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I want to go 'Towel Bar Free' in Bathroom

beekeeperswife
12 years ago

I think it can be done, successfully. I'm scouring Houzz, lots of bathrooms without towel bars.

We always just drape the towel over the shower stall now while in there. I'm sure this will continue.

Where do you have them while drying though? I have no problem stacking them to grab a new one.

Could I "hide" the bars in the closet with the toilet? Maybe?

Could put hooks inside the linen closet door in the bathroom and hang them there.

Could walk them across the hall and pop them in the dryer. But that seems wasteful.

Should I just tell them to NOT install them until I decide? No, we aren't at that point yet, but I'm just always thinking...

So, please share if you don't have towel bars what you do.

Thanks,

Bee

Comments (122)

  • trailrunner
    11 years ago

    Ontario Mom...they are very sturdy. There is no way they can tip over ...of course I don't have kids anymore LOL> But my 88 yr old Mom loved hers in her bathroom. Do be aware they are HOT ! They are easy to drape towels over and you don't have to have any contact with the rails to place the towel. But if you do touch the rails you won't get burned out right but you will definitely know that you touched something hot.

    I have the Hyde Park style in two bathrooms and the traditional style in the one that Mom used. You can look at all the styles on warm rails web site. If you need more help just let me know. c

  • outsideplaying_gw
    11 years ago

    Dando, had to lol at your confession! We've been free for 12+ years! Right after we built, I found an iron rack with 5 hooks lined up below the rack as I did not want towel bars. I love it! I can put the clean towels and wash cloths on top. We each have 2 hooks to drape a wet towel over on the bottom with 1 left over. I use it for the small towel I use for my wet hair. It's been perfect. It is across from the door of our big walk-in shower and is not in the way at all.

    When we bought a lake condo 3 years ago it has small bathrooms with towel bars. When we are there on weekends, I've had to adjust all over again and I must say it's been very hard.

  • Northlut
    11 years ago

    This is really helpful for me too.

    We like towel bars. But the house we're moving to has a pretty large bathroom, but no real wall space for them. One wall is all vanity/mirror and a window. The next wall is the tub and shower, with windows over the tub so no hanging there. Then you have the entrance, which is an opening with no door (there is a WC for the toilet, which does have a door, but hanging a towel bar on that seems odd). Then the other wall has two doors to the closet (both with mirrors on them, and again it would seem weird to hang a towel bar there), and a seated vanity area with a mirror. The shower is frameless glass, so no shower rod to hang towels over.

    It's a fabulous bathroom and we're really excited to get to use it, but literally the only unoccupied, non-door, horizontal wall space larger than about four or five inches is the side walls on each side of the seated vanity, and even those are probably less than two feet long (and also right above the countertop, so towels wouldn't hang properly there, and would crowd the mirror).

    I do wonder what the sellers do with their wet towels.

  • sochi
    11 years ago

    Who knew "Towel Bar Free" could matter so much??

  • Bumblebeez SC Zone 7
    11 years ago

    Pottery Barn has a metal accordion hook rack that I considering getting for my bathroom. I like it's vintage feel. As a Downton Abbey fan, I noticed something similar, uhmm, below the stairs and not up, however!

    Here is a link that might be useful: PB rack

  • beekeeperswife
    Original Author
    11 years ago

    Don't jump Dando. Don't jump.

    (but remember your 20% off coupon if you do. lol)

  • babs711
    11 years ago

    I was GOING to use only hooks in our build UNTIL I used hooks in the temporary rental we're in. The towels don't dry as quickly at all. It drives me nuts. Coincidentally, I placed my order today for our bath accessories. It's already that time!! I did put one 24" bar in each bath. I know DH will hang his over the shower.

  • jmcgowan
    11 years ago

    Bee, your post cracks me up. We have been towel-bar free in our current townhouse for 10 years. But it drives me crazy -- mostly because all five of us are sharing one full bath, so there's not a lot of room for hanging/draping/placing towels! Two towels hung over the shower curtain rod, and some on a closet door of the kids' room...not any prettier than having a towel bar.

    I love the idea of hooks, too, but hate clammy towels. Towels won't try well on a hook in our DC summers. For our reno, I'm still trying to decide on hooks vs. bars for the kids' bathroom -- only have space for two bars, but have three kids, and don't want them fighting. So will probably go with hooks. Will look at placement to see if spacing many close together will look OK, and also allow a towel to drape over two hooks to help with the drying issue.

    Space for towel bars in our master bath became a huge point of contention. The shower door is not large enough for multiple towels, and I don't want the towels draped over the tub. And I don't want all hooks. Trailrunner, I'm with you -- I always wanted heated towel bars, so am splurging on these. Will post photos once the install is complete in a couple of months, but they will be installed on the wall.

