Look around at your clutter and let IT tell YOU what you need. We just hung a wall mounted vertical coat rack in what some might think is the oddest place. It’s the small strip of wall between our kitchen and our hallway to the bedrooms. But the truth of it is, it’s the spot in our home where my huge purse, and our sweaters and jackets kept piling up.
Actually, the pile kept landing itself draped over the nearest chair to this area. Thus, a scant, vacant strip of wall located right nearby seemed like the most opportune place to wall mount a vertical coat tree.
All I could keep thinking way, “if only I had some hooks right here —>
How to make a wall mounted vertical coat rack with hooks
This vertical wall rack with 3 hooks is not hard to make. You can squeeze into even the tiniest area of your wall to make use of your vertical space and get more of your stuff off any horizontal surface.
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Supplies Needed for Vertical Coat Hook Rack
- Wood – 1” x 4” x 4’
- 3 Coat and Hat Hooks with screws – Like these flat heat forged iron style
- Drywall anchors and screws – We used this type with triple grip hold
- Power drill
- Countersink bit
- Crimping tool/Wire stripper/ Cutter
- Sand paper – 200 grit
- Paint or stain (optional) – We painted ours the same color as the wall
- Measuring tape
- Pencil for marking
Measure Dimensions and Cut Wood Rack Piece to Size
Cut wood to size: by cutting the 1” x 4” piece to a length of 26-¾ inches.
Using the pencil, measure and mark a vertical line, lengthwise down the center of the 1” x 4” x 26-3/4” wood piece.
With the pencil, measure out and draw 3 horizontal lines across the 4” direction for the coat hook placements.
Mark horizontal lines from the top down at:
- 4-⅞ inch
- 13-⅜ inch
- 21-⅞ inch
Center and lay one of the hooks over each line to mark the location for the drill holes for the coat hook mounting screws.
Also, make one center mark an inch below the on the top and bottom horizontal lines. These marks will be for the wall mounting screws.
Drill holes into the wall rack
Pre-drill all holes.
Countersink the top and bottom holes that will be used to mount the wood to the wall.
Lightly sand the wood, then paint, stain or clear coat to your preference.
Test Fit (Optional)
Ken always likes to test fit a project before committing completely. He did this by mounting the brackets to the unfinished wood. Then we held it up to the location to really make sure we liked the placement of everything.
Shorten Coat hook screws (Optional)
Cut down the length-size of the coat hook screws (optional). Using a crimping tool, Ken cut the screws down to a length of 3/4” so they wouldn’t go all the way through the coat rack wood piece and pierce the wall. He would not have done this if the wood thickness was any less thick than 3/4” because he felt it would lessen the strength of the screws too much.
Mount Wall Rack into the Wall
Following the directions on the package of drywall anchors, mount the wood rack into the wall. Note: Ken changed out the screws that came with the anchors for the same size flat head screws. He likes these better for countersink applications.
Attach Coat Hooks
Lastly, mount coat hooks into the wood rack using the shortened coat hook screws. This step was a little tricky because the pointed end of the screws were cut flat. Ken used a metal file to file the flat end to a point ever so slightly and that made it easier to start the driving process with the drill.
Tip: To avoid the coat rack from looking awkward, always leave a small amount of space between the top of the bracket and the top of the wood. In this case we had very long brackets, so we left 1/4″ of space from the top of the bracket to the top the wood. Depending on the type of bracket you use, the amount of space can vary. Spacing out the brackets on the wood part of the rack will need a bit of trial and error. See photo further below for the 3 rules we recommend for spacing out brackets on a vertical wall rack.
Once the coat hooks were mounted, we tested them for strength and found them to be very sturdy and without problem for use as a coat and purse wall rack.
Click here to see our entryway stairwell wall mount coat rack
Three Golden Rules for Making a Vertical Wall Mounted Coat Tree
This is just one style of vertical coat rack. To Keep any vertical coat rack from looking awkward, apply these 3 rules.
- First Rule: Always leave a small amount of space between the very top of the bracket and the top of the wood.
- Second Rule: Place both the top and bottom brackets an equal distance from the top and bottom ends of the wood rack.
- Third Rule: Place all brackets and equal distance apart from each other.
Ours has been so handy, we’ve started making another variation with a different type of coat hook style and layout, see next photo.
If you don’t have time, or you’re not equipped to make wall mounted coat tree, they’re are also quite a few styles available to buy.
Whether you make or buy a vertical coat hanger, you can mount one of these space saving coat racks in stairwells, stairways, closets, and bathrooms. Any unused vertical space that will fit your needs. Don’t stop at using them just for coats, hats or purses, either. They can be used for robes, scarves, towels, belts. Pretty much any type of hangable item.
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