Try This: DIY Wall-Mounted Drying Rack

Enlarge Image Image Gallery Illustration By Arthur Mount/Courtesy Chronicle Books

The following is an excerpt from "Same Place, More Space: 50 Projects to Maximize Every Room in Your House" by Karl Champley (Chronicle Books, 2011). The excerpt is from Chapter 5: Bathrooms. 

This nifty wall-mounted drying rack could work just as easily in a laundry room (for drying delicates) or a kitchen (to dry dish towels or even herbs)—and probably in a lot of other places (craft room, garage, potting shed). It’s especially useful in the bathroom, as a handy place to dry hand washables (most often cleaned in the sink) and washcloths, and as a place to hang shirts, pants, and dresses to de-wrinkle while you shower. When not in use, the rack lays almost flush with the wall, taking up very little space. If you install the D-ring hangers into wall studs, you can use the knobs on the bottom of the rack for bath towels and robes—making it even more functional.

Fold-Away Drying Rack 

Time:
3 hours

Tools:
Drill/driver with 3/8-inch drill bit
Handsaw
Screwdrivers
Hammer
Mallet
Stud finder
Tape measure
Pencil
Safety glasses
Combination Square

Materials:
Wood:
One 2x2 piece of ½-inch birch plywood
1x2 poplar board, cut to 8-foot length
Two 3/8-inch dowel rods, 48 inches long

Hardware:
1 Sash lock
Two 1½-inch narrow loose pin hinges
Two D-ring hangers
1 lid stay or chain with small screw eyes
1 box Framing nails
Four 2-inch hooks to match your bathroom décor (glass or porcelain work well)

Finishing Supplies:
Wood glue
Wood putty or wood filler
Sandpaper, 120- and 220-grit
Tack cloth
1 can each semi-gloss spray primer and paint

1. Measure and mark the 1x2 poplar board to create frame pieces. With a handsaw, cut two 2-foot-long pieces (for the top and bottom of the rack frame), and two 20-inch-long pieces (for the sidepieces of the frame).

Tip: before you cut your boards to size, use a square to make a 90-degree line to ensure your cuts are always the same

2. Measure the internal width between the two sidepieces of the frame. Cut the dowel rods into four pieces that are 1 inch longer than that measurement.

3. Fit the drill with the 3/8-inch drill bit and make ½-inch deep holes in the inside of the sidepieces to accommodate the four dowel rods. To make sure that the holes on one side line up exactly with the other side, measure 3 inches down from the top, and 3 inches between each hole.

4. Apply wood glue to each drill hole and use a mallet to secure dowel rods in the holes.