After seeing some expensive coat racks made from tree branches in a catalog, I figured my husband could use recycled materials to build something just as nice.
Using a Farkleberry tree, which are prolific in southeastern piney woods (though any small, shrub-like tree would work), he cut the tree and branches to size, stripped the bark, hand-sanded it and oiled it with mineral oil. The sanding and oiling preserve the wood and emphasize the tree’s natural colors and beautiful variations. For a base, he used old plow blades and painted them black.
In winter, the coat tree holds our coats, scarves, hats and lunch pails. In summer it holds our wide-brimmed hats.
Kelly and John Hoomes
Hope Hull, Alabama