Railroad Spike Wall Hook Rack
Hey there! I’m back today with another powder bathroom update!
Because we love wood grain at the WGC, we decided to make a unique wall hook rack for our powder bathroom… with railroad spikes!
Woo wee, we love this thing and how it looks in there!
Here’s how we made it:
I raided my parents farm (again) and found a lovely weathered board…
It had naturally come to it’s unique shape and distressing and I loved all the knots in the wood. I had Anthony cut it down to 3 foot.
I also loved the color, but for the powder bathroom I was really craving something rich to pop against our white plank walls.
In order for the board to absorb the stain, I had to lightly sand it to remove the weathered finish…
Then I stained it with Early American by Minwax… Love that color!
Because the board had a lot of little pits and holes, I used Annie Sloan’s dark wax to fill them in. It gave it a fabulously soft finish.
Here’s what it looked like after I waxed it…
Now, for the spikes, our town is redoing our rail road tracks and a friend of ours owns land directly next to the rail road. I asked if he could grab me a few of the old spikes and he did! Can’t beat that!
Anthony took them to work and cut them down to 3 inches, then he drilled and tapped them. After all that, they looked like this:
We put 5 of them on the board and spaced them evenly…
The next night I had a softball game, so my handsome hubby drilled a hole for each spike, then attached them to the board. He didn’t take pictures. Sorry!
I bought these heavy duty picture hanging hooks and screwed them into the back of the board.
Once they were in place, Anthony attached it to the wall.
It’s perfect for the bathroom!
The same night that Anthony attached the spikes, he also cleaned them with lacquer thinner (to remove the oil that coated them), then he sprayed them with a few coats of clear poly. They’re the perfect hooks!
This piece is exactly what I envisioned for the room!
And it appeals to both me and my Mr.!
This little bathroom is coming together beautifully! I can’t wait to add all the little details that I’ve been collecting. It might just happen this weekend!
Linking up to:
Such a cool piece! I love it! I didn’t know you could stain old wood like that. I’ll have to give it a try sometime!
THANK YOU so much, Lisa! I am thrilled with how it turned out! At first even the lightest stain went on really dark. I freaked… but luckily I tried it on the back! 😀
Sanding is the secret!
-Shayna
I have a collection of railroads ties. Now I know what to do with them. Thanks again Shayna,
Another great idea!! 🙂
THANK YOU so much, Diane! I’m so glad you’re inspired! 😀
-Shayna
love it! and i love knowing how to stain old wood now. nice work, shayna and anthony! 🙂
THANK YOU so much, Jen! 😀
-Shayna
How do you do it? I absolutely LOVE it! I mean really, YOU ARE so creative, beautiful! The texture is simply stunning…blessings & <3
M
THANK YOU so much, M! I absolutely love it too! 😀
-Shayna
OH my gosh…. I absolutely love this. I have some railroad spikes sitting around that are very special to my husband that came from his grandpa. I just may have to show him this because I’ve been wanting a rustic set of hooks for my knotty pine bathroom and we’ve been trying to figure out what to do with the spikes!
Very, very creative. I love how the wood turned out after you waxed it. I just may have to play around with that product! I’ve never used it before. Thank you so much for sharing 🙂
THANK YOU so much, Kelly! I love how it turned out and railroad spikes make the perfect hooks! 😀
You will love the wax!
-Shayna
Absolutely awesome project! I have a huge amount of old square nails that I’m trying to come up with a use for. Anyone?
THANK YOU so very much, Dianne! Square nails sound like so much fun! You could easily do this, but use the nails instead! Any sort of wall rack would be awesome! 😀
-Shayna
I LOVE the way that turned out!!
THANK YOU so very much, Martina! 😀
-Shayna
Stunning Shayna! It looks amazing against your white planked walls… so rich and rustic. I love the railroad ties!! What a fab idea:)
THANK YOU so much, Krista! I love how it looks against the white planked walls too! 😀
-Shayna
Beautiful Shayna! I really like the mix of white & weathered together….great piece!
THANK YOU so very much, Allison! 😀
-Shayna
Gorgeous! I love the mix of the white board walls and the rustic wood and iron peg rack.
THANK YOU so very much, Elizabeth! I love the combination too! 😀
-Shayna
Shayna,
I don’t know how i missed this post, but I did.
This is a really unique piece. It looks right at home in your powder room.
THANK YOU so very much, Cheryl! 😀
-Shayna
Wow – I’m speechless. This looks amazing. I would never have thought to use the dark wax, but it makes such a difference to the depth of the wood. Thanks for sharing!
THANK YOU so much, Amanda! I agree, that dark wax was a total game changer! 😀
-Shayna
Such a beautiful piece. Love it <3
THANK YOU so very much, Sandra! 😀
-Shayna
Do you know what size bolts your hubby used?
Hi Malory! We used 1/4″ bolts. The length will depend on the thickness of your wood. 😀
Hope that helps!
-Shayna
What did your husband use to cut the stakes ? I collect railway spikes to be able to do this project , but we weren’t sure what tool could cut through them ! Beautiful projects by the way !
Hi Stephanie! THANK YOU so much! My hubby used a drill and tap to cut and drill the stakes. He works in a welding shop… I hope that helps! 😀
-Shayna
Im confused on jow to add the spikes? Im wirking in this project now. Please help. Do you hammer them in?
Hi Laura! To attach the spikes, we tapped and drilled them, then screwed them into the board. I hope that helps. 😀
Just saw this on Pinterest and love it. I picked up 5 railroad spikes a few months ago for a different project but may switch to your shelf idea instead.
I LIKE THE RR SPIKE HANGUP. THE PIECE OF WOOD LOOKS GREAT AFTER THE STAINING AND WAXING. GREAT INFORMATION. I HAVE SEVERAL RR STAKES BUT NO WAY TO CUT THEM. CAN THIS BE DONE WITHOUT CUTTING THE SPIKES?
Of all your projects I’ve seen so far, this one is my absolute favorite! 🙂
I absolutely love this & am wanting to make this same thing but can’t figure out what tools you would need to cut the railroad nail & drill into it making a hole for a screw? If you could share that process I’d be thrilled! Thanks!!
Thank you so very much! My husband worked in a welding shop at the time we built this. He used the shop equipment to cut the spikes, and then a drill and tap machine to create the hole a screw would thread into. I’m sorry that’s not more helpful…
Love these!! Can you ask your husband what size drill bit he used to drill the hole into the pegs, and what size screw is used once it was tapped??? I’ve been drooling over these for some time now, and would love to create what you have. Thank you so much!
Debbie.
Thanks for this inspiration! I’ve been meaning to get around to it for a long time, and I finally did! I still think the look of yours is simply to die for, but I didn’t have any access to amazing wood like yours!
http://athomewithazelie.com/simple-diy-coat-rack-shelf-railroad-spikes-tutorial/#comment-53
hello I hope you are well?
I am interested in purchasing 60 of the railways sleeper hooks only to go straight onto a wall. Do you have these for sale without the rack? if yes how much are these?
This 8 year old post bout to get some more love.
Awesome idea! I’ve been collections railroad spikes around our house with my daughter for a while.
Bout to give this project a try. Hope mine turns out half as good as this one!