Sharing all the tips & tricks for how we transformed an old vintage entry door into a gorgeous & easy DIY Old Door Turned Coat Rack to keep us organized & hang up all the coats, handbags & backpacks in our farmhouse entryway.
Since moving into our hundred year old farmhouse 1 1/2 years ago no one ever knows where to put their coats!
Every time I walk in my front door I am stepping over coats & back packs and shoes.
It’s a shame we don’t have a coat closet…Oh wait we do, ha!
Even guests… whom I love dearly…make a pile on the floor or on a chair.
It’s very strange & confess that this drives me Bonkers!
I want everyone to feel completely welcome when they come over and not have them tripping over everything.
My solution an old door turned coat rack with hooks.
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Gorgeous DIY Old Turned Door Turned Coat Rack
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We have had this old vintage door from the very beginning.
Jason & I bought it at an antique shop in New Hope, Pa over 14 years ago.
Jason first turned it into our headboard in our apartment & first house, the Town Traditional.
When we moved into our 2nd house, the Suburban Split we bought a matching bedroom set so we didn’t need the headboard anymore.
Jason then transformed our old door into a coat rack by adding some old iron coat hooks to it to hang our towels & robes on.
Since we moved into our current home it has been sitting in the garage until this past weekend when we finally realized that we needed it in our entryway!
I am loving having our old door turned coat rack.
It is very sturdy & adds a ton of architectural interest to a wall that has been blank.
When guests come now they will know exactly where to hang their coats & I even made a sign to show them exactly where they go!
Supplies & Tools Needed to Create an Old Door Turned Coat Rack
Our Old Door Turned Coat Rack is 70.5″ Wide by 36.5″ Tall by 4″ Deep
- A Solid Vintage Wood Door (at least 6Feet Tall)
- Miter Saw
- 1 by 4
- Screws
- Crown Molding (over 6 feet Long)
- Oak Board (4 inches by at least 6 feet long)
- 3 Iron Hooks
Instructions for How to Turn an Old Door into a Coat Rack
Find the Perfect Solid Wood Old Door
Find an old door or really any solid wood door.
One with horizontal panels looks nice when turned on it’s side.
We found ours at an antique shop but any home improvement restore, Ebay or Craigslist are great places to look.
Create the Wall Support to Secure the Old Door Turned Coat Rack
Cut a 1×4 to the length of the door.
Make a 45 degree cut through the length of the 1×4 with a miter saw.
This is what you will use to hang the door on the wall.
Attach one half of the 1×4 to the back of the door with the 45 degree angle down & moving away from the door.
Add Crown Molding to the Top & Sides of Your Old Door Turned Coat Rack
Add some molding to the top & the sides of your old door turned coat rack.
Add a Wood Shelf to the Top
Add a Shelf to the top (we used oak) a little longer & wider than the door itself.
Our oak board is 2 inches longer than our old door as well 1 inch wider so it hangs over our door 1 inch on the sides as well as the front of the door.
You could use a nice stained piece of wood or paint it as well.
Add Old Iron Hooks to Hang your Coats & Bags
We added 3 gorgeous vintage iron hooks to our old door turned coat rack from our 1st fixer upper century old home.
If you don’t have vintage coat hooks hanging around, any hooks or door knobs would work!
Securing Your Old Door Turned Coat Rack to the Wall
Attach the other half of the 1×4 to the wall where you would like to hang the door.
Make sure that you find the studs & screw this board into them.
The door itself is heavy & you’ll have the added weight of stuff hanging on it so you want to make sure it’s going to hold everything.
Once you have this in place & positioned correctly the door will simply hang with the 45 degree angles meeting.
Our old door turned coat rack has been such a blessing year round but ESPECIALLY in the Wintertime.
I hope this inspires you to create an old door turned coat rack!
by Tara Lehman
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Tara,
You should have your own home improvement show on TV! Your instructions are clear, and your descriptions are very entertaining. Of course, I am biased.
Dad
Ha! Thanks Dad:)
That is one sharp looking coat hanger. You did a great job.
Thank you so much Elena!
We love how you repurposed this door into a coat rack! Genius and creative idea! Looks great!
Thank you guys so much for stopping by!
That’s so clever- I absolutely love it !
Pinning 🙂
Thank you so much for linking up with iDEA boX !
xx
Mila
Mila, thank you so much for checking it out and for hosting the idea box:)
This looks so nice and is so clever! Thanks for sharing!
Ashley, thank so much for stopping by and checking it out!
I LOVE this idea – it turned out fabulous !
I have a door obsession so this is right up my alley – great job!
xxx
Suzan, thanks so much! Have a great week:)
Love! This is genius. I wish I had a spot for something like this. It could be a great back to an entryway bench too!
Jennifer, thanks so much for checking out our old door coat rack! I agree it would make a great back for an entryway bench. I wish we had room for a bench in that hallway… we are still trying to find room for one somewhere in our foyer:) Have a great day, Tara
These are my favorite kind of projects! It’s perfect, just wish I had a place to install one of these – maybe in our next house. 😉
Jami, Thank you so much for visiting!
This turned out so great! I love it!
Tania
Tania, thank you very much:)
This is a great project and a great story about how this door traveled with you! I love it and thanks for linking up over at DIY Wall Art Hop and Linky party. I’m having so much fun with your site, beautiful stuff!
April thank you so much for having me and for your sweet comments about our door:). Have a nice weekend and take care, Tara