location, they last longer. But I've seen Carrefour coat racks from a decade ago still hanging without problems because people put them where they should.
My advice: if your entryway gets a lot of traffic and needs to handle backpacks or winter coats without drama, spend a bit more on one of the modular ones. The design is better thought out, the bolts come in better quality, and it gives you more peace of mind. But whatever you end up choosing, use a stud finder before drilling, or call someone who knows where the wall studs are. That's what really matters so it doesn't fall off in a month.
Don't get hung up on the brand because that's the least important part! What's actually going to determine whether it falls or not is finding the wall studs (the structural rails) and using decent expansion anchors, not the cheap ones that come free in the bag. I put a pretty basic coat rack in my entryway a while back with those crappy plastic anchors, and sure enough, it held for a week until a heavy backpack knocked it down! Then I reinstalled it properly by finding the stud with a detector and using real anchors, and it's been up there for years without any issues. So spend whatever you want on nice design if you like, but what matters is the installation work, not the price of the coat rack itself.
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