DIY: Laundry Room Drying Rack
July 27, 2009
For a long time, I have really wanted one of those drying racks from Ballard Designs. You’ve seen them. They’re so perfect in the laundry room for drying your delicate clothing.
I really wanted to save the money and build one myself. I knew I could do it with the right supplies. I even drew my own diagram on a napkin. And I added knobs to the bottom of my design.
Here’s a look at my final product:
This is the perfect solution for drying all of my delicates! I am so happy with the way it turned out – it is both pretty and practical.
How to Build a Laundry Room Drying Rack:
Supplies:
- 2 x 2’ precut birch (1/2 inch thick)
- Two 1/2 x 2” poplar boards
- Two 3/8” dowel rods (48” long)
- Sash lock
- Narrow loose pin hinges (set of two)
- D ring hangers for mounting on wall
- Bracketed hinge for side (or chain with small screw eyes)
- Three white porcelain knobs
- Primer and paint of choice
Necessary tools: Drill bit set, including 3/8 inch drill bit, screwdriver, framing nails, a hammer, and a saw.
Step One: Measure and cut your 1/2 inch x 2 boards to fit the 2 x 2 precut birch. Cut your dowel rods to fit inside your drying rack frame.
Step Two: With your 3/8 inch drill bit, drill holes for your precut dowel rods. Use a mallet to hammer dowel rods into predrilled spots.
Step Three: Finish assembling your rack with framing nails.
Step Four: Attach your pin hinges with a screwdriver.
Step Five: Prime your wood drying rack, then paint with your color of choice. I used a spray primer, then once it was dry, I applied Rustoleum’s Seaside Green to the back. Once the back was dry, I covered it with newspaper, and painted the dowel rods and frame with Rustoleum’s Heirloom White.
Step Six: If you want to make the sides of your inexpensive wood smoother, then use paintable wood filler (or wood putty) to fill in the uneven surfaces. I use my finger to apply it. Once the wood filler is dry, simply spray paint right over it.
Step Seven: When your paint is dry, attach your sash lock to the top of your drying rack. It’s a good idea to drill pilot holes first when working with wood only 1/2 inch thick. This way, when you drive your screws in, you have a much better chance of avoiding any visible split in your wood.
Step Eight: Drill holes to attach your knobs to the bottom.
Knobs after:
Step Nine: Attach a hinged bracket, or a chain with screw eyes, to keep your drying rack at your desired angle when open. Attach your D-ring hangers to the back, and hang on your laundry room wall.
What I like about this new drying rack is that I can dry all sorts of delicate clothing (*ahem* ladies, your lingerie…). Since this is a G rated site, I won’t demonstrate with any of mine. But you get the idea.
I added knobs to the bottom of my design so I can dry sweaters or other clothing right on the hanger.
It’s a solid wood piece, hung right on the wall studs, so I can even dry towels right on these knobs.
When open, it has four rungs for drying several layers of clothing:
When not in use, it folds up flush with the wall, with the help of the sash lock on top:
I purchased all of my wood and hinges at Lowes. The total cost for the supplies for my drying rack was around $25 (not including paint and primer that I had in my supply closet). Compare that to Ballard’s price of $89 for their small version (not including tax plus shipping).
And mine is a hand made one-of-a-kind.
So if you’ll excuse me friends, I have some laundry to do. 
Tags: drying rack, laundry room, spray paint
Genius. I have one of those freestanding metal ones and it just gets in the way.
Thanks Kate. I too have been coveting the Ballard Design one, but couldn’t justify the cost to myself. I’m going to give it a shot.
Oh I love this. Absolutely LOVE this. Our laundry room is very narrow, and this would be absolutely perfect. One day winter project for hubby (who is a cabinetmaker) for the basics and I’ll do the rest). I don’t use many of the power tools…stroke in 93 made my hands a bit unsteady at times, although I do help him. He drills the holes and I put stuff in them ‘D
I love this idea! I also think this would work well in a bathroom for hanging towels to dry and bathrobes could go on the knobs. Great work, thanks for the tutorial!
[...] Ballard Designs inspired laundry room drying rack was a cinch to put together and the effort has paid off handsomely. It dries all our delicates [...]
I actually like your version better than Ballard’s. I love what you did with the color (making it pretty and not just functional) and think the knobs at the bottom make it even more useful. Genius!
Kate, this is so perfect! I was just complaining to my husband who keeps drying all of my work clothes. Now he’ll have no excuse. I’ll be sure to post pics when it’s done!
I absolutely love your version of this drying rack. I’ve been lusting after one of these racks since I saw them in a couple of magazines last year. As I live in the UK my only option is to make one which I have considered – thanks for doing the ground work for me
Wow. You did a remarkable job with the carpentry. I am very impressed with the design; the finished piece looks professionally made. Kudos.
[...] chose to paint the box frame with Rustoleum’s ‘Seaside Green’ leftover from this laundry room drying rack I made last [...]
[...] This week’s DIY Round Up is headlined by a post from last Summer that we just discovered! Centsational Girl gives us instructions for building a laundry drying rack. [...]
Fabulous drying rack! I just received the “newest” Ballard design catalog today in the mail, and saw their drying rack… and WOW you’ve done an amazing job! LOVE all your make overs ~ so inspiring.
Hi there, very good idea to built for small laundry room, thank you for the idea, I’ll built one for my laundry room
This is WONDERFUL!!! I’ve added it to a “Green Cleaning” roundup on my website today.
You can also grab an “I’ve been featured badge” if you’d like.
Great site!!
Creativity 100!!! I wanna do it too… Tks for teaching me…
THis is genius and gorgeous! I use to DIY everything years and years ago.
You have inspired me to get back to it. I love all the details you give and PHOTOGRAPH.
For instance, the type of primer and poly. Awesome tips and tricks.
I especially love that you share the prices. You have me wanting to thrift shop instead of what I am supposed to be doing. I can’t wait to find my own things to refurb!
Thank you for having this blog and being so darn good at sharing and writing!
I just love it! And the color is so soothing! I have bookmarked this for future reference. It’s just genius! Thank you for sharing!
oh my goodness…
I am a DIY fanatic and I just have to try this! We live in Vegas…and I love saving money by drying the clothes outside…but, THIS is SO stinkin’ cute…and the sun will not fade them!
I’m a fan!
Kathy
Where did you find the bracket hinge- I can’t find one!! Is it called something else?
[...] drying rack I built last summer is still in [...]
[...] Details here [...]
Ok I love this! I am going to have my hubby make me one and the laundry sorter!!
I have been sprucing up our laundry room over the last few months and this should make it even better.
Oh my gosh – I can’t believe I just stumbled upon your site and this post!!!! I have a very narrow laundry room and been wanting that drying rack from Ballard … but just can’t spend that kind of money. Kept thinking I should just suck it up and buy it – and lo and behold I find your post today! THANK YOU so much! I love the internet….
Loved it so much I made one of my own!
http://attemptingcreative.blogspot.com/2010/07/ballard-inspired-drying-rack.html
[...] if there was some sort of ranking based on learnedness I guess maybe just maybe this article about building your own laundry room drying rack just might qualify. If you Google [...]
Just moved into a new house with a narrow laundry room and have been seeing drying racks on lots of blogs, then you wrote about your most helpful post and there it is! What I’ve been looking for! Thank you!
This is a great project! Thanks so much for sharing