How HGTV's Erin Napier Repurposes An Old Ladder For Extra Kitchen Storage

If you've ever wandered through a flea market and seen a bunch of old ladders for sale and thought, "What could these possibly be used for besides climbing?" HGTV's Erin Napier has an answer for you. Appearing on an episode of "Today" alongside her husband, business partner, and "Home Town" co-host, Ben Napier, the couple showcased how to take an old ladder and repurpose it as extra kitchen storage.

In a YouTube clip from the episode, the couple constructed a unique wine bottle storage rack using a small rustic ladder. Erin explained that using "an antique ladder is ideal because it's narrower," meaning the ladder won't be too wide to hold a wine bottle, and it will fit inside a wide variety of kitchen spaces. To display the wine without it falling to the ground, C-shaped conduit pipe clamps are installed along the rails. Once those are in place, the wine bottles can just slide right in. It's the kind of whimsical and thrifty DIY project that is so indicative of Erin's designs.

This wine storage ladder is among Erin's more unique kitchen ideas, right up there alongside rustic reclaimed brick floors (which would honestly pair perfectly with this ladder idea). And much like Erin Napier's budget drop cloth curtain hack, this kitchen ladder idea is a quick and affordable way to upgrade your space. 

The first thing you'll need for this project is a ladder. The type Erin Napier used on "Today" was a small wooden step ladder that was slightly wider than a standard 750 ml wine bottle, so they added two wooden furring strips down the back to attach the conduit clamps to. Depending on the width of your ladder, you might also need to add these strips to make sure the wine bottles can fit. A 750 ml wine bottle is between 11.5 to 13 inches long. 

The other thing you need to make sure of is that you are using the right sized conduit clamps. A standard wine bottle is roughly 3 inches in diameter at the base with a 3/4 inch wide neck. As such, a 2 inch clamp for the neck and a 3.5 inch clamp for the base will fit most wine bottles, though it would be a good idea to measure the bottles you have before purchasing any clamps.  

Secure the conduit clamps in place using screws. You can maintain the metal finish on them, or spray paint them to suit your tastes. Have a little fun by swapping which side of the rack the small and large clamps are on, creating a sort of zig-zag effect. This wine ladder will be a great place to store those extra bottles that won't fit in your built-in custom kitchen cabinet wine rack.