How to Make a Standing Coat Rack With Recycled Materials

Do-it-yourself coat stands make unique gifts.

Making your own standing coat rack with recycled materials is a tribute to your creativity and concern for the planet---and your wallet. This coat rack is unbelievably affordable, can be finished in about three hours and may become a favorite conversation piece. Create three levels: the topmost level for hats, the second for coats, and the lowest for purses or children's coats---you now have a coat rack plus organizer. Follow a single stylish motif for your coat hooks: try cup hooks in various sizes and colors or antique cabinet pulls, for instance.

Things You'll Need

• Old clean bucket with lid, medium to large
• Old clean garden urn, medium to large
• Discarded curtain rod or dowel pole or PVC pipe, 6 feet long
• Pencil
• Measuring tape
• Saw
• Sanding paper
• Quick-set concrete mix with instructions
• Disposable stirring stick
• Craft knife
• Drill
• Quick-dry spray paint
• Assorted hooks or cabinet pulls
• Garden pebbles or colored glass pebbles

Instructions

1. Make sure your bucket fits easily inside your garden urn. Place the bucket inside the urn upside down to test this. As this will be your base, it should be very stable, to accommodate heavier coats being hung on the coat rack. The bigger and wider the base, the more stable the rack.

2. 

   Select an urn that provides a stable base for your coat rack.

   Set aside the urn and turn the bucket upside down. Holding the pole against the bottom of the bucket, trace the outline of the end of the pole in the center of the bucket's bottom. Flip the bucket right side up.

3. 

   Use cabinet pulls, antique door knobs and assorted-sized hooks to personalize your coat rack.

   Mark the pole at the desired height. Saw off any excess, and sand all rough edges. Drill the holes at the desired levels on the pole for your hooks, and screw the hooks in place.

4. Prepare quick-setting concrete with water, according to package instructions. Fill the bucket with the concrete mixture to 3 inches below the brim. Cover the bucket with its lid, then turn the bucket upside down. Settle the concrete by giving the bucket several good thumps.

5. Immediately cut out your previously drawn circle with a craft knife. Before the concrete has a chance to set, insert the pole into this hole, and straighten it vertically. Allow the concrete to set for an hour or two. You might have to temporarily prop the pole upright with heavy objects (rocks, blocks, books). Then spray paint the pole and bucket, and let dry.

6. Place the bucket and pole inside the garden urn. Fill in the gaps between bucket and urn with the glass or garden pebbles.

Tips & Warnings

• Fill your hollow pole with sand for extra ballast and to keep the pole upright while waiting for concrete to set, if desired.

References

• DIY Project: Portable Sun Shade by Grace Bonney
• Great Uncle Bill; How to Erect a Flag Pole

Resources

• Fres.home; 25 of the Most Creative Wall Hook Designs