April 22nd 2013: Building a coat rack!

We have a little entrance way in our basement that I thought could use a coat rack to throw coats (obviously), hang keys, and store small items like sunglasses or drinks on top.

I used two 1x6's cut to 4' lengths and a strip of molding to hide the joint.  (I used "quarter round" molding, but any molding that looks good to you will work).  First, I joined the pieces of wood together using Kreg joints spaced about 8-12" apart and 1 1/4" Kreg square head screws and Gorilla Wood Glue.  The molding was added using a DeWalt 20 Degree cordless nailer with 1 1/4" nails.  Nail holes were filled with MinWax Wood filler and sanded smooth after drying.  I forgot to use Wood Conditioner prior to staining...I mean...I purposely skipped the MinWax Wood Conditioner so I could get that blotchy, hand-burnt look to the finish....yeah.  Anyway, I kind of like the way it turned out.  It's more than fine for the basement.  I used two leftover cans of stain that I had from other projects.  The first coat was a MinWax stain color called "Bombay Mahogany Satin", followed by a fine sanding after the stain was completely dry, and then another coat of "Antique Walnut Satin".  The brass hooks are actually called "robe" hooks and I like the way they lie flat against the wood.  At the end, I added a single brass hook for keys.

So, that's it!  Build your own coat rack in a day.

Here's a pic...