Display your art (and more) on this DIY hanging dowel ladder

I wasn’t really sure how to describe this diy hanging dowel ladder – is it a photo organiser, a magazine/newspaper holder, an art hanger or what? But really it can be any of these things. You can use it for just one thing like art or mix it up to store different bits and pieces that lay around and cause clutter in the living room – things like spare throws or small books or anything that’s not too heavy.

For me, I’m planning to use this diy hanging dowel ladder as an art holder because it allows you to switch up your art as often as you like. I’m now thinking of making another one for my daughters room so she can hang up all her artwork – as you know, kids produce a ridiculous amount of art so it will come in very handy!

When I made this ladder, I decided to space the rungs at different widths so that you can hang different sized stuff – be it art or mags or anything.

DIY hanging dowel ladder

Materials:
wooden dowels (15mm)
hand saw
drill
sandpaper
black acrylic paint + paintbrush (optional)
5mm thick rope – I used this rope

1. Cut your dowels to size using your hand saw. I went for 45cms. Sand the edges until smooth.
2. Now drill holes about 1.5cms in from the edge of your cut dowels on both ends. I used a 6mm drill part.
3. Paint your dowels and leave to dry. You can also leave them in natural wood if you prefer.
4. On the first rung, double thread the rope through the hole to create a loop at the top – this is to hang your ladder. Under the loop, make a tight knot. Leave some spare rope in case you need to do any adjusting – you can always trim it later.
5. Continue to thread your rope through the rest of the holes on one side – making a tight knot under each hole. I kept a different amount of spacing between each rung so I could hang different sized things.
6. Now do the other side – making sure the spacing is exactly the same on both sides. I did this by placing a heavy book in between the rungs as my spacer.
7. Hang your ladder up and make any adjustments to the rungs if they aren’t straight or if you want to change the spacing slightly. Once you’re happy with it, tie a double knot under the first rung and the last rung.
8. Finally trim off any excess rope.