Paint Rack Repurposed to Wine Rack

I enjoy reading the Instructables emails when they arrive. There are so many talented people out there who come up with some really cool projects--some wacky and some very practical.

This is my second Instructables Contest Entry and I really enjoyed creating it. Taking something and turning it into something entirely different than its original purpose is fun. It's recycling at its best.

I hope you enjoy my project.

I was lucky enough to get this metal based, plastic coated craft paint rack from a closing store, thinking I would use it in my craft room. After realising that it was too big, I was going to give it away but got the idea from a friend about repurposing it into something else. My mind got to work and this is what I came up with.

You will need:

A craft paint rack- size depends on your own needs. Mine had 5 friction fit racks. (The photo above shows 4 racks since I had already taken one off to test for size.)

strong wire cutters or linesmen pliers

dremel tool with a sanding tip

metal primer-just a bit

paint to match rack colour-just a bit

artificial grapevine with leaves and grapes

I cleaned the dust off the rack. Then I checked to see if a wine bottle would actually fit. I took out every other wire separator with strong pliers. A regular size wine bottle then fit perfectly. (Just so you can see what I am doing, I put a blue towel underneath for easier viewing)

I kept the removed separators for another use--maybe potted plant stakes?

With my dremel tool and a sanding tip attached, I smoothed any sharp edges occurring from where I took out the wire separators. Then I took a bit of metal primer, put a dab on each bit of bare metal, let dry and then a dab of paint as close to the colour of the rack as I could find. I let this dry.

I joined the 5 individual racks together again-just friction fit. Then I got some silk grapevine leaves and put a few around the outside. You could stencil on the front panels or do what I did and put some grape stickers on for more decoration.

I loaded it up with my favorite wines-some made at our local wine shop and some from a trip to Niagara Wine Country. I have this rack in the family room which is downstairs and out of direct sunlight. On the lower shelves, I managed to fit in some of the larger bottles with the regular size ones in between. The big ones fit snugly. The racks also have just a slight forward slant to them so that the bottle corks stay moist.

That's it! It was a fairly quick and easy project. If you wanted to, you could spray paint the entire rack a colour you like.

I was also given this cool insulated wine bag which I hang on the side of my rack. Just put 2 bottles in it and it is ready to take to a dinner party!