An innovative local has put an idea into action and launched a small business selling modular drying racks. 

The drying racks (which were popular in colonial era New Zealand) attach to the ceiling and are lowered as needed, offering an attractive and efficient alternative to floor-standing drying racks and machine powered dryers. 

Pip Ives said the idea came from her great grandfather, whose self-made drying rack is still in use at the family homestead 100 years after it was made.

He lived in the cold, wet Catlins, and built the still-used rack in one day between milking cows, Pip said.

Pip launched the business last year and she has big goals for it: “I want one in every house in New Zealand,” she said.

Pip Ives, pictured with her family.

Her ‘High & Dry’ model has already been purchased by a variety of buyers including tiny house owners, for display use in a commercial space, and by the owner of an off-grid home.

Pip said she had wanted to reinterpret her great grandfather’s creation for a long time but could never find the time. Then Covid-19 came along.

“I had this vision, with Covid, this feeling that we need to get back to the land and the roots and what we used to do,” she said. 

With the help of a handful of people, including her neighbour, Pip put a modern spin on the original design, creating a modular rack made using American oak veneer on birch plywood.

“I really wanted them to be wood, beautiful and seamless,” Pip said, “like a beautiful piece of furniture for your home.”

Practicality was essential too: “They’ve been designed by the engineers to be strong enough to hold plenty of clothes including ski gear and tramping clothes.”

And because they are modular, you can combine two or three into one long rack depending on the size of your household, Pip said, and they have also been designed so they can be packed up and re-used in a new home.

Making room for something new in her busy life has been a challenge, Pip said, but she was determined to make the experience a positive one - for herself, for buyers and for the environment.

Learn more here.

PHOTOS: Supplied