The Search for Rack Hooks

All we wanted to do was hang our triangle and 9-ball racks on the wall. The only stipulation was that we wanted a hook on which the rack would rest flush, so the "hook" would have to be straight, not curved. The horizontal portion of the hook would have to be long enough to accommodate our widest rack. I figured two inches would accommodate just about anything.

In hardware stores and in the hardware section of many stores, there is sold a hook just like I wanted. They are called shoulder hooks and are shaped like this:

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The @ symbols represent the threaded area that screws into the wall. They come in various sizes, anywhere from an inch to three or four inches long. Unfortunately, the longer the length, the fatter the hook. The two-inch and longer hooks were bulkier than I wanted. Plus, I wanted them to have a goldtone or brass finish and the larger sizes seemed only to come in gray metal.

The other day I was in our local Ace Hardware store looking at hooks. I explained to the helpful hardware man what I wanted. He thought a moment and said, "I know something that might work." I followed him to the part of the store where they sell curtain rods. There they were--the perfect hooks. It was a package of three gold-colored hooks that you would rest a round curtain rod in: curtain rod center supports. They look like this:

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The horizontal area is about three inches long. To adapt them to my purpose, all I would have to do is install them upside down so that the hook opening faces down instead of up, like this:

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The racks will rest flat on the horizontal bar and the upside-down hook will keep it from falling off onto the floor. My search was over.