My wife has been working diligently to organize our pantry - and keep it that way. During the course of her efforts, she came up with several different rolls of tape that seemed to have no place to live. She made a simple request, "Can you put up some hooks here (second photo) so I can organize my tapes?"

Since I built that plenum 27 years ago, I knew that most of that surface was just drywall and hooks wouldn't be able to hold well. So, utilizing my engineering training and the thousands of dollars of tools in my shed, I told her I would come up with a better solution.

Step 1: Tools, Materials and Safety

Tools: (All of the operations can be done with hand tools)

Table Saw
Sander
Tape Measure
Band Saw
Drill Press
Drill Bits
Hammer
Center Punch

Materials: (A very flexible list)

1/4" Oak Plywood, 15" X 15"
5/16" Poplar Dowel, 24"
Wood Glue
Spray Polyurethane

Safety: During this process, I (mostly) followed safe practices - safety glasses, hearing protection, short sleeves, etc. Please pay attention to SAFETY - I need folks to read my stuff.

Step 2: Planning

The space is 15 inches by 15 inches so I cut a piece of paper that size and laid the tapes on it until she approved. I scrounged a nice piece of 1/4" Oak plywood from the offcut pile and got out a couple of 5/16" dowels.

Then I repeated the layout step with the plywood, rearranging until we felt we had maximized it.

Step 3: Out to the Shed

Using a sander, I sanded the surface smooth and rounded the edges

I marked the hole locations and used a spring-loaded center punch for the drill to start.

I used a 5/16" spade bit to drill all the holes, only drilling a little way from the top side then turning the board over and finishing the holes to avoid breakout of the plies.

Then I set a fence on the band saw at 2" and cut the 12 posts.