Our latest DIY project for our guest bathroom was to make a DIY metal hook towel rack by creating our own metal hooks.
Saturday, Brent and I worked on building the last small project in our guest bathroom, a DIY metal hook towel rack. We wanted to replace the generic silver towel bar that was currently in the bathroom with one that has more character and charm and matches our new floating shelves we built and our mirror frames.
We went full DIY on this project down to creating the hooks ourselves by bending metal rods. This was our first time doing anything of the blacksmith nature but we really wanted to have complete control over the look of the hooks. It took a few trial runs before we figured out how to get it to look like we wanted. We finally got a consistent pattern down where we could make each hook look identical. It was a two person job.
Brent did the bending while I held the torch! The metal hooks were definitely the most time consuming part of the project so after we finished shaping the hooks, the rest of the project went super fast. We are really pleased with the finished result. Check out how we made our metal hook towel rack below.
How We Made Our DIY Metal Hook Towel Rack
1. We started out by measuring the length of the piece of metal rod we needed for each hook. Then, Brent used a metal cutting attachment for his drill to cut the rod so we had five equal pieces.
2. To secure the rod before we began bending it, Brent made a jig by drilling a hole in a block of wood and wedged a screw next to the rod to hold it in place. Once it was in place, we used a torch to heat the metal where we intended to bend the rod.
3. When the metal turned orange, we knew it was hot enough to bend. We kept moving the torch around on the rod until we were able to bend it completely around the pipe which formed the first loop.
4. Once we got it to be the shape we wanted, we pulled it off the pipe and dunked it water to cool it off. We used pliers the entire time to handle the metal rod to ensure that no unexpected burns took place.
5. Here are what the five hooks looked like after we finished the first loop. We did each section on all five hooks at one time to keep the look consistent. We laid them all out to compare them and made sure they looked even before moving on to the next step.
6. We continued the process of heating the metal and bending it to form each loop of the hook.
7. For the final bend, where we turned the top and bottom loops into hooks, I held the torch on the metal as Brent used a hammer to bend it around the pipe. The metal sparked as he hammered it which made us feel like real blacksmiths!
The finished metal hooks.
8. To create the bracket that attaches the hook to the board, Brent used offset snips to cut
thin gauge sheet metal into small squares.
9. To shape the metal squares into the correct form for the bracket, we clamped them between two blocks of wood and bent them by hand.
10. We drilled holes on both sides of the metal bracket and then placed the bracket over the metal hook and screwed it to the board.
11. Finally, we screwed the board into the wall. To hide the wall anchors, Brent placed them behind the hook so they would be concealed once the bracket was placed over it. We also cleaned the metal hooks and brackets.
Our finished DIY metal hook towel rack.
Now there are lots of hooks for our guests to hang their towels!
This was our last small project in the guest bathroom and it and the other projects have definitely helped transform this small bathroom into a much more inviting space. I love how all the elements match and flow together. I am really happy with how our guest bathroom is coming along.
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I love it! The hooks look very vintage 🙂
Thanks Heather!
You two never cease to amaze me. Can’t wait to hang my towel when I come to visit!