How to make a kitchen utensil rack

I started collecting different antique wooden spoons and displaying them over the stove a while back. Since I didn’t have a utensil rack, I only used command velcro strips to hang them on the tile which was less than desirable. Especially since the heat from the oven dried them out and the spoons kept falling occasionally.

I love the look of antique utensil racks above stoves. Not only are they pretty but they also provide extra storage space which is so important in a small house like ours. But, copper and brass utensil racks tend to be very pricey which is why I wanted to figure out a way to make my own for much less. Let me show you what I did…

DIY kitchen utensil rack

As I said earlier, brass and copper utensil racks mounts are expensive. While you can find cheaper ones mostly in black, stainless steel, or chrome, they all have one thing in common. They are wall mounts. Inside mounting brackets like this one HERE are super expensive and not widely available. I mean $50 for one mounting bracket is ridiculous.

Since I wanted to mount it to the cabinet and not the marble tile, I needed to find a different solution to mount the utensil rack to the cabinet without having to use two $50 mounting brackets.

Materials needed to make your own kitchen utensil rack

• hollow metal rod
• hacksaw for cutting metal
• measuring tape
• level
• two screws that fit inside the metal rod
• drill and drillbit (that fits the size of screws)
• fine sandpaper
• metal primer (I used a metal spray primer made for alluminum and galvanized metal)
• gold spray paint (I used champage bronze by Rustoleum)
• screw driver
• gold s-hooks (I have THESE and they match the spray paint pretty good)

step-by-step instructions with photos

1. Start out by holding your metal rod to the cabinet and marking where you need to cut the rod in order to be able to mount it to the cabinets. It needs to fit snug over the stove and between the cabinets.
2. Use your hack saw to cut the rod where marked. This is the same as if you are cutting a piece of wood.
   
   
   
3. I sanded the rod with the fine sandpaper and then wiped off all the dust from sanding.
4. Now it is time to spray prime and paint the rod. I had an automotive metal spray primer on hand but any metal primer will do. Put the rod on a piece of cardboard and prime it. When the primer dried, turn the rod so you can get the other side as well. After that you can spray the rod with the gold spray paint and rotate it when dry so you can get all sides covered.
   
   
   
5. Marking where to hang the rod is the trickiest part but it is doable with some patience and steady hands. Use the level under the rod while holding the rod in the position where you would like the utensil rack to hang. Please keep in mind that it needs to be far enough from the wall for the s-hooks to fit onto the rack. I marked the right side first.
   
   
   
6. Now it’s time to drill a hole for the first screw. My cordless drill wasn’t strong enough so I had to get out the good old power drill. (I drilled my hole slightly smaller than the screw, so the screw had to get tighly drilled into the hole)
   
   
   
7. Screw the first screw through the cabinet so it sticks out on the side of the stove.
   
   
   
   
8. Next, take the rod and slip it over the screw to keep the rod steady and so you can mark the other side.
   
   
   
9. Use the level again under the rod to mark the left side before drilling the hole. Same procedure as I showed for the right side.
   
   
   
10. Screw the screw into the left side of the cabinet the same way you did before but this time also holding the rod up so the screw goes into the rod to hold it all up.
11. Choose your s-hooks and hang them and you are done! (The shiny gold larger hooks were purchased at Ikea)
    
    
    

Photos of finished kitchen utensil rack in our kitchen

This is another one of those projects where I don’t know why I waited for so long. I couldn’t be happier with how this kitchen utensil rack turned out. It looks just as expensive as the other prefabricated ones but for a fraction of the cost.

I really have to repaint the upper cabinets. I just haven’t decided yet if I want them in white again or if I should paint them green as well.

We’ve had the quartz countertop for almost 10 years now and I still love it. We’ve had no issues besides one small chip right above the dishwasher’s edge. If you look closely at the above photo then you can see it.

I recently painted a cutting board with traditional German easy folk art and hung it on the utensil rack.