Old farmhouses present unconventional problems. In certain places there are things like floors that aren’t level and lathe-and-plaster walls that crumble when you try to screw or nail things into them. Our front hallway has both of these problems. But, we needed a coat rack. The small coat closet didn’t provide enough room, not to mention that the younger ones couldn’t reach high enough to hang the coats in it.

A year or two ago, I had an idea. The unused space beside the front door would be the perfect spot for a coat rack. The floor beside the door is not level, so something would have to be hung on the walls, which, as I mentioned, are crumbly, and would never be sturdy enough for a coat rack with all the weight of the coats hanging on it. After considering my options, assisted by my trusty crew, we came up with this.We used liquid nails to mount wooden pieces in the corner; these pieces would then hold screws and weight with no trouble. The wide wooden trim around the front door (left) and bedroom door (right) gave us another place that would firmly hold screws. We mounted the boards that would hold the coat hooks, painted everything, and I found some hooks that would hold many coats of various sizes. They were originally silver so we spray painted them black. I was so pleased with the final result, and it worked beautifully! A coat rack low enough for all the little hands to reach and sturdy enough to hold lots of coats. As a finishing touch, I found these cute little pieces of decor that seemed to fit just right, marked down 50% at our local Dollar General.

Then, this winter, it seemed expedient to make further use of that same area by mounting a second coat rack above the first. (Where do all the coats around here even come from? Not to mention all the bags and purses?) Here are some pics to show a little bit of the process. All of the measuring, cutting, mounting, and painting was done by the crew. You can see this is not a perfectionist job (old farmhouses –combined with a crew in training– don’t allow people to hang on to their perfectionist tendencies) but it is functional and I love it! 

One of the things I just love about homemaking is having my own little domain. I’m sure you feel the same way. Homemaking gives us a place where we can do things in the way that seems best to us as the managers of our homes. A place where we can take what we have to work with, and use it to the fullest extent of our creative abilities.

I enjoy finding uses for the nooks and crannies in this old house; figuring out how to make it work; and I love how my crew can provide the footwork needed for making my little homemaking ideas like this one become reality.♥