    We are doing towel bars for hand towels on either side of our vanity. It's totally personal preference, but I didn't want to have the towels always on the counter (which is what we do now).

    Here are shots of towel holders that I thought you might enjoy if you're in the towel bar camp.

  • Bunny
    11 years ago

    I love towel bars. There are few things more disgusting than a smelly towel that didn't dry properly. I've never heard of the anti-towel-bar movement before. Currently I have to keep the toilet paper in the vanity because I share my home with wanton vandals:

    {{!gwi}}

  • Bumblebeez SC Zone 7
    11 years ago

    That's adorable, linelle!

  • trailrunner
    11 years ago

    haha,,,our Meatball has NO interest in TP...he loves little tiny balls of paper...we make them from store receipts LOL...way too many of those LOL ! c

  • juddgirl2
    11 years ago

    jmcgowan - I've considered using small towel bars on either side of the vanity for hand towels. How wide are the ones you're going to use?

    I've only found a few smaller than 12" and I'm wondering if that size may look too wide for a hand towel on the shallow walls.

  • babs711
    11 years ago

    Kohler's Bancroft towel bar is so pretty and is just over 9" long. That's what we're putting at our sinks and in our powder room.

    http://www.faucetdirect.com/kohler-k-11416-classic-metal-7-towel-bar-from-bancroft-collection/p156250

  • joyce_6333
    11 years ago

    We used one of these type of TP holders for a towel bar in our powder room. Not exactly like this one, but similar. Very handy. I like the fact that it doesn't "swing" and make a squeaky noise when you dry your hands. It's 7" wide, so perfect size for a hand towel folded in half lengthwise.

    Here is a link that might be useful: TP holder used as towel bar.

  • beekeeperswife
    Original Author
    11 years ago

    linelle, so cute! Our dog will occasionally catch the dangling tp out of the corner of her eye. She will grab it and start walking....as far as she can until it either rips or she gets caught.

    I did meet with Towel Bar Man the other day when he was measuring for shelves. I asked if we could just have the towel bars and install them ourselves later if we decide to use them. He told me he is hearing a lot of people not wanting them. I was thinking about our hall bath in the last house. I had the clean towels on the towel bars. Hoping they would go there to dry after use, but in reality there would be one hung over the robe hook and others in the kids' rooms hanging up behind their door or on the door knob or yes, on the floor. So it looks like in our family the bars were only used to hold dry clean towels...

    I'm looking for hooks!

  • andydad123
    11 years ago

    Can robe hooks be screwed into hollow core doors? They should be fine on solid coor doors, correct? Or is it just better to put an over the door hook on bathroom doors?

  • beekeeperswife
    Original Author
    11 years ago

    andydad- i wonder if you can mount the hooks to a solid piece of wood and them mount that to the hollow door somehow. Do hollow doors have some sort of structure inside of them? Middle and sides maybe? Time for a dissection...

  • cakelly1226
    11 years ago

    Ok have to confess the thought of losing my beloved double towel bars (hung perfectly level to each other and equal parts distant with art above each) makes me very sad. I am a towel bar lover:) when I think of hooks, I am always reminded of that movie, "Very Bad Things" where the guy accidentailly kills the hooker on one- ick!!! But i digress:)

  • cakelly1226
    11 years ago

    Bee- previous owner had a wood bar across the door in our bathroom with two hooks. Door is hollow so it can be done:)

  • writersblock (9b/10a)
    11 years ago

    Just make sure you use anchors. Several of my doors have hooks on them--no problems at all. Or use the large command hooks.

  • beekeeperswife
    Original Author
    11 years ago

    I would also add to not put hooks on the back of the door that opens up and will push the hooks into the drywall behind it. Probably obvious to all, but sometimes people might not think ahead.

    I'm taking a couple of towels to the house today and seeing if they will look ok on hooks--by holding them up. I still think if we have them stacked on a nice shelf when clean, but hang up to dry on a hook it will be fine. Kind of "Spa-like".

    I think I have other issues in the bathrooms to worry about...such as "will the free standing tub fit into the room now that the walls are up and the trim is up.....they brought it in during rough in for fitting the plumbing but took it away for safe keeping. They knew that the drywall guys would trash it. And we needed to tile under it, etc. This should be interesting. Wonder what day they are coming?

    Bee

  • writersblock (9b/10a)
    11 years ago

    >I would also add to not put hooks on the back of the door that opens up and will push the hooks into the drywall behind it.

    Or just put in doorstops, too.

  • ontariomom
    11 years ago

    Hmmm, I wish there was a way to be able to use hooks, and have them dry faster. We are doing hydronic radiant floor heat. Our contractor said he was going to run the tubes behind our vanity mirrors to avoid the fogging after showers. Maybe we should have him run them also on one section of a wall where we could have hooks and the wall heat could help dry the towels. Or maybe this will be crazy expensive.

