DIY

DIY $10 Rustic Coat Rack

We have been in major cleaning and renovating mode around our house this winter, or at least as much as you can be while living in a rental. I picked up a couple boards just to play around with about a week ago, and then the next day stumbled upon these gorgeous little rustic-farmhouse style hooks at the dollar store here in Japan. Everything in the store is 100¥, equating to around 88-90 cents in USD, depending on the exchange rate. Honestly, this rack only really cost me a total of about $8-$9, but I rounded up because I already had the screws and stain that I needed.

Here’s how I made a super easy 30 minute coat rack with a $3 board, $1 hooks, $1 stain, and a couple screws I already had at home!

Materials

The Shelf

  • (1) board

    Homac has this 1×4 board for around 390¥ if I remember correctly. I chose pine because I’m cheap, and basically every type of wood will warp in the humidity. I also just really like the way pine looks when stained. If you invest in a little thicker or heavier wood, it will probably be less likely to warp.
  • (1) jar of wood stain

    Daiso has the stain that I used for 100¥ (around 90 cents). I chose walnut because I like a more rich brown color vs warm stains. One board won’t even put a dent in the jar, so you’ll have it for future projects. You could probably do 5-6 racks with one jar.
  • (7) hooks

    Seria has these hooks for 100¥ each (just a little over $6 for all 7 that I bought.)
    You can space them out more and use less hooks, or put them closer together and use more.
  • (14) small screws

    Just make sure the screws are shorter than the thickness of the board. I used 3/4″ screws. If you want to keep things uniform, I would recommend using an iron-colored screw. I chose to use regular silver screws, because I already had some iron paint. (Bought that at Homac for a separate project- but it is a little more pricey- somewhere near $10 for a jar.)

Mounting

There are a number of ways you can mount a coat rack safely on the wall. Because our particular home in Japan has studs that cannot be drilled into, I consistently hang heavy things with drywall anchors and screws. Pay attention to the type of anchors you use- each anchor is rated for a certain weight bearing load.

  • (2) large & long screws
  • (2) washers
  • (2) drywall anchors

Step-by-step

1. Stain your board

This is with one layer of stain vs the unstained wood. I added one more for a slightly darker look. It’s definitely personal preference for me, but I like to stain using paper towels. I feel that paint brushes or sponges leave uneven coverage with stain, and I hate ruining rags with stain.

2. Line up your hooks

I chose to space my hooks around 3.5″ apart, with a little over a couple inches left on each end of the board. Line up your hooks in a manner that looks good to you, then measure to make sure everything is lined up evenly.
Each hook is about 3/4″ above the bottom of the board.

3.Drill pilot holes

If you need a small drill bit, I bought this one at Daiso for 100¥. I use it for any project that I need a super small pilot hole for.
This will keep your wood from splitting and make sure your screws are going in the right direction. The pilot holes do not need to be deep at all- just enough to guide a screw to where it needs to go.

4. Screw your hooks on

Shown are my silver screws here. I then just took a small piece of paper towel, dipped it in my iron paint, and brushed over the top of them.

Voila! You have created a $10 coat rack that will seriously clean up your entryway. Check out my before and after below, too!

Soooo much better, right?!

For mounting, I chose to drill two pilot holes- one at each end of the board, and fasten the rack to the wall with a washer, screw, and drywall anchor in the wall on each side. After hanging it, I could probably use one more solid mounting point in the middle of the board too- but I’ll save that for another day, and will keep the load on it light until then.

I love finding ways to make something for a fraction of the cost that you could purchase it new for. Plus, you can say that you created it all by yourself.

Happy creating!

I’ve got a couple messages about products shown in the photos, so here are the links if you are interested!

Buffalo Plaid Rug
Use code “7P6RZTTR” to make it $7.99!

Thin Throw Blanket
Duck Boots
My boots originally came from Kohl’s, but they are sold out. I linked some that look almost identical from Amazon with good reviews, and they’re like $40 cheaper than I paid!
Hunter Boots
Galvanized Bucket

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