Have you seen my keys?

A question I ask the Mister more often than I’m comfortable admitting.

The first house I lived in in Baltimore came equipped with a key hanger right by the front door.  It was something I never really appreciated until I didn’t have it anymore.  I am ALWAYS losing my keys.  After 4 months of late mornings due to the panicked 5 minute scramble around the house in a desperate search, I finally decided to put up a key hanger by our front door here at Casa Post Grad.

They’re not exactly expensive, but I didn’t really see a need in buying one since I had most of what I needed already lying around.  So here’s how to make your own key hanger.

You’ll need:

• scrap wood (ours is a 1 x 2 x 12 of pine)
• 4 hooks (Target – $3 for 2)
• a frame mounting bracket or sawtooth picture hanger (I removed one from the back of an old mirror)
• drill with 3/32″ bit, screwdriver, and a level

I wanted it to be distressed, but you may want yours to look a little more pristine.  If so, skip to the next paragraph.  Take the piece of scrap wood and beat the crap out of it.  Kick it.  Rub it against a rough surface – we have a basement floor like sandpaper thankfully.  Hammer the side of a nail or two into it to get an imprint.  Scratch it some with the edge of a screw.  After this, you’ll want to sand the surface, edges, and corners to smooth out the damage you caused a bit.  Just enough to allow yourself the ability to handle it without getting a splinter, but not enough to defeat the purpose of distressing it.

Stain it.  I used our favorite – MinWax in Early American.  Once it’s dried (typically overnight), line the hooks up on the board and mark where the holes need to be drilled with a pencil.

Pre-drill holes with 3/32″ bit.  I placed the board on a 2×4 since I knew the bit would go through the back of it.  Then, screw the hooks to the board.

Flip the hanger over and attach a mounting bracket to the back in the middle.  Note: probably a good idea to use two mounting brackets on either side.  I used one in the middle and if I hang something really heavy on it, it tips over.  Oops.

We just hung it up on the wall by the door making sure to leave enough room above the light switch.  Yay!  Now I have a place to hang my keys.  Unfortunately… not sure where my keys are to hang them up.  Luckily the Mister’s were nearby so I could at least get some pictures of our new hanger in action.