Back in September, reader Theresa showed us her DIY over-the-door pot rack. We decided to make a similar version in our own kitchen, and while our pots are nowhere near as nice and shiny as Theresa's and our rack is slightly crooked at the moment, it's already made a big space-saving difference.
I (Joanna) installed my pot rack on an exterior door that leads to the back porch of my apartment. (We've joked that it doubles as a DIY burglar alarm.)
The door itself is pretty thick and the only over-the-door hook I've found that will fit over it is a three-hook contraption. I'm still on the lookout for two single hooks that can hold the rack at the corners and hopefully straighten it out. It's entirely possible, however, that the door itself is what's crooked. Ah, the joys of a vintage apartment.
For the racks, I looked for grill grates that could be hung horizontally and leave enough room at the bottom of the door for a lid holder (aka towel bar).
The whole project cost about $45.
Anyone else install a DIY pot rack recently? Any of you Cure takers, perhaps?
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That looks pretty heavy. Are you sure the door and the door frame will support all the extra weight?
@farmersdaughter - It's a very heavy old door, so I think it's fine.
Yep, not every door is this flimsy hollow crap I find in newer apartments. I grew up in New England where most houses I lived in were older, with solid framework and quality doors. Traveling around the country lately, I find more and more places have shoddy construction and these ridiculous hollow doors. Doors are to block sound and insulate both, and these hollow ones don't really do both nearly so well. Oh well.
But yes, I'm quite positive that door can take it. Lovely way of keeping things tidy and still at-hand in the kitchen!
How cool, and the idea for the lid-holder is great! I'm the builder of the original one linked to, and can say that it's still holding up great -- One thing I hadn't counted on was the weight of the pans keeping it rather steady against the door. The pots still clang a bit, but it doesn't swing wildly.
We're hooking the lids onto the handles of the hanging pots, and that can be a hassle since each lid goes with several pots... sometimes we have to take down multiple pots to get the lid combo we want. Love your solution.
The little arms that project out to the sides look like they might be altered easily to hang a towel or apron too! Love it!
I remember that the door hangers fit very snugly over the door... it may be that older doors were a bit thicker. As far as our door handling the weight, no problems whatsoever. I actually got to run my idea past a carpenter before I tried it, and he a.) didn't seem to understand why I'd want to do such a thing but b.) reassured me I wouldn't rip the door off the hinges.
I found what i feel are the exact hangers i used (bought them at home depot but couldn't find them on their website) ... http://www.amazon.com/Battalion-1RCF2-Over-Door-Steel/dp/B001H4QIEU ... they give some pretty thorough measurements, so maybe you could check out whether it'd work for your door. Each hook was rated at 35 lbs. (so the whole contraption can hold 70 lbs.) and are super sturdy. Also, a screw could be driven in the top of the hook to secure it to the door, but once I got everything assembled it wasn't necessary. The only downside to these hooks is that that knob at the end of them ... Took a little doing to get them through the grates.
I also have a small space in my kitchen and use a similar solution for my pots. I only have my large, wok and small pots hanged though. I use the corners for hanging my apron and oven gloves. It works wonders for me.