DIY leather luggage rack
with the holidays totally here, i wanted to share this simple DIY for all you hosting relatives in your guest rooms. i’ve always wanted a luggage rack for our guest room, but have never liked any — so we decided to just make it! and now i think this is the chicest luggage rack ever.
ps, we just updated an existing luggage rack versus building one from scratch. if you’re super ambitious you could totally do that — but this method is cheaper and quicker (it took under an hour!)
directions
01. start by removing the straps on your luggage rack. our nylon straps were attached with staples (so i assume others are too), you can use pliers to remove those, and a drill to remove any screws.
02. cut your leather into four strips that span across (or more strips if you go with a thinner width leather), you can use the old straps as a reference for length.
03. we used a very thick cowhide leather, so in order to attach and bend, we soaked the ends in a glass of water prior to working with them. soak each end for a minute and then staple in place on both sides.
04. go to the other end of your rack and do that strap, this will make it easier to make sure you space your straps evenly. once you’ve stapled all four straps on, you can secure by using a screw on each end as well. you want to make it as secure as possible for supporting heavy luggage, so i definitely recommend you add a screw or two. we also tried adding some glue to the top but that didn’t do anything, so go ‘head and forget i mentioned it.
so easy, and handsome af! hope you can try it out.
love this molls! so cute!
thank you lena!
I love this! I so want a luggage rack for our spare room, but they are all super expensive! I am dying to come across one at a carboot sale that I could update like this, but I never seem to find one. I am sad to say I think it’s going to have to wait for a day when we don’t have loads of house DIY going on and I have the motivation and bravery to build one from scratch! Will definitely use leather straps though – it looks so classy! x
thanks anna — this project was so cheap if you change your mind
this is AMAZING! thank you for sharing where you got the strips, I’ve been looking for some to cover a bench! Did you do anything to the color? It looks slightly pinky which is EXACTLY what I’m after 🙂
thanks melody!! didn’t alter the color, i looked long and hard for that veg tan color in the right size — i love it too!
Wow! This is so cool. I love it! Will definitely buy some strips so I can make use of our old rack. Thanks for sharing this. Awesome!
Very nice rack, where can I buy it?
It’s beautiful. And I love your photography. Another way to cut leather is with a cutting machine. It’s incredible what these machines can do – I just wrote a post about it: http://howtoheatpress.com/cricut-explore-air-2-review-cutting-machine-for-heat-transfer-vinyl/
Looks cute! simple works, so good and nice photography. I love this
I am so excited I ran across this post! I purchased a luggage rack at an estate sale this past summer for $2.00 that had fabric straps that I wanted to replace. Your DIY instructions and tips are just what I needed to finish mine! Yours looks great! Thank you for sharing!
Hi Molly,
You deserve a warm thanks for your amazing sharing. I enjoyed it mostly because of your writing and photography.
Thanks once again!
It’s beautiful. And I love your photography.
ps, we just updated an existing luggage rack versus building one from scratch. if you’re super ambitious you could totally do that — but this method is cheaper and quicker (it took under an hour!)
Hi Molly,
I have come to know about your website from Google search while I was looking for a step by step guide to make leather luggage rack and found it very much helpful as well as resourceful.
So, do you have any article on “leather cat litter scoop”? Can you please mention the link of the post?
Keep Writing.
Regards.
Nice and thanks for the amazing shares. Perfectly describe that how to make a luggage reck
Thanks for the post. I will Give that old luggage rack a facelift with some beautiful leather!
I got these leather straps to replace the straps on a vintage luggage rack I have. I’m having a hard time cutting them! dying to know what worked for you?
Just made this last weekend! Pretty quick project and looks really lovely. We didn’t have a staple gun, so we just pre-drilled two small holes in each side of the leather and then drilled to the wood with screws. Very sturdy!
To commenter above, we used heavy-duty kitchen shears (I believe ours are from Cutco) and that worked well to cut the straps.
The chair is beautiful, thank you for sharing the way.
Where did you get your luggage rack? I can’t seem to find a wood one under $30
thank you so much for this site.
Amazing idea. But I want to use bamboo. what do you say Moly?
Hey hey!
Okay going to make this for my new lake house during this quarantine because I need things to do! Is the luggage rack you linked the exact one you bought? Wood looks dark so wanted to check. Thanks Molly!
xo,
Courtney
yay!! i think they changed the link so i just updated it!
Just made this last weekend! Pretty quick project and looks really lovely. We didn’t have a staple gun, so we just pre-drilled two small holes in each side of the leather and then drilled to the wood with screws. Very sturdy!
Do you use any type of Heat press machine for leather?
To commenter above, we used heavy-duty kitchen shears (I believe ours are from Cutco) and that worked well to cut the straps.