Hey, I’m so glad you stopped by. Today I am sharing how I built this lovely headboard inspired towel rack. It was a super easy project and turned out way cute. The best part is it only took me a few hours to build from start to finish. Hooray for easy projects! Who else loves those?
Have you seen these darling repurposed headboards? What a fun and clever idea some people are so creative. The thought to use a headboard for a towel rack would have never crossed my mind.
I wish I had access to beautiful antiques, like headboards. Sadly I live in the middle of nowhere and I’m not even joking. It’s extremely frustrating for someone who loves to craft as much as I do. I’m also a pretty stubborn person and when my mind is set on something I do not accept defeat easily. So when all else fails, I build it! In my search for something actually possible to build I stumbled upon this beauty from The Accent Piece, I knew it was the one! So I got to work ripping apart some old pallets that my hubby found for me.
1) My first task, attempt to disassemble this pallet without going crazy, dousing it with gasoline and lighting it on fire. If you have ever attempted to rip apart a pallet you know exactly what I’m talking about! When I finally got the dumb thing apart I laid all the pieces out on the floor in an order that I liked. 
2) I grabbed a piece of my daughter’s sidewalk chalk and sketched the design onto the pallets. I played around with it a little, using a wet sponge to erase and adjust the curves until I was satisfied with the design.
3) Time to cut this baby out! I needed a way to hold all the pieces together so they wouldn’t move around while I was cutting. So I grabbed some scrap pieces of wood and with a brad nailer tacked them onto the front. Since it would be pretty much impossible to get both sides to look exactly the same by drawing free- hand. I picked the side I liked best, which happened to be the left side and using a Jig-Saw I cut that side out first. Once I reached the center I stopped cutting. Placing a piece of paper underneath I traced the design. I just used two pieces of printer paper taped together. Using this stencil I transferred the design onto the other side and finished cutting. Now they were a perfect match!
4) Now I had to figure out how to hold all the pieces together. I ended up using these thin metal straps so that the towel rack would fit flush against the wall. I bought them at ACE Hardware for like a dollar and they worked like a charm! If I owned a Kreg Jig (pocket hole jig) I probably would have gone that route.
5) I flipped the now fastened pallets back over to the front and removed the wooden braces. I used some pliers to pull out any of the brad nails that were left behind. I’ve found that if I curl them around the pliers like a curling iron instead of just yanking on them they come out much easier.
6) To make the shelf, I cut a 2×4 to the correct length. Using a 2×4, was maybe a bit excessive, but it’s what I had laying around. Another pallet slat would have been an ideal choice. But that would require dismantling another pallet. I think I’ve made my feelings pretty clear about how I feel about that. Anyways moving on. I placed the shelf where I wanted it to be and shot a few brad nails towards the bottom at an angle. This held it in place so I could flip it over and throw a couple screws into the back. The shelf really strengthened the planks, it was a little wobbly with just the metal straps. I added a strip of 1×2 to the front of the 2×4 to give it a little lip for holding decorations and it also looked a lot nicer. 
7) I wasn’t loving the color of the raw pallets. So I decided to use an apple cider vinegar stain to even out the color. I focused on the light colored pallet boards and avoided the dark ones. To make this stain I dissolve #0000 steel wool in apple cider vinegar overnight, the longer it sits the better. I keep a bucket of it handy because I use it quite often. After being stained it was really starting to look much better. All of the pallet boards were now the same color but it was a little too dark for my liking. So I watered down some white paint and gave it a good whitewash. I like to play around with my finishes a lot. Sometimes I have to try 10 different things before I like it.
8) Okay, so now that the color looks good. It was finally time to attach these cute hooks I found on eBay. I just love these hooks! I think they are the cutest things but boy they were hard to find. After searching high and low that was the best price I could find. They were the most expensive part of this project. But good news, Hobby Lobby recently started carrying these hooks that are even cuter. They are like 10.00 when the metal decor is 50% off. Where were these when I needed them!
I did have four hooks, to begin with, but somehow I misplaced one in the process of building. Which isn’t too unusual I’m a pretty messy crafter. When I get going on a project I’m seriously like a tornado leaving messes in my wake. Obviously, I found it later while cleaning up, if only I had thought to do that sooner. I had already attached the other three hooks so I just left it how it was.
9) This thing was pretty large and awkward so when my Hubby got home from work he helped me hang it up. It was pretty heavy so we passed on shelf brackets and just screwed it directly into the wall.
10) Now for the fun part, decorations!
Well, I hope you enjoyed this little tutorial on how to build this adorable headboard inspired towel rack. It turned out way cuter than I ever thought it would. Not bad for using stuff I had laying around my house. Don’t be afraid to look around your house and see what you could repurpose. It might surprise you what you can come up with. With a little imagination, you can decorate your house on a dime.
Source List:
Towels– Target
Wreath– Target
Lavender/Cotton/Metal Bucket/ Glass Jar with Wooden Lid – Hobby Lobby
Hooks -eBay
Hot Bath Sign– Made by me
That’s all for today, Go Create Something Beautiful!
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I would love to see your lovely towel rack. Share it on Instagram or Facebook and tag me @cedarlanefarmhouse
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