Bathroom accessories.
Towel bars, toilet paper holders, magazine racks…
Believe it or not, it’s a topic I am fairly passionate about. At least, as passionate as one can be about towel bars. I fully realize we aren’t talking about saving lives here or anything even remotely close to being truly important. But I ask you – “fairness”…is that important to you? What about justice? Or how about being frugal or living within one’s means?
It’s THESE things, these ideals that come to mind when I think of bathroom accessories. Why?
MY OTHER PROJECTS
Because every time I walk through the bath aisle at you-name-it department-and-or-hardware-store and look at the prices, all I can think of is the immortal words of George Banks. Yes, Father of the Bride George Banks who screams “Well, they’re not ripping off this nitwit anymore because George Banks is saying NO!”
No more superfluous buns, and no more insanely priced faux metal towel bars!
It is PURE INSANITY to me that we are accustomed to spending $25-30 on a piece of fake metal with a bracket on either end! I refuse to buy these kind of things anymore. I refuse to be a part of letting “some big shot” over at the toilet paper roll factory and “some big shot” over at the towel bar factory “rip off the American public”! WE ALL NEED TO SAY NO!
It’s not fair, it’s not just, and frankly…those things aren’t even nice looking! So in the spirit of fairness, justness, American ingenuity (and beautiful design)…I present
14 budget-savvy towel bar & DIY bathroom ideas!
1. Rope
Rope is inexpensive (can be $1 or LESS/foot at your local hardware store). And it could be used to give a bathroom either a rustic/country look….
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| country living – ronnie dunn house tour |
OR, more of a coastal, nautical vibe…
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2. Wood
There are lots of different options using wood. I love this driftwood idea for another nautical/coastal styled bath…
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| coastal-style blog |
Or this simplistic bar by Pretty Handy Girl fashioned from some inexpensive brackets and a stick/small branch.
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| pretty handy girl |
I also love these hooks, also made from scavenged branches/twigs. These have been painted, but I think unpainted would be lovely as well. Or just spray with some clear matte finish.
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| dekolehti.fi |
3. Vintage Hangers
can also make awesome towel bars! Check these out…
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Or use the hanger upside-down, as a hook, as Donna from Funky Junk Interiors did here…
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| funky junk interiors |
4. An old belt
An old leather belt + a cheap wooden dowel
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| ohoh blog |
5. Picture frames!
Doesn’t everyone have a couple frames sitting around that they don’t know what to do with? How about make a towel rack?!
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| robolady blog |
6. Old wrenches
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| source |
How fun would these be for a man cave bathroom? Or in the garage or laundry by the utility sink? Kids bath? I love them.
7. Regular, old inexpensive hooks, mounted and used in novel ways
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| 1pureheart.blogspot.com |
like on a bunch of yardsticks!
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| ourfifthhouse.com |
You could use the hooks to hang a nice basket in which you can store your towels!
8. PVC Tubes
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| x4duros.com |
9. Copper Piping
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| remodelista |
10. Old outdoor faucets
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| gardeners.com |
The ones pictured above are for sale, but a little spray paint, and these are totally DIY-able too.
11. A ladder
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12. A Chair
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13. Pallet + Crates
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| a beautiful mess |
Love this inexpensive and useful concept from a beautiful mess.
14. Perhaps the quirkiest, and also my favorite…handlebars
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| behance.net |
How cool is this idea? An old, vintage set of handlebars turned towel bar? Above, mounted with a bike seat to achieve a “taxidermy” type look. So creative.
So there you have it. 14 out of thousands of way cooler, way cheaper ways to hang towels in your loo. I hope you’ll join the revolution. Towel holders are not important enough to spend our hard earned money on.
But there are things that are important enough. And now that we’re all feeling a wee bit richer, I wanted to shamelessly plug a couple of my favorite organizations that would really benefit from those couple extra dollars we’ll have lying around.
1. Heifer International
2. Wounded Warrior Project
3. Lustgarten Foundation (Pancreatic Cancer Research)
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i love all these ideas and feel the paint! i found my own towel bar at a vintage shop- it was actually a store display at one time of a towel bar… i took it off the display to use it. 😉
Love your spirit and your creativity!
This collection is awesome!!! That Ronnie Dunn home tour photo is completely droolworthy. Seriously… I think a little bit spilled out of my mouth. Ok, ok. Maybe not really, but it thought about it! 🙂
Best movie EVER! And great hardware ideas, too 🙂
So many great ideas! Love the chairs as towel holders!
These are all wonderful ideas!
Love all those DIY towel baskets or towel bars most. Generally I am used to have a towel warmer in my master bath but there are nothing at my guest bathroom to hold the towels. I was looking for some ideas and I got these wonderful ideas and thankful to you….