The IKEA Wine Rack You Can Use For A Variety Of Things In Your Home

While you could argue that the best part of IKEA home decor and organization is the affordability, the real benefit is just how versatile the product designs are. From customizable cabinets to must-have pantry storage, IKEA has no shortage of multi-use items that work in various rooms throughout your house. Rarely do these pieces only have a singular use. While there are tons of kitchen essentials worth snagging from IKEA, one piece, in particular, stands far above them all in terms of versatility: the HUTTEN 9-bottle wine rack. Priced at just $19.99, this solid wood piece can either hold nine wine bottles or, if you're feeling creative, serve as a side table, a magazine rack, a plant holder, or a charging station. The possibilities are almost endless. 

Whether you want to use this wooden shelving unit as a creative way to hang outdoor plants or you want to DIY your own reusable water bottle holding station, this piece can be built, painted, and stored in dozens of ways. A few years ago, one Reddit user posted a photo of this wine rack, asking for advice on what to use it for if they don't want to store wine. There are over 25 comments from various users suggesting excellent DIY ideas for this piece, none of which have to do with wine. Some of these DIYs don't require any additional building, while others suggest small adjustments to customize the rack. Each one is beginner-friendly and still very affordable. (If your local IKEA doesn't have the HUTTEN in stock, you can give some of these hacks a try with larger IKEA wine racks, like the IVAR or OMAR designs.)

One of the most popular hacks online for this wooden IKEA wine rack is to transform it into a DIY hanger for your herb planters. While you could simply use this rack as a plant stand, it's way more aesthetically pleasing as a wall hanger. For this DIY, you don't want to build the rack as instructed. Instead, keep the three shelves separate and, using strong double-sided tape or another sturdy adhesive, secure them to a backyard fence, wall, or exterior of your home. Then, you can hook your planters onto the rack bars for an easy hanging solution. 

While you may not need to use this wine rack for its intended alcohol storage purpose, you can still use it to organize similarly shaped items, like your collection of reusable water bottles. Instead of stuffing your Stanley, Yeti, Owala, and Hydro Flasks in a cabinet where they're impossible to reach, lay them horizontally on your IKEA HUTTEN rack, where you will have easy access to them. You can keep this rack on your kitchen counter and even add a storage bin to ensure the bottles, straws, and lids don't roll off. 

Another clever way to use this very versatile rack is to transform it into a rustic stool. Just cover the top section with some thick rope, winding it around securely to create a seat. Place a cushion on top if you want to make it blend into your decor. You can even use the two bottom shelves for holding magazines or to store a couple of folded blankets.

Believe it or not, this basic wooden wine rack from IKEA can easily transform into an adorable side table with just a few adjustments. You'll need a strong adhesive and a table top, which you can buy new or thrift to save some extra cash. This is where you can really get creative with the project, as you can opt for a glass, tile, chrome, or wood table top. Simply adhere the top to the HUTTEN rack and allow it to dry fully before using it as a table. The wine rack shelves serve as perfect storage compartments.

Another wine-less option for the HUTTEN wine rack is to customize it into your own office supply station. You can combine two HUTTEN racks, making a tall shelf, perfect for holding binders, storage trays for pens and pencils, as well as hooks to hang cords or other accessories. One option is to use a strong adhesive to secure wood panels to the HUTTEN racks to create shelving and to glue the racks on top of each other. If you want to go all out, you could even add wheels to the bottom to make a cart.  

If you're someone who enjoys textile crafts such as weaving, you can even turn the IKEA HUTTEN wine rack into a DIY loom. In this project, half of the rack becomes the front of the loom, and the other half is fastened together to form a taller section that becomes the back. This allows you to create the tension that's needed when doing the weaving and also makes the loom portable enough if you like to move from one spot to another while you're working. 

You can even use this IKEA HUTTEN wine rack as a DIY stand for your favorite plants. If you don't want your planters to sit directly on the floor, or you simply like the look of an elevated plant, simply build the HUTTEN wine rack as normal, but don't add the top layer. This will give you ample room to fit even a large planter, and the rack will serve as a sturdy base for your plants. To complement this, you might want to use IKEA's ASKHOLMEN plant stand to hold some of your smaller plants.