When I was adding cabinets for storage in my laundry room (you can see the full project here), I knew I really wanted a place for a drying rack. My husband hates putting his clothes in the dryer, so most of his things get air dried—which makes a drying rack a non-negotiable in our house.
Since our laundry room is pretty small, I knew I had to get creative. I looked into a bunch of space-saving options, but I couldn’t believe how expensive they were—seriously, upwards of $500. I went back and forth for a bit trying to decide if building one myself was worth it, or if I should just spend the money. I also knew I didn’t want something hanging from the wall/ceiling/cabinets, etc.- basically something that we always had to look at.
So, like most DIYers, I turned to Pinterest. And let me guess—Pinterest brought you here too? That’s probably because there are very few tutorials on how to build your own pull-out laundry drying rack… right? Thought so.
I had a few simple requirements: it needed to be narrow, hidden, and easily accessible. A lot of the options I found checked those boxes—but again, the price just wasn’t it. So I took that same idea and built my own pull-out laundry drying rack.
Part 1: Build the Frame
For the frame, we have a stacked washer/dryer unit, and when I was designing the cabinet layout, I planned for a bridge cabinet above it (similar to what you’d see above a fridge). To make that work, I built a simple three-sided frame out of plywood to go around the unit. You can read more about that in my full laundry room post, but the key here is that I intentionally left a gap between that frame and the wall for the pull-out drying rack. I based my measurements off that space, but yours will depend on where you’re installing it. Just make sure to read ahead before finalizing your measurements, since your dowels and drawer slides will factor in.
Using 1x2s (or whatever wood you prefer), create a simple box. I cut all my pieces on a miter saw, then assembled everything using wood glue and a brad nailer. (If you don’t have a miter saw, you can ask employees at Home Depot to cut your pieces for you.)
Pro Tip: Don’t forget to account for the width of your wood when measuring. For example, if your total width needs to be 24 inches, and you’re using 1x2s (which are about 0.75″ thick), you’ll need to subtract that from your total depending on how your pieces are joined. So instead of cutting one piece at 24″, you might be looking at something like 0.75″ + 22.5″ + 0.75″ = 24″. It just depends on how you’re assembling your box, so plan accordingly.
Part 2: Add Your Dowels
Next, I added the dowels. Nothing fancy here—I grabbed mine from Walmart. They were 1 inch in diameter. To space them evenly, I took the total interior length of my frame and subtracted the width of the dowels. For example, if your frame is 60″ long and you’re using 4 dowels, that’s 60″ – 4″ = 56″ of usable space. Since 4 dowels create 5 sections, I divided 56 by 5, which gave me about 11.2″. I marked roughly 11″ spacing on each side. And yes—roughly is fine. No one is noticing 0.2″.
At first, I thought I’d need to drill holes with a spade bit to secure the dowels, but wood glue and brad nails have held up perfectly. This part is definitely easier with a second person holding things in place, but I managed solo—mostly because I refuse to ask for help. Do as I say, not as I do.
Part 3: Install the Drawer Slides
Then it was time to install the drawer slides. I’ll be honest—I was a little intimidated at first, but they’re actually very straightforward. The instructions are clear, and I highly recommend taking a few minutes to play around with them before installing—take them apart, put them back together, get a feel for how they work. I bought 20″ soft close slides.
I didn’t follow the exact installation instructions (because I rarely do). Instead, I attached the slides directly to the drying rack first, then positioned the whole thing where I wanted it and secured it to the cabinet frame. I made sure everything was level, but this method felt much easier and worked perfectly for me.
My only regret is that I installed the slides slightly too far back, so we lost a bit of usable hanging space. Not a huge deal, but definitely something to keep in mind.
Step 4: Fancy It Up
To finish it off, I wanted the drying rack to look built-in. I added a front panel so it would blend seamlessly with the rest of the cabinetry. Since my framing sat flush with everything else, I couldn’t use anything too thick (something I would’ve planned differently earlier on). I ended up using a cabinet toe kick piece, which is a thin piece of particle board—and it worked perfectly.
I finished it off with a polished nickel drawer pull to match the rest of the hardware in the laundry room and painted everything to match the cabinets.
Final Product
Honestly, I’m so happy with how this turned out. It was a quick project—I was able to finish it in a single day (really more like one nap time while my 3-year-old and 3-month-old were sleeping). The best part- it cost less than $50 total.
