Chalkboard Coat Rack from a desk panel

How to make a chalkboard coat rack

Begin with a desk panel (or door)

This is the before, and the inspiration piece.  I picked this up from someone’s yard with a free sign.

The first thing I needed to do was patch the huge holes that were on the side.  I decided to trace the shape of the holes on a scrap piece of wood (top left) and then cut them out with a jigsaw.  In the top right photo you can see they were not cut out perfectly, and that was fine, because after I filled it with spackle, let it dry, and sanded it flat, it was perfect!  Perfectly smooth, and filled.

Add top and bottom shelves

Now that I had the holes filled I grabbed some scrap wood and started figuring out what I was going to do.  I decided to add a top and bottom 1×3 to make shelves, but I still wanted to add hooks. So I scrounged around and found a 1×6 that would work to attach to the bottom as a spot for my hooks.

Attach shelves using pocket holes

I decided that attaching with pocket holes was the sturdiest and easiest method.  I drilled them into the desk panel on the top and the bottom.  They were also drilled  into the 1×6 as well (not pictured).

I connected the 1×6 to the 1×3 bottom shelf with 3/4” pocket holes and 1 1/4” pocket hole screws.  You can see I used my right angle clamps to hold things in place.

Next, I needed to attach the panel to the bottom shelf section.  I clamped the shelf down then used wood glue and screwed the desk panel onto the 1×3 bottom shelf with my pocket hole screws.

Last, I flipped it over and attached the panel to the top 1×3 shelf, and that was it!

Chalkboard Spray Paint

Once I had it built I decided to use up the rest of my chalkboard spray paint on the raised panels, instead of brushing it on.

When the paint was dry I taped over the panel sections that I wanted to stay as chalkboards, and spray painted the rest of the coat rack with Rustoleum’s Gloss Ocean Mist.  I had some left over from my Repurposed Cupboard Door Bookshelf so I decided to go with what I had.  Plus it is a really pretty color. 🙂

While the paint was still wet, I carefully pulled off the paper and tape.  How cute are those chalkboard sections!  I love Chalkboards!

Add coat hooks

To finish things up I marked where my hooks needed to be and used some paint sticks as spacers.  🙂  Then I added two large d-rings to the back for hanging, this thing is heavy!  It is 64” long!  Lastly I primed my chalkboard surfaces and it was ready to hang!

Repurposed door coat rack

I love the versatility of the chalkboards.  You could used it as a calendar, command center, or recipe boards!

The cast-iron hooks came from Hobby Lobby at 50% off. So I spent $10 on hooks, and that was it!  I made the number labels for the hooks since they didn’t come with any, I think they would be cute with names too.

The shelves are a fun addition to add decorative accents and such!

I was planning on selling this, but now that it is hanging in my hallway, I may keep it!

What would you use this for?

Thanks for reading!  Visit me for more great Repurposed Ideas!

Hugs,
Mindi

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