Free-standing clothing rack

This is very simple, both in concept and in execution, but it turned out great and I couldn't find anything quite like it here, so I figured I'd share.

My wife and I recently moved into a typical downtown apartment: great location, not very much space. The apartment only has one tiny closet, and we just didn't have room for all of our clothes. Initially, we considered buying a set of shelves to put on top of our chest of drawers, but the fact of the matter is, we're both really short, and those high shelves wouldn't be of much use. Hence, the idea to make a clothing rack out of threaded pipe that could sit on top of the drawers.

Step 1 Materials and measurements

All you need are a few segments of threaded pipe, and the appropriate joints. I was able to find everything I needed at the local hardware store, where they were happy to cut pipes to the right length and put the threads on for me. I used 3/4" diameter pipe, largely because that's what my hardware store had. I think 1" pipe would work just as well, but thicker than that you might not be able to get the hangers over the bar well. Make sure all your joints match the diameter of your pipe!

ALL PIPES SHOULD HAVE BOTH ENDS THREADED
2x pipes the height of your stand, less ~4" (the bottom and top joints will add to the final height)
1 pipe the length of your stand, less ~4"
4x pipes 8" each, for the base (this is for a final base width of about 20", which is very stable on mine)
2x 90 degree elbow joints
2x tee joints
4x end caps (these are important, to make the base level with the tee joints; your rack will wobble without them)

Regarding the height of the rack: I measured it out so that my wife and I could both comfortably reach the top bar. I realized after it was assembled that it could've been significantly taller, because you hold the hanger from the bottom when you're taking things on and off the rack. This gives you about 9" more reach. It would've been nice to have those few inches, to make more room for storage underneath.

A small tip: my pipes came covered in grease, presumably because of the cutting and threading machinery. You'll want to clean them up well before doing anything with them!

Comments

[robotmarvin]

how much weight can these pipes hold?? how stable is the structure if the pipes are longer (say, 8 ft.) with an additional horizontal pipe?? (and with lots of space near the floor for staking a few boxes etc)...

[lilstgo]

Thank you so much Mr. A. Square, how simple it was. Was able to get all the materials ready to assemble.

Spent $79+ at Home Depot, 1/2" galvanized pipes.

Could probably get other material pipes to lower the cost!

Such an easy task.

Lillian

[A. Square]

Glad you liked it! It's been over two years, and mine is still doing great. In fact, we've since moved to a bigger apartment with more closet space, but we still use it because my wife likes it so much!

[spollak1]

would it work also higher than this?like 1,7meters?or is this not meant to stay stable at such hights?thank you :)

[thinkling]

I love this idea... how much did the materials cost?

[A. Square]

 It was over a year ago, so I honestly don't remember. Here's what I do remember: the pipe wasn't very expensive, but it was kind of pricey to get all of the cut pieces threaded. I only discovered later on that a different hardware store had standard lengths precut and threaded, and they were much cheaper. So, I recommend looking around a bit to see if you can find something like that.

Good luck!

[junkhole76]

This helped me out a TON!!! Thanks for your generosity.!!!!!

[pardriver]

I have to make a rack such as this for someone and I didn't know where to start.This will be almost what I need and less material than I had anticipated. I am going to clamp the rack to the table and place the table about 2" from the floor to act as a support and a shelf. The only thing left is to talk over the dimensions with this person.

  Thanks for this excellent idea.----TIM