The Gorgeous And Affordable DIY Wall Rack That Turns Dead Space Into Storage

Dead wall space is a tricky home feature to solve, as it usually indicates locations or proportions that can't accommodate a functional furniture piece or storage solution. And believe us, there are plenty of dead spaces in your home you should be taking advantage of. Aiming for a functional, decorative, and budget-friendly solution to the dead wall space between her own kitchen and living room, Instagrammer @happieverlyafter took matters into her own hands by DIY-ing a stunning bespoke wall rack from strips of unfinished white wood boards.

She measured, trimmed, and put together a frame with multiple ledges to hold everyday kitchen-related items. Not wanting a deep rack, she used 1x3-inch wood boards where she could prop up narrow items such as cookbooks, spice bottles, serving plates, chopping boards, or condiment bottles. While the functional and unobtrusive wall rack maximizes her wall's dead space, it can be personalized and updated further to fit different areas. Requiring affordable wood materials (home improvement stores like Lowe's carry wood boards in various lengths and sizes) and basic tools every homeowner should have, this is an easy and enjoyable project for DIY amateurs. 

Before embarking on this project, visualize the items to be displayed on your rack so you can properly plan out the dimensions of the materials you'll be needing. @happieverlyafter's wall rack is composed of a main frame and ledges with a bottom support. She also added a thin piece of wooden trim a few inches above each ledge to keep items from falling off, especially if your rack has narrower depths. Stain or paint your rack to match the aesthetic of the room. After securing it to the wall, style the ledges with a curated collection of decorative pieces or items.

Personalize this DIY further by tweaking the main design into customized display racks. You can build a vertical rack to hang over your Hi-Fi system which displays your top three vinyl record picks. Customize one to fit a problematic narrow space in a laundry room to hold bottles of liquid detergent or boxes of dryer sheets. Create one to hang over your bedside table to store the books you are currently reading, freeing up your bedside table from clutter in the process.

Adding a plywood backing to your frame expands the display possibilities of this DIY. With a proper wood backing, you can replace the ledges with rows of Madison Mill Oak Dowel Pins. The pegs can display a collection of baseball caps, or can be used as a thread spool or ribbon roll organizer that's perfect for craft rooms.