Wood + Brass Coat Rack

This summer I've hit my quota of house projects...outdoor table + benches, indoor dining table, bookshelf built-ins, and this coat rack.  Oh and how could I forget a towel rack for our master bath.  Serious. Overload.  But anyway, we are nearing the end of summer and our projects, so here is one the easier of our summer projects that I'd like to share with you.

I've been wanting to make a coat rack for our entryway for quite some time.  We do have a hallway closet, but I don't like to hang a guest's coat up in a space with dog food, paper towels, and cleaning supplies.  Our entry way is small so I couldn't do any cute bench ideas with cubbies or anything like that.  It had to be big enough for multiple hanging options but small enough to not overwhelm the space.

We were in Home Depot actually purchasing wood for our dining table projects when I saw this cedar board, I thought, "Hey!  What's one more project?!  This should be easy!"   I was half right.  Easy - yes.  But I will never ask myself again, "what's one more project?"  It was one to many:).  Needless to say, it's done and I like it.  So there.

Materials Needed:
1x6 x 6ft cedar board
Pre-Stain Wood Conditioner (I used the brand Varathane from Home Depot)
Stain (I used Varathane Sunbleached & Minwax Jacobean)
Polyurethane (Varathane Interior, Matte Finish)
2 Foam Brushes
1 Bristle Brush
2 Lint-Free Rags (1 to clean off sawdust from sanding + 1 to wipe off excess stain)
Medium Fine Grit Sanding Block
Hooks (I used http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0044UP5F2/ref=pe_385040_30332190_TE_3p_dp_1 )

We purchased a 1x6 x 6ft cedar board at Home Depot.  Did you know that they can make cuts for you?  I believe you get one or two cuts free and then any others cost a very minimal amount.  Totally worth it if you don't have a cutting device at home!

We cut the board at home down to 48 in, which left 24 in for our Master Bath Towel Rack. I did a quick, light sand (especially around the edges) and then applied the wood conditioner according to the directions.  Let in soak in 15-30 before applying the stain. I tend to be impatient, so I started on the stain application after 15 minutes.

Using a foam brush, I first applied one coat of Sunbleached and let that dry for about 2 hours.  These two pictures are actually after I did a second coat of stain using Jacobean.  In the above picture, you can see the Sunbleached in the piece of wood above and to the left.

After the stain dried, I applied 3 coats of poly according to the directions on the can using a bristle brush.  After the poly was nice and dry (I wanted to wait at least 24 hrs, we used a stud finder to locate the studs and then drilled the screws into the studs.  We then attached 2 D-Rings accordingly to the back of the wood plank.  Then I measured and marked out where I wanted to screw in the hooks.  I decided on 8 hooks, 6-inches apart, with 3 inches left on each end of the board.  I pre-drilled holes using a small bit.  That made it super easy to then manually turn the hooks into the wood.