DIY Wood Plate Rack

5 Materials
$5
4 Hours
Easy
Display pretty plates or easy access for every day ones with this simple DIY Wood Plate Rack!
Do you need extra storage? Or maybe your tired of going in and out of your kitchen cabinets to grab your every day dishes like I was. Whatever the reason this basic wood plate rack is the perfect solution!
To create this simple plate rack you won't need a lot of materials. You can find the full list of supplies and material here. To start you will need some scrap wood cut and dowels cut to size.
I purchased 3/8" x 48" dowels so I used a handsaw and cut them down to 12" in length. You will need 14 at this size.(These will hold your plates) I also needed two cut to 5 1/2" that will be used to attach the two base pieces together.
I cut my scrap wood for the base of the plate rack into (4) 3/4"x 1 1/2" x 13" pieces. Then it was time to measure and mark the top two pieces for the holes to place the dowels in. I decided I wanted my rack to hold six plates, so I needed a total of 7 holes on each side. For the top dowels, I measured 1 1/4″ in from each end and marked. Then I measured 1 3/4″ spacing for the remaining holes. For the side dowels: I measured in 2 1/2″ from each end.
Then I used a 3/8" drill bit and drilled my holes on both top pieces and also the sides of the tops.
Once I had all the holes drilled, I grabbed some sandpaper and sanded down each dowel and all the base pieces to get rid of any sharp edges. Then it was time to glue the base pieces together.
I glued one of the top pieces (with holes) to one of the bottom pieces (no holes) and repeated with the other side. Then I clamped them together and allowed the glue to dry. (About 1 hour)
When that dried I began glueing the dowels into both the two side holes and all 14 of the top holes. For the top dowels I used a rubber mallet and gently tapped them in so they were solid and secure. Then I allowed those to dry for another hour. If you're fine with the wood look (depending on the wood you used) you could be done at this point. But since I used scrap wood I decided to paint my plate rack.
I gave the entire plate rack two coats of white paint and when that dried I also sprayed one coat of clear to protect the paint from chipping.
We now we have much easier access to our every day plates as well as, more storage in the cabinet where they used to be! Since had all of the materials except for the dowels the total cost for this DIY Plate Rack was about $5! You can find the full tutorial in the link below!
Resources for this project:
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Frequently asked questions
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  1 question
  • Diane Diane on May 27, 2022

    Why would you glue two pieces of wood together why wouldn’t you just get a piece of wood that was the right size??

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  • Virginia Virginia on Oct 12, 2020

    I must admit that I have admired this type of dish display at various stores, even going so far as to as if I could buy them...I think Target is one of the stores that use them..But no sale. This is a great project and clearly explained. Thank you.

  • Im832600209 Im832600209 on Aug 12, 2022

    Your plate rack is really nice and would be very helpful when having a brunch or other gathering. I love it. Easy, elegant and well explained. Good job!! ❤👍

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