DIY A Vintage Brass Coat Rack Without Spending The Big Bucks
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Trends may come and go, but vintage never dies. There's something timeless about uniquely aged pieces. Whether your whole home is decked out or just a few elements, retro cool vintage trends can work in modern places beautifully. Any vintage furniture or decor can elevate a room, but the classic brass coat rack is perhaps one of the best examples of great vintage design: practical, reliable, and with a stylish bit of glam. People still wear coats, but the classic coat rack has become less common, swapped out for standard wall hooks or messy coat closets. Bringing in a beautiful vintage coat rack can add a smart and welcoming shine to your space!
The quality of vintage pieces is exponentially better than mass-produced furnishings of today. Unfortunately, true vintage brass coat racks can be very expensive, costing hundreds of dollars, and difficult to find, partly due to a huge spike in the popularity of vintage items. You could spend hours scouring through your local thrift stores and never find that perfect piece you've been looking for — or you could head to Amazon.
TikTok user Jessica Akemon (@mrs.jessicadarling) showed viewers how you can create your own brass-looking coat rack that will still deliver on vintage aesthetics. Though it may not have the same durability and quality as vintage, it makes up for it with the low cost. All you'll need is a black coat rack and gold-leaf metallic finish paint. Here's how you can follow her beginner-friendly DIY for a unique way to make your home's foyer stand out.
A little gold leaf goes a long way
Jessica Akemon picked up her coat rack by Monarch Specialties from Amazon, listed for about $35. In the tutorial, Akemon used Rub n' Buff wax metallic finish paint in the shade gold leaf, available at Michaels for $6.99. This gold leaf color will give the coat rack a vintage brass look, but you could try using the silver leaf or antique gold shade to make Akemon's idea fit your aesthetic. To apply the finish, you'll also need a foam sponge brush and a brown paper bag. All in all, this project should cost less than $50 — a steal compared to real vintage prices.
After assembling the coat rack, add a generous drop of gold paint to the end of your foam brush and cover the coat rack in thin, even layers until the original black is completely covered. Allow the paint to dry for a few hours, then buff the surface with your brown paper bag to give the gold leaf paint a nice, polished shine. If you buff the same area multiple times, it will create a more prominent shine, so you can buff to your liking. However, true vintage brass has a less noticeable shine after years of use, so keeping the buffing to a minimum can make it look more authentic. When you're happy with the results, place the rack in your entryway and hang up your coats!
Styling your DIY brass coat rack
A vintage brass coat rack is one of the best creative storage ideas for a clutter-free entryway, but this DIY project can look just as classy in a living room, office, or bedroom. The best place to keep your coat rack is in a "drop zone" area, where you're more likely to hang items on the rack instead of tossing them on the furniture. While coat racks are mostly functional, they make superb decorative elements, so consider carefully which pieces you might want on the rack and which would be better stored in a closet for now. Use the coat rack to invite some seasonal flair into your home. For example, you could hang a tartan scarf and cozy wool coat in the winter, then swap it out for a pastel jacket and patterned umbrella in spring.
After completing this DIY, you might be inspired to incorporate more brass pieces into your home. If you still have some Rub n' Buff paint left over, put it to good use by transforming other cheap items into vintage-looking brass. Some other interesting items to DIY and dress up your foyer could include this cheap black table lamp from Amazon for $18 or this industrial floor lamp from Amazon for less than $30. This $20 basic wall mirror from Amazon would also look gorgeous rubbed with brass and hung beside the coat rack to ensure you look super spiffy before you dash out the door.