My LA apartment has a tiny entryway – it so small that there’s barely enough room for the door to open all the way! Without a closet nearby, I had to get creative to find a way to hang coats and purses right by the front door but still leave room for the door to open fully. Being a renter, I also wanted to do that without having to put any holes in the wall. My solution was to make a coat rack using 1″x3″ pine boards that’s sits flush to the wall and that rests on the floor:

Materials I used to  make it:

2 x 1″x3″x 8 ft  furring strip pine boards ~ $4 (these are cheaper than the “select” pine boards (which cost around $9 each) – the quality is a bit rough so you have to be careful to select nicer boards that are straight.

Hooks (I used old wooden hooks from IKEA that they don’t make anymore)

Semi-transparent stain ~$4.00 for a sample size of the Behr in the color “tugboat”

Wood Screws (1 1/4″ long)

3M velcro Command strips

Step 1: Cut the boards – you can have them cut at the hardware store or use a miter box and saw. 

Step 2: Sand, then stain or paint the boards. I stained mine using a semi-transparent stain that I had on hand ( I like this type of stain  because it let’s the wood grain show). I used 2 coats for a richer color.

Step 3: Next I drilled pilot holes and attached the horizontal boards to the long vertical boards using 1 1/4″ long wood screws.

Step 4: I attached wood hooks that I had on hand from IKEA (they don’t make them anymore). They were perfect because they didn’t stick out too much, allowing the front door to still open and close fully.

Step 5: Because the coat rack has legs that rest on the floor, all I needed to do to attach the coat rack to the wall was use 3M velcro command strips. All the weight of what I hang on the coat rack rests on the legs and the velcro strips prevents it from falling over. This way, there’s no need to put any holes in the wall for wall anchors.

It’s been a wonderful addition to my tiny entryway that I couldn’t live without!