How to Build Your Own Clothes Rack

Make your own clothes rack to keep your clothing organized.

Rather than spending money on a clothes rack or pre-fabricated clothes rack kit, save money by building one yourself. Clothes racks can help to organize all of your clothing while keeping it fresh, wrinkle free and easily accessible.

Things You'll Need

• 2 PVC pipes, 1 in. thick, 10 ft. long
• 2 wooden dowels, 3/4 in thick, 10 ft. long
• 2 4-way PVC joints, 1 in. thick
• 6 PVC elbow joints, 1 in. thick
• Tape measure
• Miter saw
• Sandpaper
• PVC glue (optional)
• Rubber mallet (optional)
• Wooden dowels (optional)

Instructions

1. Determine how much space you have available for your clothing rack. For example, if your closet measures four feet wide, you can create a rack slightly smaller to fit in that space.

2. Measure and mark at lengths of 40, 80 and 100 in. from one end on both 10-ft. pieces of PVC pipe. Use the miter saw to cut at each mark. This will create four 40-inch pieces and four 20-inch pieces from each long pipe, for a total of eight pieces.

3. Measure and mark at lengths of 40, 80 and 100 in. from one end on both 10-ft. pieces of the wooden dowels, just as you did for the PVC pipe. Use the miter saw to cut at each mark. This will create four 40-inch pieces and four 20-inch pieces from each dowel, for a total of eight pieces.

4. Sand the rough edges of the PVC pipes where you made the cuts, using the sandpaper. Just sand them enough to remove extra debris from the sawing.

5. Insert each of the wooden dowel pieces inside the corresponding size PVC pipe. This will ensure that your clothes rack is more durable and can withstand a greater amount of weight.

6. Assemble the clothes rack by creating a square with the four 40-inch pieces of PVC pipe, two PVC elbow joints and two 4-way joints. The pipes connected with the two elbow joints will be the top of your rack. The pipes connected with two 4-way joints will be at the bottoms of your rack. The two extra joint openings will point out on each side on the bottom of the rack. This is where you will add the feet to hold your rack up.

7. Attach the remaining pipe pieces into the four openings to create feet for the rack, and place the remaining four elbow joints in these pipe openings. Face the open end of the elbow joints to the floor to raise your rack off the floor.

Tips & Warnings

• If you want to make your rack extra secure, use PVC glue in between the joints and pipes and lightly tap the connections into place with a rubber mallet.

• For a smaller rack, measure your space and adjust the pipe lengths accordingly.

• Use spray paint to paint the rack a different color to match your décor.

• Be careful to not overload your clothes rack. If you notice that the rack sags in the middle, remove excess clothing.

• Do not allow children to play on or around the rack.

References

• This Old House: How to Work With PVC Pipes
• PVC Workshop: How to Cut and Glue PVC Pipe