DIY Towel Rack…or a Plant Hanger, or a Coat Rack…
- By Joan
- September 10, 2020
- 6 Comments
DIY Towel Rack…or a Plant Hanger, or a Coat Rack…
While berry picking with the family in July we happened to find a few rusty treasures nearby. These giant cotter pin type things and a very rusty whatzit. Today I’m using the cotter pin things. The closest I could find to what they actually are called is a Railway Lock Pin. Could be…we were close to the railroad but these were tossed to the side and I didn’t see any in use. I’ll just keep calling them cotter pins.
I didn’t have a project in mind for the pins but my daughter-in-law, Mollie, suggested sticking them in a block of wood to hold hanging plants. Maybe even putting the hanging rope thru the loop at the end of the pin.
A definite possibility, so home they came with me.
The second part of this project is a piece of driftwood we picked up while vacationing near Acadia, Maine a couple years ago. We rented a VRBO right on the shores of the Gulf of Maine. When we weren’t in Acadia, we were exploring the shoreline and eating lobsters. So much driftwood, buoys, lobster pots, lobstermen’s rope! It was a scavenger paradise.
Luckily my son and daughter-in-law (different daughter-in-law, Steph) had driven to Maine, wanting to stop over in Vermont on the way to visit relatives and bringing their not too tiny dog with them. The lucky part was that they were able to take my souvenir home with them. I’m not sure this little piece of driftwood would have been allowed on the plane.
They kept the wood as a centerpiece on their dining table for quite a while holding candles but they eventually gave it back.
The color is a perfect bleached white/gray and the rusty nails just add character.
The hardest part of this project will be the gathering of your supplies. Once you do gather all your supplies, this entire project should only take about 10 minutes.
Measure your driftwood and mark where you’d like the cotter pins to go.
Using a 3/4″ spade bit, drill holes using your markings as a guide. Drill as deep as you can without going thru to the other side.
Use a hammer to pound those cotter pins into place. It should be a tight fit.
Ten minutes later your hanger is complete.
For full disclosure, mine took a couple hours to complete since my drill battery died after the first hole. But it should have taken 10 minutes. 😆
I decided to use mine, not as a plant hanger but as a towel rack. With the aged driftwood, It has a perfect beachy vibe.
The towel rack is hung with 2 Heavy Duty D-Ring Picture Hangers 
And because it will be used to hang damp towels I coated the rusty cotter pins with polyurethane so the rust doesn’t rub off on any of the towels.
Besides a plant hanger and towel rack you may also want to consider using this in a mudroom or entrance way for coats and jackets.
Which brings me to my last railroad upcycling rack. This one made from railroad spikes.
Stay well and stay inspired.
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Looks SOOOOOOO good! Love it! I can see my plants on their 😉
Thanks for the idea but you can’t have it. 🙂 You’ll just have to hang your beach towel on it.
That “hunk a wood” really makes the project. Those are whopper cotter pins; do you by chance have that app where you can take a photo and it tells you what it is?
I don’t have an app, but I will right click a picture and have the computer search the web for a similar image. Sometimes that works .
Love it!
Cool find and a clever idea for repurposing them!