    Carol

    Thanks trailrunner for your feedback on stand alone heated towel warmers.

  • mjtx2
    11 years ago

    Resurrecting the thread ... sorry. ;) But no one's mentioned this option:

    We hang our towels in the master closet on hooks. You get undressed, grab your towel and head for the shower. Out of the shower you go back to the closet, hang your towel, and get dressed. Maybe it's function over form but it works great. And we never had a problem with musty towels.

  • sochi
    11 years ago

    We essentially have the same set up as mjtx2.

    I intended to put a towel bar in our master bath remodel, but couldn't (pocket door in the way). So we have a "Towel Bar Free" bathroom now. The fairly large linen closet for our bathroom is directly opposite the door to the bathroom, so we have added hooks for our towels. The hamper is in the closet too. We also purchased 100% bamboo towels as apparently they are less likely to get musty. So far so good!

  • beekeeperswife
    Original Author
    11 years ago

    We bought some hooks, they are on the list to install this weekend. But since this thread is back, here is the bathroom without towel bars.

    Will probably put 2 on the wall that juts out to the left of the shelving unit

    there will be a hook on the wall to the right of the tup for a towel

    And there will be one to the left of the shower door on the skinny part of the wall. Although, draping it over the stationary part of the glass while showering isn't so bad...

    None of the guest bathrooms have them, they have hooks and all of the people who have been using those baths don't have any issues!

  • stinky-gardener
    11 years ago

    I've always done what mjtx2 does too! However, I do use towel bars and more luxurious towels purely for decorative purposes!

    I think there are some gorgeous towel bars out there. To me they are like sculpture! I could spend hours looking at such things online, but I am that way about fixtures in general...kind of obsessed. The shapes, and the gleam of the metal, add to the appeal of a bathroom to me.

    Also, seeing thick, plush, sparkling white towels against the paint on the wall makes the bath feel spa-like and adds needed soft texture in a room that has so many hard surfaces.

    Still, I don't like seeing *soggy* towels on the bars, so tucking them away after use on a hook in the closet gives me the best of both worlds...beauty and function!

  • stinky-gardener
    11 years ago

    Gorgeous bathroom, Bee. Is that the painted vanity and cultured marble countertop from your old house? It couldn't be! (Don't think you could have sold your house without a vanity and countertop!). Did you get the same items installed in the new house and have the cabs painted the same way? I'm thinking of the bathroom where you did the gray walls and pink towels that turned out so pretty. Seems like this is the exact same vanity and countertop used in that room.

  • sochi
    11 years ago

    Beautiful bathroom Bee! Fabulous job.

  • Lyban zone 4
    11 years ago

    Bee,
    That is a beautiful bathroom. I love the curtains, the lighting is gorgeous. The whole room turned out great.
    You have such good vision for decorating.

  • beekeeperswife
    Original Author
    11 years ago

    thanks.

    stinky, no not the same. The big mistake was that we did not go with Dutch Wood to do our vanities because we really needed to save $ somewhere. They did such a great job in our kitchen and master closet. In hindsight they should have done our master bath at least. Those are just stock cabinets, I picked the darkest stain option I was given. And the counters are horrid quite frankly. They couldn't get "white" so those are "white on biscuit". All my fixtures are white and it looks bleh. But, if you look closely, the mirror is mounted with about 1/2" gap between it and the counter top. My plan is to replace the counter (if not the counter and the vanity) at some point. The vanity drawers aren't straight. And they forgot to order the hardware for me that I picked out. I looked at the foreman during the walk through and just said "forget it". I wasn't crazy about anything anyway, I thought I'd just use the holes they drilled for the icky hardware to replace with my liking later. I think I'll put the hole drilling on the 90 day check list. Along with the punch list that never got done from the walkthrough. ugh

    Very happy with the bathroom though. It is pretty much one of the only rooms decorated. Certainly is the only one with curtains!

  • stinky-gardener
    11 years ago

    Thanks, Bee! I see nothing "horrid" in the room. It's a fantastic bathroom! I just thought you must have loved the vanity from before so much that you repeated it in the new house. If I move, I'd like to repeat a couple of things I like here at the next place!

    I'll never forget how pretty that gray bath at your old place looked with the pink towels, and yes, the vanity looked super with it all! As I recall, you did have wonderful, chunky hardware on it too! Sorry the fellow "forgot" your hardware here. Geez! Sounds like you went through some hassles with this item, but it will all get ironed out and will be more to your liking in the not too distant future, I am sure.

    Enjoy your new house! Everything looks marvelous!

  • awm03
    11 years ago

    BKW, how beautiful! What a luxurious delight.

