The DIY Paint Drying Rack That Saves Time & Space

Being a homeowner allows you the liberty to wake up hating your home's aesthetic and deciding to change the color scheme. This could mean repainting some of your existing furniture. If you're a DIY-er with an artistic hand when it comes to painting your own property, then you already know the struggle of working on multiple pieces and not having anywhere to dry them. Unlike simple little arts and crafts projects, furniture such as painted kitchen cabinets can't just dry up and be ready for installation in a couple of hours. They often need to be cured for a few days in order to allow the paint to harden; otherwise, installing them right away could damage the paint job. This DIY paint drying rack will save you time as well as space, and you'll only need some wood and nails to set it up.

Repainting your furniture isn't always cut and dry. Some people try to paint objects like cabinets or drawer doors while they're still on their hinges. This ends up being sloppy and causing the paint to drip, streaks to form, and your effort to be wasted. Propping them up against the wall is also a no-no. The best solution is to have a rack that will allow the furniture to dry evenly without giving room for potential messes or cracks in your work. Building a drying rack from scratch sounds like a lot of work, but it's simple and reusable for future projects.

It can take paint a long time to dry when working with furniture pieces. TikTok furniture and home improvement creators Dani and Sherry @secondchanceohana have a rundown on how to build a paint drying rack using a wooden dolly and some wood scraps. Of course, you'll need a power drill, measuring tape, and enough nails.

First, measure out two 2-by-6 planks. These will act as the main sides of the rack housing the rows of drying space. Screw on a pair of L-shaped brackets onto the shorter length of the planks, where you'll attach them to the dolly. Once they're securely fastened, measure out 39 inches on all the wood scraps and cut them all to that length. These will serve as the racks. Each of these racks will be screwed onto the insides of the two planks attached to the dolly at equal intervals. Only two screws per rack are required for a firm hold. Add a minimum of one cross support to hold the columns together, and then you've got yourself a ready-to-use paint-drying rack for furniture pieces. This rack measures ideally for kitchen cabinets, so if you have other furniture items you regularly need to repaint that are a bit bigger or smaller, then you can tailor the measurements to suit your needs.