I LOVE this post!
I’m hoping it will do well virally, but my photos don’t really do justice to the simple perfection of this build. If you have coats, purses, dog leashes, umbrellas, – anything that you want hung up – then you really need to try this because it is SO INEXPENSIVE!!
Sure you could buy gorgeous hooks and screw them into a board, or buy a board with hooks already hung and finished, but I guarantee you it will cost more than these hooks for dog leads.
Why?
Because I made my own hooks!!
Okay, to start off, I have a million dogs. (only 3, but they often feel like a million) With that comes the need for leashes for all three, and since mine are awful to walk, I also need harnesses for each one. On top of that, I have LED collars for night walks and I like to keep poop baggies nearby so I can grab and go. My front hall became a knotted mess!
I needed something that would fit in a very narrow space, hold poop bags and at least 3 leashes with extra hooks for LED collars etc.
Five hooks at even $5 each is $25, plus wood… I can do better than that!
How to make your own hooks for dog leads
Cut a piece of ¾” thick wood to 6″ by 4″.
Set your mitre saw to 30° and cut from one corner point – note: it won’t line up with the second corner point, that’s what we want.
Now make a second cut on the mitre saw freehand. This cut is going to run from ¾” in on the flat edge we have left from the last cut, and it will complete the almost-triangle. I hope the photo makes more sense than my words:
From that 6″ piece of wood, you’ll end up with two weird-almost-triangles like these:
You can sand these and be done, or for a more rounded edge, use a trim router with a roundover bit to soften the longest edge and the edge that finishes at a point.
Backing for your hooks for dog leashes
I had a beautiful piece of maple that had been sitting in my garage for years. Not enough to build a piece of furniture or do a larger project with, but too big to throw away (maple is expensive!). I ripped it down to fit the width of my narrow space and then cut a piece off of it that is 8″ long.
On the BACK of the long board, I decided where I wanted my dog leash hooks to go. I traced the flat edge of the wood hook and pre-drilled 2 holes through the board within the traced shape.
If you are going to hang two hooks in a row, mark the second holes with a speed square to be sure your hooks end up level.
Apply wood glue to the short, flat edge of your hook, hold it to the front of your board, then drill through the back of the board into the hooks.
If I were making this to hang multiple coats, I would have spaced the hooks much wider apart, but because dog leashes don’t take up much room, I attached 5 hooks to one board without worry of crowding or overlap.
Attaching a shelf
Once all of the hooks were glued and screwed into place, I attached the upper shelf to my board by pre-drilling in from the back, then gluing and screwing into place. Again, I chose to use a roundover bit to smooth the entire thing out, but it’s not necessary.
Finishing your wall hooks
It would have killed me to cover up such beautiful wood with a paint, so I went with a clear coat of my trusty favourite Varathane Triple-Thick (Amazon affiliate link).
That’s it!
Wood you probably have somewhere, a few screws, wood glue, and a finish!
Attach to studs in the wall, or use heavy weight drywall anchors.
More than enough hooks for dog leads, LEDs, collars etc, PLUS a shelf for poop bags on top!
The leashes all hang proud of the wall, so that even if they swing a bit after hanging, they won’t scuff up the paint.
More than leash hooks?
Of course you could use this for winter gear as well:
Actually, this is PERFECT for my snow-blowing/shovelling gear! I might hang another over a vent so my hat, mitts and coat can dry out.
Make one for outside out of cedar and it would be perfect for hanging wet towels after a swim!
If you don’t already have reflective collars and leashes, these LED collars are great. (Amazon affiliate link) Rechargeable with a USB port and you can select between flashing or solid colours. You don’t really have to size them either; mine are loose fitting so I can just pop them over the dogs heads (don’t attach a leash to these).
And yes, my babies did get new leashes as an early Christmas gift… partly for my vanity (they are SO cute) and partly so that I can easily tell the harnesses apart when leashing up the big dogs.
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