Mr. M Builds a Coat Rack

For years Mr. M has been wanting a new coat rack.

We used to hang our coats on a bland wall-mounted affair - a glorified 2x4 with wooden pegs. But when we painted the kitchen this had to come down, and Mr. M was determined not to put it back up. He wanted to build something better.

We Googled "do-it-yourself coat racks", but somehow none of the results fit our aesthetic. For a few weeks we tossed ideas back and forth until one day I said, "What about a ladder?" and Mr. M said "Yes! With hooks down the sides."

Mr. M sketched out some plans, went shopping for a bit of lumber and paint, and got to work.

 And here is what he made....

Mr. M gets all the credit for design, labour, and finishing. He cut the feet and the top at proper angles for leaning the ladder against the wall, and replaced the top and bottom rungs with shelves for extra storage. The top shelf holds a basket for gloves and mittens:

And though he didn't plan for it, we were tickled to find that our kitchen radio fits perfectly onto the bottom shelf:

Since I wanted very much to include something upcycled in our project, we decided to use charity-shop forks as hooks:

On bending stainless steel flatware: it's harder than you might think, and turning the forks into hooks cost Mr. M quite a bit of effort and sweat. He also (very carefully) drilled between the tines to make room for the screws which would hold them to the wood (breaking a drillbit or two in the process until he figured out the best method).

I think the forks look very appropriate on a kitchen coat rack. :)

Between the shelves, Mr. M built flat, offset rungs for draping scarves and other cold-weather impedimenta:

~ ~ ~

A note for the sake of honesty: when people blog about their coat racks, they usually post photos of a rack hung with one elegantly-draped coat or scarf, and perhaps a pair of shoes beneath. (Witness my photos above.)

But here's the cluttered reality:

Guess which side is mine?

A month or two from now, and it will be even more covered with coats and scarves as our Wisconsin winter gets into full swing.

But thanks to Mr. M's hard work and skill, I think our new coat rack can take anything we hang on it.

:)

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~