Tension Rod-Reduce Clutter! - Part 2

Mary Ann Goldberg
by Mary Ann Goldberg
6 Materials
$8
3 Hours
Medium
You may remember back to the stencil challenge in February when I redid my "Creation Station" (aka, desk, pictured below). After getting everything back in order after the process, I started thinking that this area could be better utilized if a couple changes were made.
You can see how much space the hutch takes up on the top surface, as well as the area the monitor would normally rest on. I needed more work surface area and ran some ideas past hubs. He didn't "see" what I was envisioning, but helped me anyway.


The hutch was meant to sit on a desk, not hang, so we were leary that it would not hold together if we hung it traditionally. We needed it to be supported more from the bottom. In order to do this hubby first measured and cut a 1"x1" to fit inside the two bottom legs and then screwed it level onto the wall, making sure he hit the studs. You can see the 1"x1" at the top of the photo above. This would support the weight of the hutch. Hubby is adding "L" brackets to the top of the frame, also in the photo above.
We then lifted the hutch to sit on the 1"x1" and while I held the hutch in place, he secured the two "L" brackets to the wall/studs to keep the hutch from tipping over. The weight was now being supported from the bottom.


Here is where the tension rods come in. I had two rods already that were the right fit and I suspended rulers from one and scissors from the other, using "S" hooks I already had. I tried also suspending paper towels from one of these but I could not get the rod tight enough to stay when I pulled on the toweling.
While looking for options at Walmart I came across a tension rod meant for shower curtains. If it could hold up curtains it should hold up paper towels, right? It does and works beautifully.


Although hubby was skeptical at first, he's loving the outcome!


Hanging these items cleared out some great space inside my desk and I am sure in the future I will find more items to hang from the rods. And they're just an arm reach away. Sweet!


I upgraded a couple other items in this redo, as well as fixed a couple of the panels on the desk that I made a big "oops" on. This project turned out to be a craft area redo other than just a desk redo. Stay tuned for the rest of the saga and the final reveal!


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  • Lea10012150 Lea10012150 on Apr 30, 2018

    Great idea. Just one question, why didn’t hubby turn the unit upside down when installing “L” brackets?

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