This easy coat rack shelf made from a cabinet door project makes me smile. It was fairly easy the way I made it, but I have tips on how you can make it easily if you don’t have the tools I have.
You can see the simple construction is a long narrow cabinet door with one shelf attached to the top. I really like the dual use of a coat rack that not only has hooks, but a small shelf as well.
Reclaimed Cabinet Doors for Projects
Check out this nice stash of cabinet doors. I like to pick them up whenever I can find a good deal. There are so many projects that can be made from reclaimed cabinet doors. Don’t forget to ask your friends and family for their old cabinet doors. You know if they decide they like open shelving in their kitchen and remove their cabinets.
I chose that tall cabinet door hiding in the back of this stash. It really was perfect for this project!
Attaching a shelf with pocket holes
Many times when I make cabinet door coat racks I use my Kreg Jig and pocket hole screws to attach the board to the cabinet door. But for this project I didn’t think I was going to use a shelf board.
No worries if you don’t have a Kreg Jig, I’ll explain below how easy this shelf was to attach.
Time to Paint
I brought in the tall cabinet door and painted it with Heirloom Traditions Chalk Type paint. The paint went on quickly and smoothly with a chip brush. This is Daredevil.
I knew I was going to be making this cabinet door into a coat rack, but as I was painting it, I noticed it was flat (not routed) on this side. That made me think it would be perfect as a small shelf.
Let’s add a shelf to the coat rack
I ripped a 1×6 down to about 4” and attached it with my nail gun . It needed a couple of coats of Daredevil to catch up to the cabinet door.
If you don’t have a nail gun, you could use small wood screws through the shelf into the cabinet door. NOTE: Cabinet doors can be made from hardwoods, pre-drilling your hole may be helpful.
Wax, Glaze, or Wash to Tone Down Red Paint
I had several options of wax to choose from. To see which wax I wanted to use, I painted a stir stick with the Daredevil, then put some of each of the waxes over it. In the end, I decided to do a dry brush technique with some Black Bean paint. This is before I started using my favorite Smoked Glaze. It would have looked awesome on this red.
I love a dark glazed red, and my favorite way to tone down a red is with a dark wash or glaze.
Clear wax seals the coat rack shelf
It looked good, but after I started applying the Heirloom Traditions Clear Wax, it magically transformed into the prettiest dark red. When using the Smoked Glaze, it acts as a sealer with no waxing needed. 🙂
Add finishing touches
I added d rings on 16” centers, and attached felt pads over the screw heads (from the coat hooks) to protect the wall.
Coat Rack Shelf
I love, love, love this color on my new coat rack shelf! I added the coat hooks from D. Lawless Hardware. Would you believe I finally figured out how to secure these hooks?
TIP Insert screws at a slight angle so the head of the screws sit properly and the screws protrude less in the back.
I am so happy that I added the little shelf.
Another very functional shelf. I love quick and easy projects like this. It would be great for the bathroom, mudroom, or guest room. Where would you use it?
gail
I’ve been thinking about doing a coat/key rack for just inside the door. We don’t have a long winter, but keys, the door stop piece of pool noodle so he can’t slam his fingers in the door, the occasional tote bag with a return that needs to be by the door so my aging mind😉 remembers to take it. And I have 2 of the narrow doors that were left when we bought the house.
Sounds like a plan! 🙂
Gail what is a dry brush technique.You used it with the black bean paint.
Jan,
The way I do dry brushing is to use a cheap chip brush and barely getting any paint on the tips, and applying a very thin coat of paint. Many people will offload their brush onto a paper towel or rag. I just put less paint on the brush.
gail
That is so cute! What a great idea!
Love this project and how you take a little bit of almost nothing and really turn it into something!
Wow that is a nice paint line! How could you two not know of each other? The styling is pretty darn amazing 🙂 Your getting good at that.
Love it and just adore the color! Perfect!
That color is beautiful! The black was done perfectly Gail, you have a nice eye for that! Looks like great paint!
Love it Gail!
I’m not a red girl, but your finish really came out beautifully!
Hmmmm. . .
Catherine
I love the red paint with the black on top. Gorgeous!
Gail, I appreciate visualizing the colored paint stick with various waxes. This is a great way to figure out what would look best for this piece as well as future projects. Sharing your process as the project evolves is quite beneficial – having an Ahhaa moment. Thinking, how could I apply liming wax to a beach painted piece of mine – with softer ocean blues, turquoise, etc. Thank you for thinking of us – your readers, and how we can further appreciate your work and the possibilities of extending ours to new depths using a variety of paints/wax combinations. Many thanks, once again! =)
Angela,
I’m so happy to inspire my friends and help you learn new tips to make your DIY experience easy.
Thank you for your sweet comment, it made me smile. 🙂
gail
Beautiful finish Gail! I love that color combo too!
I absolutely LOVE this!! Going to have to find myself some cabinet doors 🙂