How to make a coat rack out of old clothes hangers

You'll need

• a glued spruce wood board, which you can get at the hardware store (80 by 20 centimeters)
• wooden clothes hangers, e.g. six identical ones
• a hand saw, to cut the clothes hangers to size
• a piece of paper somewhat larger than one of the clothes hangers
• a pen or pencil
• a ruler
• a power screwdriver 
• a four-millimeter wood drill
• a flat drill bit
• cabinet suspension brackets and compatible screws
• a Phillips drill bit, a two-millimeter wood drill and 12 compatible screws
• some sandpaper
• paint in a color of your choice, e.g. chalk paint because it creates a matte finish 
• a container for the paint
• a rubber band
• a paintbrush
• transparent wood wax, to seal the paint and make it scratch-resistant

 

Instructions

First, place one of the clothes hangers on the piece of paper and trace its outline.

Then determine the place where the clother hanger is to be sawn apart, mark the spot with the pencil and ruler, and transfer that line to your template. Now you can use the ruler to place each of the hangers on the template in order to get an exact line for cutting.

Using the hand saw, saw the clothes hangers along the cutting line.

When you've completed that step, measure out the positioning of the hangers on the wooden board. First measure the desired distance to the outside edges.

Use the pencil to mark where you want the drill holes to be.

Starting with the first pencil mark, make a cross above and below every 12 centimeters, so that all six clothes hangers can be placed equidistant from each other.

Then, drill the holes with a wood bit. You can smooth out the drilled holes with a piece of sandpaper.

In order to hang the coat rack securely, you'll need to put the cabinet suspension brackets on the reverse side. For that, you'll need to first drill the holes for them with the flat drill bit. You can find those in every hardware store, along with the suspension brackets.

Now you can paint the wooden plank as desired, on all sides. Allow the paint to dry thoroughly. That takes about half an hour for chalk paint. Then seal the surface using transparent wax applied with a paintbrush or cloth.

Now you can mount the suspension brackets, using the power screwdriver and the screws, on the left and right sides of the board.

It's best to use a small drill bit to make holes in the clothes hangers before mounting them on the board. Position the holes exactly in the center, and screw the hangers to the board from the back. Adust the positioning as needed. Mount all the clothes hangers this way, and then your coat rack is finished, and ready to be hung on the wall!

Good to know:

If you like, you can paint colorful floral patterns onto the blackboard. That will give your coat rack a nice romantic, vintage look.