Baby Clothes Rack

Baby Clothes Rack Nursery Storage

We built a wall-mounted baby clothes rack to hang and store clothes in our nursery to make up for the lack of closet in this room. You can buy the PDF plans for our DIY Baby Clothes Rack in our shop.

Baby Clothes Rack

You know the proverb, “necessity is the mother of invention”? Well, Brent and I found ourselves needing to apply this saying to our baby clothes storage situation in the nursery.

The problem: The nursery does not have a closet therefore there was no designated space to store and organize baby clothes.

I can’t tell you how many hours I would sit in the nursery and just stare at the wall we designated for clothes storage and try and brainstorm ideas for how to store the clothes.

I was frustrated because I knew I wanted something specific, I just didn’t know what that something was.

We could have used a dresser but with the crib, changing table and a wood reading nook tent we are building, we didn’t have room for anymore large furniture.

I spent hours searching for ideas everywhere but everything I could find would take up too much floor real estate.

I had two criteria in mind: I didn’t want it to take up a lot of space and I wanted it to look like a display you would see in a store since the clothes were going to be out in the open and not behind closet doors.

Baby Clothes Rack

Then, I came across an image of dowel rods holding a sack of potatoes and a light bulb went off. Seriously, inspiration can come from the strangest of places.

Since starting Gray House Studio I have come a long way in my ability to visualize designs and concepts and the fact that I could see a baby clothes rack from this idea makes me pretty proud.

I explained my vision to Brent and he executed my idea perfectly and even threw in a few other great suggestions because he is awesome like that and thus our wall-mounted baby clothes rack was made!

Baby Clothes Rack

On the top dowel rods are hanging shirts, pants and some of my favorite onesies.

I ordered wood hangers to make it look more like a display. Plus, is there anything cuter than baby wood hangers? They are so tiny!

We purchased these metal wire baskets from Target.

We bought them first so we could build the width of the baby clothes rack frame around them so they would fit perfectly.

They had gold handles which were not the style we were going for and would not hang on the dowel rods anyway so Brent removed them.

Baby Clothes Rack

Brent had the great idea to create leather straps out of some leather scraps to hang the baskets on the dowel rods. This worked really well and tied the look to the nursery wall storage bar on the opposite wall.

Baby Clothes Rack

We added a shelf at the top to add a few decor items. I stole the fox artwork from the gym shelves but it fits with this room better anyway because we are incorporating little foxes here and there throughout the room.

To see how we built our baby clothes rack, check out the video or follow along with the steps below.

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How We Made Our Baby Clothes Rack

SUPPLIES

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PROJECT PLANS

DIY Baby Clothes Rack Woodworking Plans

Get our Baby Clothes Rack Plans

When you purchase our DIY wood baby clothes rack plans you get a PDF with a detailed materials list, a cut list, exact dimensions for each piece, building instructions – all for only $7. We appreciate you supporting Gray House Studio!

TUTORIAL VIDEO

STEPS

Baby Clothes Rack

1 To start the baby clothes rack, we used our miter saw to cut two pine 2×2”s into four pieces. Two long pieces for the sides of the rack and two short pieces for the top and bottom of the rack.

Baby Clothes Rack

2 On the two side pieces we used a framing square to make marks six inches apart where we needed to make the holes for our dowel rods.

We used a drill press with a 1” forstner bit to drill the holes in the side pieces but stopped each hole ¼” shy of going all the way through the board.

Baby Clothes Rack

3 Next, we attached the four pieces of the frame together using wood glue and 1 ½” finishing nails.

Baby Clothes Rack

4 To provide extra strength and support, we came back and drilled pilot holes and secured the pieces of the frame together using 3” decking screws.

Baby Clothes Rack

5 Once the frame was assembled we took our two dowel rods and cut them down to 12” pieces using the miter saw.

Baby Clothes Rack

6 We used a roller to paint the frame of the baby clothes rack with Sherwin-Williams ProClassic® waterbased paint in Dovetail, the same color as the wall in the nursery.

We used a smaller paintbrush to paint in the holes of the frame.

Baby Clothes Rack

7 Then we painted all the dowel rods with Sherwin-Williams ProClassic® waterbased paint in Bright White with a smaller paintbrush.

Baby Clothes Rack

8 We inserted the dowel rods into the holes of the clothes rack frame with a few taps of a rubber mallet.

Baby Clothes Rack

9 We installed the frame in the nursery by using a drill to screw the rack into the wall studs and used a level to make sure it was straight on the wall.

Baby Clothes Rack

10 Finally, we removed the handles that came on the baskets and used embroidery floss to sew 1” wide leather loops out of leather scraps onto the metal baskets so they would hang from the dowel rods.

Baby Clothes Rack

The metal baskets work really well.

They are the perfect depth for storing lots of onesies, hats, socks, etc. and are really easy to grab but still look nice and organized.

Baby Clothes Rack

I purchased wood baby hangers because I thought wood hangers would look nicer out in the open.

Baby Clothes Rack

We will probably store shoes on the bottom shelf once he has shoes but for now it is holding extra blankets.

I love all of the nursery projects we have made so far but the baby clothes rack is definitely one of my favorites because I think it is unique and Brent really made my idea come to life.

By being vertical and hanging on the wall it takes up no floor space but has plenty of storage space to keep baby clothes organized.

Plus, it looks nice enough to be out in the open displaying clothes.

PIN IT FOR LATER

Store and organize your baby's clothes in the nursery with this unique wall-mounted baby clothes rack. It is a great solution if a closet is not available. This diy project tutorial includes a video tutorial.

4 comments

  1. Jan

    Are you finding that the dowels are strong enough to support the hanging basket? Did you glue them or just push in? I am wondering if they would tent to come out if too much weight?

    Reply

    1. Gray House Studio

      Hi Jan,

      Yep. The dowel rods are not glued but were hammered in nice and tight. They aren’t going in anywhere. We have had the baskets hanging on them for about two years now and they are still nice and secure. 🙂

      Reply

  2. Dorcas Whyte

    Hi Amy; your baby clothes rack really have me attracted to it. it is looking so unique and from where I am sitting; it looks like a space savior.Dorcas

    Reply

  3. Amy

    Ah! Thank you! We have a tiny nursery with no closet… this looks like the perfect solution!

    Reply

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