DIY Plate Rack

Emina Videkanić
by Emina Videkanić
2 Materials
$15
3 Days
Medium

I' ve been wanting to buy a plate rack for some time now. I saw one at IKEA, that I really liked, but it was a bit pricey for me. When I showed it to my husband, he said that we can make a even better one and that he's gonna help me. Now I have to admit that I wasn't really happy with that answer, but I sure am happy with the result 🙂 So here is how we made it.

Materials

The point was to achive the wanted look using materials we allready have and hardly spending any money. I have to say that the only thing I had to buy was paint and spray paint. So the list of the things we used is:






  1. An old balcony door ( that we cut in half )
  2. Palette boards ( 3 pieces )
  3. Some trim pieces ( 1x2 and 0.5 x 1)
  4. 2 old longer wooden planks ( for the sides )
  5. Paint
  6. Primer
  7. Wood filler
  8. Spray paint
  9. 3 metal bars

So, we started off with this old door. We cut of the top part ( the hole for the glass) and used only the lower part. It was gonna be the base.

Then we wracked one palette, and picked 3 nice boards, which would be the shelfes. I sanded them with my sander untill they were really smooth, and measured out where I wanted them to be. We screwed them on to the base. On the bottom two shelfs I made an edge using trim pieces. The lower one is a 1x 2, and the middle one is thinner, it' s a 0,5x1.

Then I moved on to make the sides. I drew the pattern on both of the long boards ( a really simple pattern ) as you can see and then cut it out with a jigsaw. Sanded it again, especially the edges of the pattern, and attached it to the base.

The hardest part was done 🙂 I had some serious wood filling to do, the palette boards had a lot of nail holes. I filled them all in, sanded, wiped off the dust and it was ready to be painted.

Since I had all kinds of different types of wood on there, I had to use primer before painting. I didn't want to risk to have an uneven paint finish. So I painted on two coats of primer, to neutralize the surfice. I left it to cure over night, and then started painting it the next day.

Decided to go dark gray, so I made some chalk paint, and gave it 3 generous coats. It looked a bit flat for my taste, so I dry brushed it as well, to give it some dimension. While it was drying, I spray painted the metal bars, which would go above the shelfs.

I drilled two holes on the side boards, right above the edge of the shelf. Placed the bar in the holes, and then just closed the hole with woodfiller so it can't fall out.

We put 2 bars above the middle and the bottom shelf, so when the plates are placed on the shelf, they can't flip over. Just to be secure. The 3rd one was going under the bottom shelf, where I planed to hang some hooks. And it was ready to be hanged on the wall 🙂


This is the original Ikea plate rack that was our inspiration.

Thank you for reading. I hope I inspired some of you to make something like this... You don't always have to buy things, you can make them and feel good about yourself 🙂

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2 of 24 comments
  • Emina Videkanić Emina Videkanić on Aug 03, 2020

    I'm glad that you like it. Happy DIY-ing 😊

  • Mcgypsy9 Mcgypsy9 on Aug 03, 2021

    Hi first I want to say you did a beautiful job on this piece!! I am actually looking for something like this except for 3x the width. I can’t seem to find one anywhere but you’ve given me an idea. I will look for some doors where I can get 3 matching panels, which I know are much easier to find around here, (I might even have some that match in my garage). I will have to wait for my son to come down and help me with it because I can’t lift the wood by myself anymore but he builds just like I do and he can help me. Thank you for the inspiration and again you did a beautiful job on this! Even looks far better than the inspiration piece!

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