Week 9b: Hanging of the Coat Rack and Completed Hallway Redo!

You might think that it doesn't sound too difficult to hang a coat rack, but I've never really had to hang anything that would hold heavy items so I had to do some research regarding what would be the best way to hang a coat rack.

Let me preface this post-earlier this fall I found a really nice and sturdy coat rack that Jake's grandpa made in his woodshop.  I painted that a light cream color and wanted to hang it in our hallway (when it was still yellow).  Via google and some discussions with helpful guys working at the local hardware store, I learned that when you have plaster walls and not drywall like we do, to hang heavy objects you need to use a drill and toggle bolts to secure the heavy object to the wall.  The guys suggested I find the studs in our walls and drill/screw the toggle bolts directly into studs so it doesn't rip out the plaster walls.  To me they made it seem do-able, but when I went home and used the stud finder I had some difficulty finding the frames in the same distance as the holes in the back of the coat rack.  When all was said and done I figured that the coat rack didn't cost me anything, so I would keep it for some potential future use and start looking for something different.

Not too long after I decided to go with a dark teal and ivory theme in the hallway, I found a really fitting coat rack on clearance at Hobby Lobby.  I also like that it was a little older looking and thought it would look good at my house.

I made another trip to the hardware store (and brought my new coat rack) to get some appropriate sized toggle bolts to hang the coat rack.  This one was much lighter in weight (5 lbs vs. 15 lbs), and only needed 2 bolts to hold it to the wall.  I bought some bolts and washers and home I went!

I first started by measuring where I wanted my holes and by drilling a hole in the wall:

 Unfortunately I only could find a 1/4" drill bit but needed 1/2".  So I basically had to just move the drill around a lot to get the right sized hole I needed.

Next I slide the toggle bolt and fastener (probably not the right term) with the washer through the hole until the backing clicked and folded up against the back side of the plaster wall:

 I repeated this on the other side the same distance away from where the holes are on the back of the coat rack.  I was really hoping that the measurements added up so I didn't have multiple holes in the walls!

It took some struggling (and a few choice words) to get each screw to match up with the holes of the coat rack, but I finally got the coat rack mounted and was really happy that a) it didn't fall down in 10 seconds, and b) it was actually straight when I tested it with the level.

Here's a picture of the mounted rack:

I was nervous but figured I should test out the durability so I hung up a light coat and my somewhat heavy purse and was shocked when it didn't come crashing down :)

Now my hallway transformation is complete!  Here's some before shots of the prior owners's decor and some pictures of how it looks now:

 The pictures I took make the hall look a little more narrow than it actually is.  I have to say it is rare that my projects turn out 100% how I want them to but this hallway makeover actually went as planned!

Rachel