Purse rack with a nod to Mondrian #2: Full panel

I made a 20” x 12” panel with 14 hooks, and tried to place them randomly, which turned out to be harder than spacing them regularly. Given the additional effort, it should probably be described as irregularly spaced rather than randomly spaced.

The perimeter is edge banded.

Each of the hooks has a piece of colored veneer laminated to the front face. I just applied some TBII to the hook, set the oversized piece of veneer over it, and then used a hot iron to rapidly dry the glue.

After they were cooled-down, I trimmed the excess with utility knife. I sanded their corners so they would fit easily into the rounded-corner holes in the panel.

I simplified the inset stops by eliminating the slot that was to hold a spline that would keep the dowel seated. Instead, I used some loose pieces of 1/8” plywood laid over the dowel, which the inset stops would hold in place.

The hook slots in the 4 corners were spaced to fall on 16” center studs. On the top corners, I doubled-up on the screws holding the stop in place. I was reluctant to glue these in place since I wasn’t sure how well the hooks would hold up, and I wanted to be able to do an easy repair if necessary.

All the stops in place. They protrude 1/4” from the panel, which allows the panel to float off the wall a bit.

I made one ebony-veneered hook, but with finish, it’s hard to distinguish from the blue. The finish on the hooks and panel is a couple coats of shellac followed by GF Exterior Flat poly.

I’m not entirely sure I like the finished result. It seems a little juvenile with the colors and irregularly-spaced hooks. But, it does function, and my niece was pleased with it.