We've been helping our daughter with budget-friendly ideas to organize her small townhouse entryway. One of the things she desperately needed was a coat rack with hooks and a shelf for things like sunglasses and keys.

You can imagine our surprise when we discovered buying one new would set her back between $60 - $150. Heck, no was that happening and we saved her hard-earned cash by heading to the thrift store where we found a wall-mounted coat rack for under $5. With just a little sweat equity, it looks brand new and is customized to match her adjacent living room colors.

Wall Mounted Coat Rack For Under $5

This is what the coat rack looked like before...


Oops, I forgot to take the photo before I removed the coat hooks and repaired the dent in one corner.

I've included a Materials List towards the bottom of this post. It contains affiliate links for your convenience so you can see what products I used or recommend to make this project. See my full disclosure policy.


Not only did this thrift store version save our daughter a ton of money but it was so quick and easy to get it looking like brand new, in her favorite color.

The how to

After a good scrub with vinegar and water solution, the dent on one corner was repaired with filler and sanded smooth.

What a difference after just one coat of pretty Peacock blue chalk paint. The first coat was finished in less than five minutes, can't get any easier than that. It took two coats for complete coverage and I was finished in less than an hour.

Aged with glaze

Next, I applied Van Dyke Brown glaze with an inexpensive chip brush over the paint. I did this for two reasons; to add depth to the color and add an extra layer of protection over the paint.


What I love about Dixie Belle mineral chalk paint is that it cures rock hard and doesn't require a top coat. Considering the shelf would probably receive a lot of wear and tear from keys being dropped on it, having that extra layer of protection couldn't hurt.

Helpful Tip

To get the dark glaze (or wax) into those tiny ridges for an aged appearance, cut the bristles of an inexpensive chip brush around 1-inches long. They nestle right into those hard to get spots.


Here is a close up of the coat hooks that came with the coat rack all cleaned up and reattached.



The mantel ledge provides a handy shelf for things like keys, small change, and sunglasses in a small entry where a hall table isn't an option.


Keep it uncluttered with pops of color and a few pretty accessories and it can read like art if within the living room sight line.



Here are some other budget-friendly wall-mounted organization ideas for small spaces that you might find helpful. Like this Rustic Coffee Mug Holder made to fit between my daughter's kitchen cabinets and counter. Or this Kitchen Command Center also made for my daughter's kitchen. How about turning artwork into a handy Dog Leash Holder for an entryway? Here's a Chalkboard Message Center made with salvaged cabinet doors.

The lesson from my Wall Mounted Coat Rack makeover? Think outside the box store when decorating and organizing a small entryway on a tight budget. With a little sweat equity and the price of a barista coffee, we were able to create a pretty and functional storage solution for our daughter's small townhouse.