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We’ve made a lot of progress on the Work Clothes Closet project I wrote about last month and the team is so excited to see this space transforming before our eyes with the help of volunteers and donations. Read all the details behind the purpose for this non-profit space here.
Sheetrock, sawdust, paint, these are some of my favorite scents (it’s true!) and every time I walk in here that’s what fills the air, the smell of progress! Two weekends ago, the local high school football team showed up to paint 2,200 square feet of walls and the ceiling in the space (paint donated by Glidden) and last week a local contractor stepped forward to build partitions since we raised just enough money to pay for lumber and sheetrock.
The two new changing rooms and storage room for clothes that come into the Work Clothes Closet are in progress, we can’t go all the way up to the ceiling due to existing pipes that run throughout the space but they’re tall enough for privacy. Over the weekend we built garment racks on each side of the space to hold the clothing for the men and women in our community going through the Work Ready program and preparing to renter the workforce and interview for jobs.
We had a need for tall garment racks to maximize the vertical space on each of the long walls. The black pipe garment rack idea has been floating around the internet for years, I was inspired to use the same materials in this space too. Instead of including shelves in the rack design (several shelving units have been donated and will be used elsewhere), I came up with a more basic plan for hanging washed and pressed professional and trade clothing. We assembled four of these, two for the women’s side and two for the men’s side of the Work Clothes Closet.
Each rack is 8’4” wide and 8’8” tall but this same design can be modified to be used in residences, commercial boutique spaces, garages, basements, anywhere where you wish to hang coats or clothing. Here’s the simple formula shown:
Supply list for each garment rack shown above, all ½ inch pipes and fittings: 6 flanges (spray painted with oil rubbed bronze spray paint); six tees; four nipple fittings; two elbows; four 18” pipes (extend & anchor to wall); two 4 ft pipes for bottom; four more 4 ft pipes across; two couplings (only if connecting four 4 ft center garment pipes like we did); two 3 ft pipes for top; screws (we attached these to the studs but buy drywall anchors for if you don’t).
Note, the black pipes are oily and dirty when you purchase them so you’ll need to wipe them down, we used some Lysol wipes to remove the oil then quickly removed that cleanser with a rag. Be sure to measure your space and sketch out a plan first and be flexible! Originally I thought the design would work with two four foot sections for the top and bottom but that turned out to be too tall so we swapped the top pipe for a 3 foot version (see picture and supply list).
You can modify the width to fit with your project or space, we combined two four foot pipes with a coupling to create racks that were slightly wider than 8 feet when you include the coupling and tees. Pipes are available in widths from 2 feet to 6 feet.
Here is a close-up of how the tees come together in the middle, the 3’ pipe extends above to the top. Below is the tee that connects the 18” pipe to the wall, there is a nipple connector in between, then a tee to connect the pipes below, one stretches across for hanging garments, one connects down to the floor.
Here’s a look at the upper portion, the flange supports the extender pipe which connects to an elbow, a nipple connecter attaches to a tee that connects to the long pipe that holds clothing.
This space has a cement floor which we plan to paint soon so to stabilize the pipe racks, we used wedge anchors designed for concrete.
We have several more projects to tackle in the upcoming weeks: building shoe racks, building a tie/belt rack, completing the accessories station (jewelry, scarves, handbags), hanging curtains and mirrors in the dressing rooms, adding lighting, and painting the cement floors. We’ve had a great team of volunteers so far, thanks so much to David, Isai, Jenna, and Kim of the KimSixFix for helping build these great racks!
Sending a big thank you to Lowe’s who donated $500 toward the project so we could build these four huge garment racks!
It’s exciting to see the space transform with the help of so many volunteers and generous donations. I’ll share more about the Work Clothes Closet project next month when it’s finally ready for the Open House! …
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