A clothes rack is a useful addition to any home. Use one in the laundry room to hang dry clothes. Use one in the basement to store out-of-season clothing. Use one to display hanging items during a garage sale. The possibilities are endless. Since a DIY free-standing clothes rack is inexpensive, easy to assemble and everything you need is available at your local hardware store, you can make as many as you need.

Cut one 4-foot straight PVC unit into four equal pieces, 12 inches long each. Many hardware stores will do this for you, free of charge. If not, use a measuring tape and pencil to mark every 12 inches. Use a hacksaw to cut on your marked lines.

Insert one end of each of the 12-inch pieces into the openings directly across from each other on the two tee units. A tee unit is a PVC fitting that looks like the letter T. For this project, place the tee unit so that it looks like an upside-down T, with two openings directly across from each other and the third opening facing upward.

Attach a 90-degree elbow unit to the open end of each 12-inch piece, creating the two ends of the base for your DIY free-standing clothes rack. Place the two ends on your work surface so that they are approximately 4 feet apart, with the openings in the 90-degree elbow units curved in and facing each other.

Connect the two ends of the base together by inserting each end of a 4-foot length of pipe into the 90-degree elbow units that are across from each other. You should wind up with a rectangular base.

Insert two 4-foot lengths of pipe into each of the upward facing openings in the tee units on either end of the base.

Attach a 90-degree elbow unit to the top of each upright 4-foot unit. The elbow units should be curved in with the remaining openings facing each other.

Insert the final 4-foot length of pipe into the openings in the top elbow units, forming the hanging bar.