Add Rustic Appeal To Your Kitchen With An Easy DIY Hanging Pot Wall

Rustic kitchens can be easily recognized by their feelings of coziness, warmth, and an abundance of texture. This wealth of material interest can be found using rich elements like stone, wood, brick, vintage tile, and an overall well-worn feeling of history in its dishware and accents. Kitchens are also a place where storage can be a huge consideration, with a lot of cookware, tools, and accessories often vying for workspace and cupboard room. A great way to combine both the need for additional storage and a charming rustic vibe is to store your pots and pans where you can see them, either along a wall or hanging from above. Not only do they add even more texture and dimension, but they free up cupboards and pantry space for other uses. 

Cookware storage hanging units can be found aplenty in home stores, all of which allow you to hang your pots and pans on the wall or a rack overhead. Many decor experts, including Martha Stewart, sing the praises of racks for storing pots and pans. They can be great for holding a large number of cookware pieces in easy reach. They also give a lived-in and cozy vibe to the kitchen, making it a space that feels used and loved. While pre-made pot racks can be costly, especially larger ones, there are actually a wealth of DIY ways to create the perfect pot wall in your rustic kitchen, including overhead racks and wall mount units that are easy to build and install. 

Rustic interiors love the texture of wood accents, the older and more battered the better. To create an adorably rustic wall mount for pots and pans, consider using a piece of scrap wood mounted to the wall and outfitted with a curtain rod screwed directly into it. Use S- hooks on the rod to store pans in a compact way against the wall. If you have a bit more room and want to leave the wall empty, you can also create a simple hanging pot rack that suspends from the ceiling with a chain or rope. Build a simple rectangular frame with scrapwood, using pocket hole screws to fasten together two longer lengths of wood with several smaller pieces going between. Or fasten a single plank of wood or an old beam to the ceiling and add screw-in hooks for a more compact version in small spaces.

Creating storage for cookware can also be an ingenious way to upcycle architectural or old furniture elements into a stylish pot rack. Use an old ladder or bed headboard as a rustic pot rack against a wall or suspended over a center island. This also works with wood fences or old spindled railings from porches or stairwells. Portions of old garden trellis or wagon wheels, which you can find in craft and home decor stores, are also great options for a suspended pot rack. For a wall-mounted rack, consider an old window frame or plantation shutters as a place to add hooks. 

Whatever you use as a rack for hanging your pots and pans, think about the visual impact of cookware as wall decor. While cookware can sometimes take a beating, keeping the pans free of grease or debris makes the overall scene look more tidy and beautiful. For pans that get a lot of use or have seen better days, many swear by Barkeeper's Friend as a great way to keep things looking good for display. Also keep in mind the weight limits for hanging overhead racks, making sure to add hooks to the ceiling joists if you plan to add a lot of weight to the rack lest everything wind up on the floor.

You can also intersperse visible cookware with other rustic elements like aprons, old brooms, antique accents, cutting boards, and other vintage pieces. For hanging racks, consider adding accents like greenery strung through the top or adding bunches of dried flowers hanging charmingly from the rack. If you want a softer option for lighting overhead fixtures, you can also string fairy lights through for a bit of glow up top.