Keep coats off the chairs with these 19 DIY coat rack ideas, from wall-mounted racks and racks with shelves to freestanding coat trees for your entryway.
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If your family’s coats pile up on the nearest chair every time someone walks through your door, a coat rack might be exactly what your entryway needs. I rounded up 19 DIY coat rack ideas to help you build one, from simple wall hooks and racks with built-in shelves to freestanding coat trees, so every coat has a home the moment your guests step inside.
Wall Mounted
These wall-mounted racks keep it simple, a row of hooks that gets coats on the wall without giving up any floor space.
1
Erin Spain
Simple Painted Coat Rack
Erin painted a single board to match her trim, lined it with a row of hooks, and mounted above the entryway bench.
Shara built her coat rack on a scissor lattice, so it folds open and closed like an accordion, so it stretches to fit almost any wall. Black pegs run across the slats for hats, leashes, or coats.
Nancy’s coat rack is capped with crown molding and a strip of trim along the bottom, so it looks like it was always part of the wall. It’s painted the same white as her trim, with brass hooks running across the front.
Do hung her coat rack up and down instead of the usual sideways, tucking it into a narrow wall by the door. The board has a weathered, aged look with just a couple of hooks for a jacket and a cap.
Sandra ran a length of old rusty chain down a strip of reclaimed wood, then clipped S-hooks into the links. The hooks slide to wherever you need them, and it hangs sideways or up and down.
Erin painted this one to look like a row of oversized Lego bricks, with hooks tucked between the blocks. It was built for a kids’ room, right at the height where little coats and backpacks actually get hung up.
These pair a row of hooks with a shelf up top, so keys, mail, and the small stuff have somewhere to land too.
10
Girl, Just DIY!
Corbel Shelf Coat Rack
Toni’s coat rack pairs a row of hooks with a top shelf resting on two corbels. The shelf leaves room for a couple of vases or a small plant while coats hang underneath.
Kristi built her coat rack for a tight spot by the back door, stacking two little shelves with a raised front lip so keys and mail don’t slide off. Three hooks hang below, all finished in a deep, warm brown that plays up the grain.
Shara built this one long enough to handle a whole hallway of coats, with a framed panel of vertical slats sitting behind a row of big black hooks. A shelf sits on corbels below the hooks for keys and the odds and ends that pile up by the door.
Ana’s design runs the length of a full hallway, a long upper shelf with a row of hooks beneath it. It gives coats, and bags somewhere to land right where you come in.
These coat trees stand on their own, ready to move wherever the coats are piling up.
15
Shanty 2 Chic
Four-Sided Coat Tree
Ashley and Whitney built their coat rack as a single post on four splayed feet, a hook on each of the four sides so coats go on from any direction. A turned finial finishes it off.
Mindi capped a salvaged newel post with a round finial and painted it blue, keeping the base narrow so it barely takes up floor space. The long hooks each hold two things, and it stands short enough for kids to reach.
Colleen’s is an open cube frame painted bright green, angled pegs covering the sides at every height. The low ones let her kids reach their own jackets, and it tucks into a corner when the coats come off.
Ashley’s tower tapers, wide at the floor and narrowing toward the top, whith hooks on each side. She built it from a plant stand plan, so it stands on its own in a corner.
Amy’s freestanding hall tree lines a row of hooks across the top, with a shelf above for bags and hats and a lower slatted shelf where boots and shoes go. Rows of slats fill the sides, and she pressed in nail-head accents so the boards look bolted together.
Hi there – I’m Scott, a woodworking enthusiast and creator of Saws on Skates, a site I started in 2015 to share easy-to-follow tutorials, space-saving shop tips, and project inspiration for DIYers at any skill level. Learn more about my woodworking journey here.
