14 Genius Ways To Repurpose Wooden Dowel Rods Around The House

Wooden dowels are some of the most useful multi-purpose items for your home and garden. From providing a textured accent to decor to organizing craft supplies, jewelry, and even shoes, these simple household staples can be used — and reused — in endless ways. Their design is exceedingly simple but difficult to replicate, and at a very reasonable price point, there's just no good reason not to utilize dowels wherever you can. In fact, you can score a 4-pack of dowels measuring 12 inches long with a 9/25 diameter from Dollar Tree for $1.25. That's just 30 cents per dowel!

Not only are wooden dowels super handy and cheap, but they're also more environmentally friendly than other common crafting supplies. They are biodegradable, come from a renewable resource (though the responsible sourcing of wooden dowels is important), and require less energy to produce compared with plastic and even metal alternatives. That being said, being able to reuse and repurpose wooden dowels will help them become more sustainable still. Returning used dowels to their former glory often requires just a little ingenuity: A little sanding to remove glue (pre-treating with a glue solvent like alcohol can help), some wood filler to patch up holes, and a fresh coat of paint or stain will make them good as new. Here are 14 ways you can reuse dowel rods around the house.

If you've got an empty plastic food jar, such as a peanut butter jar or mayonnaise container, you've got the perfect base for a stylish vase. First, take the lid and glue its top to the bottom of the jar to give the vase a little extra height and stability. Then, grab several packs of Dollar Tree dowels and glue them vertically around the jar. Paint or stain them if you wish, and fill your trendy vase with fresh or faux blooms.

Elevate your houseplant game by building a gorgeous DIY pedestal stand for your plant pots. Arrange thicker dowels — around a 1-inch diameter works well — in a wide circle in the middle of a wood round to serve as the pedestal base. You can size the length of the dowels to create the perfect height for your plant stand. Glue the dowels to the round using a strong wood adhesive, and then stain or paint your pedestal to your taste.

Even pros like Joanna Gaines love using wainscotting as a sophisticated way to add texture to a boring room, and you can give yours a classy finishing touch using wooden dowels. Create an elegant rail along your wainscotting shelf with wooden dowels and spindles, like the Mxfans Decorative Wood Spindles, which come in packs of 20 for less than $1 per piece. Drill holes in the spindles and secure the dowels with wood glue. Paint your rail to match your room's aesthetic, and consider gold or brass paint for an elevated look.

A wooden dowel can alert you to signs that you are overwatering your indoor plants. Sometimes, the soil will appear dry on top but will still be damp below, and watering at this stage can be too much for some plants. To check the moisture level right down to the bottom, just insert a dowel into your potted plant's soil and let it sit for a minute or so. Remove it and examine for signs of moisture — like using a toothpick to check if a cake is done.

Dowels are perfect for hanging jewelry, and you can assemble a DIY jewelry organizer with just a few drops of wood glue. There are endless ways to build a dowel jewelry stand, but one simple idea is to make the stand's 'trunk' by gluing several small rods together and sticking it on a base of some kind (like a shallow catchall tray, which also provides additional storage) and attaching a few dowels along the trunk and on the top to hang necklaces, bracelets, and rings. Spray paint it with glimmering gold to complete the look.

Wooden accents add a natural touch to your decor, and dowels can embellish just about any item. If you have a plain old lamp lying around, you can cover the base with dowel rods to infuse your lighting with nature's warmth. The DEJSA table lamp from IKEA works particularly well for this, but any lamp with a narrower base will do. Paint the rods to match your decor, or stain them to let the wood's natural beauty shine through.

Show off your creativity using wooden rods to make unique works of art. One idea is to overlap the dowels to create a thatched design, securing them with a dot of wood glue along each connecting point. Spray paint your creation or stain the dowels beforehand for a natural finish. Or, turn large dowels on their ends and cut them into short pieces to adhere to canvas for a modern, pegboard-esque decor piece.

Whether you are short on space or just love the look of hanging plants, dowels are the perfect accompaniment for a vertical garden. Attach the rods along a simple A-frame or build a plant stand that features both planter shelves and hanging rods for a unique mini-garden. Just make sure the dowels can take the weight of your hanging plants, especially after watering.

Wooden dowels make great hanging rods for all kinds of projects, including wall art. Give your photo a scroll-like frame by simply attaching a dowel to the top and bottom and hanging it on the wall from a visible string. Or, use the same idea and wrap a tapestry or macramé around a dowel and let it rest against the wall. Dowels provide a minimalist yet rustic touch to your wall decor.

You can make your own wall-mounted coat rack with a 2-by-4, wooden dowels cut to 1-inch pieces (or your length of choice), and dowel caps. Screw in the rods along the 2-by-4, attach the caps on the end, and mount the rack on the wall. Paint or stain the rack to stand out or match it with the wall color to add a subtle yet stately touch to a mudroom or entryway.

If you can drill holes through craft wood, you can DIY a craft room ribbon organizer using a few Dollar Tree items. Shop Dollar Tree for two pieces of fun craft wood long enough to store a few rows of ribbons. Drill holes through both pieces for the dowels, and slide the dowels through the holes and ribbon rolls. Depending on the craft wood you choose, you can stand this organizer up on one end or rest it along the sides. Either way, your ribbon will stay neat, tidy, and ready to use.

Whether in the kitchen, bathroom, or laundry room, it's always nice to have hand towels within arm's reach. Using wooden dowels, make a towel holder to better utilize any spare space around the sink. Install a towel holder on the wall by connecting dowels to a simple wooden frame, or use self-adhering hooks inside a cabinet door and lay a dowel across them to keep towels accessible and out of the way. Or, lay a dowel across two hooks underneath your upper cabinets, perfect for a paper towel roll.

Dowels make great slats for a DIY shoe rack. You can build a very simple frame and screw in several dowels to serve as flat shelves, or you can install one rod higher in the back and another lower in the front so the shoes sit at an angle. Resting shoes on slats helps them dry between wearings while also protecting the integrity of the shelf by allowing plenty of airflow.

Your unique works of art deserve a designated place to dry made just for them, and wooden dowels allow you to make one to your exact specifications. Whether you need to save space or create a drying solution for unusually shaped pieces, use dowels as drying supports to lean your artwork against or create a pegboard design that serves as a drying bed for your creation. Fit the dowels snugly in place on a board with predrilled holes, but don't glue them so you can adjust the rack for your next masterpiece.