I decided to diy an old folding drying rack into a hanging drying rack for our current laundry room. I looked online first to see how much it would be to order a drying rack and they were hundreds of dollars. The one I was looking at was over $300. That’s when I realized I could cut down the drying rack we had and use it to make a hanging drying rack for almost nothing.
I will say the $300 plus drying rack did come with some pulleys. Our ceilings are fairly low so I don’t need a pulley system. I think most people could get away with having it comfortably within reach. You maybe just need a longer rope to hang yours. You could keep a little step stool handy too if you needed. That would still save you some floor space.
In our last house we had plenty of space in our laundry area for the folding drying rack. Instead of taking up precious floor space in this smaller area I decided it made more sense to make a rack to go over our washer and dryer. It’s kinda silly, but I was also getting tired of having to move that folding drying rack around when cleaning the floor.
Materials for DIY Hanging Drying Rack
- (1) 1x3x8 wood board (I happened to have enough scrap wood to make mine)
- (4) .75in diameter x 72in long dowel (I used the dowels off of the folding drying rack that we already had)
- Twisted sisal rope (I found some at the dollar store but it’s pretty cheap at Lowe’s)
- 8 eye hooks
- Screws
- Drill bit-slightly smaller than screws
- Wood filler
- Sandpaper
- Paint/Stain
- (Water Sealer)
Tools for DIY Hanging Drying Rack
- Miter Saw
- (Reciprocating Saw-if building with existing folding drying rack)
- Screw Gun
How I Built Our Hanging Drying Rack
- Measure-I measured the washer and dryer to see how big I wanted to make my drying rack. I ended up making mine 50in wide x 28.5in deep. Which fills that space above our washer and dryer really nicely
- Cut Dowels-I cut the dowels off our existing folding dryer rack. I used a reciprocating saw for this. Mine ended up being 27″ wide. If you bought the (4) 72in long dowels I listed above I would cut each of those into 3 boards that should be about 24″ long. So you would end up with 12 dowels all together. (If you purchased new dowels or you think your dowels could use it I would apply a water sealant at this point)
- Cut Boards-I cut the front and back scrap boards I had on hand down to 50in but if you are buying an 8 ft board like I listed above I would just cut that board in half and use those two pieces as your front and back boards. Make sure to measure first, just because it says it’s an 8ft board it can be a little off and you want your two boards to be the same length. (I would go ahead and paint the inside of the boards at this point. I painted mine after the dowels were attached and it was a pain)
- Mark Dowel Location on Front/Back Boards-I decided I wanted the first dowels to be 1 inch in from each end and then I divided to find how far apart to place the rest of the dowels. Also make sure to mark the center point for each hole so that the dowels are centered width wise on each board
- Pilot Holes- I predrilled holes where I had marked the dowel locations to be. I also predrilled holes into the center of the dowels
- Screw-I then started screws into each of the front and back boards where I had predrilled the holes. Once those screws were started I lined each dowel up and screwed them into place.
- Fill Holes-I filled in the screw holes on the front board, but not the back board. If you think you will see the back board then I would go ahead and fill the holes on both boards.
- Sand-Once the wood filler had a chance to dry I sanded any high points down
- Paint-I went ahead and painted ours with paint I had on hand, but you can stain it if you would rather.
- Attach Rope-I attached the rope to the dowel on the 4 corners.
- Hang Eye Hooks-My husband helped me with this part. We predrilled holes into the ceiling and he made sure that we were finding studs to drill into. You want to make sure it will be sturdy enough to hold itself and the clothes you plan on hanging from it.
- Enjoy your diy hanging drying rack for your laundry room! We have had ours built and installed for 3 years now and it’s held up great. We use it daily, and love it.
That’s a Wrap
Thank you for visiting our farmhouse! I hope this was helpful for you, and helps your laundry room to be more functional and beautiful. There is more to come with this laundry room renovation so stay tuned for that. If you are looking for more diy projects to help make your house a home then you can find those here. I also have shared some design ideas for specific areas of the home here.