It appears that my laundry room is my favorite hangout
between Christmas and New Year’s. It’s not because we are home and I get to do
all that laundry!But I have extra time that I can start and finish a project in one sitting.
Recap:
2016 – Backsplash the wall behind the sink in the laundry
room
2017 – Backsplash behind the washer and dryer
2018 – Add a drying rack (this post)
All of my laundry projects have been at the top of my
favorites list, but this year’s drying rack is really my favorite!
All the projects are making my laundry room more enjoyable,
but this one really added function. We purchased and hung a drying rack based
on recommendations from YoungHouseLove. It works great and we love it, but I
was scared of hanging too much on it and being too heavy to handle. Plus, the
bars are so close together, that I felt the clothes didn’t have enough room to
breathe and the bars were actually starting to rust a little.
We still use the rack a lot, but not for heavy items.
In Mr. JCrew’s wardrobe, he has a lot of items he does not
dry. He is fearful of shrinking clothes. But pants and sweaters are heavy. We
were using the appliances to drape the pants over to dry. But then the whole
room was covered in clothes. It looked messy. That’s when I went searching for
options. And when I do that, I don’t find what I want and end up making it.
Sure enough, that’s what I did. I looked at the space in my
laundry room and found very little. I then looked at the cubby that houses the
laundry baskets. I could make pull-out racks.
I then measured the space to see the biggest I could make it
and bought supplies. But then the supplies hung out in my garage for four
months until I found time. I actually was slightly stalling this project
because I wasn’t confident. On paper it worked, but I knew there would be a
hiccup.
I finally tackled this project after Christmas. I wanted the
front flush, so it didn’t stand out. Because there was a lip on the front of
the cabinet, I had to build out the inside to attach the sliding drawer
hardware to. I used wood glue and screws to attach scrap pieces of wood to the
side of the cabinet, but I also used the drawer hardware to attach it to the
back of the cabinet for extra strength.
I then built the box frame and then cut the dowel rods to
fit.
The dowel rods are 1-inch diameter. I wanted large so that
it didn’t create a crease in the clothes, but also allowed the longer pieces to
not be touching themselves when folded and could dry faster.
The project ended up being easy! I put multiple coats of
polyurethane on it to protect the wood from water. I then waited a few more
days before use. And my first time using it was awesome!
The drawers open and close so smoothly with just one hand.
And with both racks in use, you can still open the door
plenty to get in and out of the room.
Soooooooo, excited about this project and its function. I
think I love the laundry task just a little bit more now!
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