I am always on the lookout for simple ways to transform walls in our house, especially the small walls that don't serve much of a purpose but that you see every day. [Okay, other than the purpose of holding the house up]. You know, the white ones that have nothing on them? The walls that you look at and wish something was there but you just can't come up with the right thing? Well, we were there once. In fact, we were there just two weeks ago. Dustin and I stood in the kitchen and stared at the dividing wall between our kitchen & dining room: White. Empty. Boring. Inadequate size to do anything too fancy, but still large enough that something had to be done.
Cue, the Fintorp.
If you haven't heard of it, the Fintorp system is a rail-based organizer which includes hooks, wire baskets and metal buckets. You can arrange them in any way you want -- keep it super simple or get pretty fancy. They can be connected for long rails to run across entire rooms, or kept single for shorter rails in a stack the way we have in our kitchen.
The Fintorp is available from IKEA both in store and online and is fairly inexpensive. There are several ways to customize it and the Fintorp can really function in any room of your home. We have ours in the kitchen, but I think one in a nursery over a changing pad would be great to fill with diapers, wipes & the other supplies you use every day if you don't have dresser space. One would be equally as darling in a playroom at a reachable height for young children, and could be filled with favorite toys or art supplies. It would also serve well in a bathroom or laundry room, using hooks to hang towels and washcloths.
The list goes on and on, but the point is: if you don't have a Fintorp in your home yet, you should. In just half an hour, we transformed our empty kitchen wall to be one of my favorite spots in the house!
With a sleek, modern look, the Fintorp was the perfect answer to our empty wall.
Side note: I have been searching for years for the perfect mug rack...garage sales, antique stores, just about everywhere I could think of. Time after time, nothing. I really just wanted one so I could have the excuse to collect colorful, eclectic mismatched mugs and display them somewhere in our kitchen. I love the idea of mismatching mugs because you can choose a different one every day. Matching mugs are highly overrated, but for now that's all we've got.
Of course, if you know us, you are probably laughing because you will know we aren't coffee drinkers. We don't even own a coffee maker! In fact, if I'm being completely honest...I don't even know how to operate a coffee maker! But on occasion I am a tea drinker, and regardless, I use mugs for ice water, iced tea, icecream, you know...that type of thing. Icy things.
Below are the details of our Fintorp but you can certainly make it your own depending on the room you are using it in and the size of your wall as well as the intended purpose.
what you'll need ||
» Fintorp Rails | These come in
two colors: black or nickel plated [above] &
two lengths:
22.5 inches [$8.99] &
31 inches [$9.99], but they can easily be connected if you want to run a rail across a long wall. We chose 31 inches simply because of the size of our wall, but if you need larger just connect two of the 22.5 inch rails using a single bracket.
» Matching Hooks | You purchase these separately from the rails themselves, and they are sold in packs of 5 for $2.99. If you want longer + larger hooks than the standard size, they are available in packs of 2 for the same price
here.
» Optional Accessories | If you want to add
wire baskets or a small galvanized bucket, you can certainly do that. We opted to keep it simple with nothing but hooks just because I intend to hang mugs and my favorite dish towels on it.
» Drill + Screws or a Hammer + Nails | For hanging it up!
what you do ||
» Once you have all the necessary pieces for your setup, unwrap everything and start first by deciding how far apart you want the rails to be. We chose to have ours 10 inches apart to accommodate various sized mugs, but you could put them closer together. If you are just hanging one rail, you don't need to determine spacing but should consider the height itself.
» Next, determine how far in you want the bracket. We placed ours 1 inch from the end of the rail, but you can customize it to your preference. Two brackets are included with each rail, and they are each two parts -- the front part you see and a thin flat "back bracket" piece that you will ultimately use to secure to the wall. Tiny screws are provided for attaching the two bracket pieces together but by using the back piece before attaching them, you can get an exact idea of where to put your screws or nails.
» Using the back bracket piece [before attaching], hold it up in place where you want your rails hung [one inch in if you are following our layout] and mark in the center with a pencil. Do this on both sides and then put screws in wall. Attach the two bracket pieces together using provided screws. This is very self-explanatory but we didn't know it would be helpful to wait to attach the pieces, so I sat and attached them all and then Dustin had me take them apart to use as screw guides.
» Next, slip the brackets onto the wall, slide in your rail, add your hooks & put the end caps on. Secure your rail using the provided allen [hex] wrench.
» Finally, hang your mugs, towels, accessories and more on the hooks! Rearrange as desired and step back to enjoy the transformation! I still catch myself admiring our "new" wall and love how it turned out and how easy it was! For the setup we have with three rails and 15 hooks, it cost approximately $40, which is significantly less than a fancy shelving unit, and way, way better!!
I think it would be so much fun to have a Fintorp hanging in a kitchen, dining room or living room with galvanized buckets filled with succulents, herbs, or any small plant, or to hang one in a mudroom for jackets and bags to grab on your way out the door. No matter how you use it, it adds function and style to your home and offers the opportunity to get both organized & creative!
I'd love to see how you transform a wall in your home with the Fintorp system or to hear any other ideas you have below! We are so happy with ours and I am already planning on where we'll rig our next one!