    For the record, I've had hooks in the bath for 12 years & ditto the comments that the towels don't dry well.

    Interesting you used cultured marble sinks. They look great with the dark base & the beautiful mirror/sconce combo. I plan on staying with cm for our powder room redo -- it's held up to 20 years of use & abuse, so will just "upgrade" from bland almond to white swirl cm.

  • stinky-gardener
    11 years ago

    I like the "beautiful mirror/sconce combo" too! Very elegant and functional.

    Awm03, you're right- CM wears like iron! Sounds like you're making a good choice for your powder room. I hope you'll re-vist my thread and tell me more about your plans.
    (Sorry for the slight hi-jack, Bee!).

  • jane__ny
    11 years ago

    I like small towel bars for hand towels next to the sink. I do not like rings. I would not put hand towels on the sink as the people in my home splatter toothpaste all over the sink and I'm sure any hand towel would get hit.

    No towels near the toilet. We have always used hooks next to the shower for clean towels or robes. I love the look of thick, white towels hanging against the bathroom wall. Love soft colors in the bath, spa feeling.

    We have used over-the-door hooks in the bath, but I don't like the look of towels hanging after the door is closed. Never reuse a towel, all go in the laundry after use. Hate the look of towels thrown over the shower door or rod. Towels hanging on hooks appears much neater than towels thrown on towel rods or shower doors.

  • cottonpenny
    11 years ago

    Now that this thread is back on track....

    I don't have a really good place for a big towel bar in my new master bath. And my DH is terrible about putting things on the towel bar anyway. He just crams it in a wad so it doesn't dry anyway.

    But my experience with hooks is that the towels don't stay on say if you brush by or something. Any recommendations for good hooks that really keep the towels on?

  • mclarke
    11 years ago

    Hooks only. Looks good, dries fine.

  • daisychain01
    11 years ago

    So glad you posted pics, Bee. Gorgeous. I especially love the tile.

    Just a word for those that do mount hooks on the back of a door, as we did. There is a little contraption that you can mount in 2 seconds on the hinge of your door so that it doesn't swing all the way back to the wall and therefore avoids the hook thru the drywall problem.

  • stinky-gardener
    11 years ago

    Cute McClarke!

    My hooks are on the back of my walk-in closet door. They are not visible or bump-in-to-able from the bathroom! They are bone dry by the time I reach for them 24 hours after hanging them.

    If my dh scrunched up towels into a wad, Cotton, I'd ask him how he'd feel if he was all scrunched up in a wad! As my mother used to say when I abused things as a child, "Our towels are our friends." Freely substitute "books, toys, clothes," whatever, for "towels" in the sentence!

    And yes, it is good to see that this thread is "squeaky clean" again!

  • cottonpenny
    11 years ago

    Ha, Stinky! My DH is..."slow to change". He does the exact same thing in the exact same order every morning and gets all out of sorts when he is forced to make accommodations. I've only been married 4 years, but I've learned it is much easier to change the environment than try to force change by direction. He just digs in his heels.

    Example: about 6 months ago I wanted to hire housekeeper. DH said it was unnecessary. I dropped the idea for a few months. I then started talking about how the dog got lonely during the day when we are at work and how nice it would be if someone would come keep her company. And now, we have a housekeeper who walks the dog..!

    I don't think I'm being sneaky or devious, but now we are both happy. Sometimes a different approach is needed. He may say the same things about me. But anyway, that's a long explanation of why simply telling DH that he is making a mess by wadding up the towels on the bars won't work. So having hooks may be my way around it.

    Back to topic, though, I was thinking of something like these from RH? Do they look like the towel would stay on well?

  • mclarke
    11 years ago

    Cottonpenny wrote: "I've learned it is much easier to change the environment than try to force change by direction."

    You've only been married four years? You gained a great deal of wisdom in such a short period of time.

    I love those towel hooks.

  • KpalimeGirl
    11 years ago

    We have a 5' x 8' bathroom for two bedrooms, and it doubles as a guest bath. Space is tight. I am most concerned about being able to dry all the wet stuff that a family can generate. A conventional towel bar is not going to do the trick.

    So we are putting in a swing double towel bar at the back of the tub. That way, dripping bathing suits and the like can drain into the tub without the water running down the tile. When not in use, they simply swing back out of the way. A double hook is near the tub for whatever you want to grab while in the shower. A wall-mounted heated towel rack on a timer will hold two bath towels. And a hand towel ring mounted next to the sink will hold a towel for the guests.

    I am also putting in a horizontal grab bar against the long wall of the tub, and figure that it will provide extra hanging space, if needed. I toyed with putting in a pull-out clothesline over the length of the tub, like you find in motels, but then discarded the idea as overkill.

    We are getting rid of the old glass tub doors and putting in a shower curtain, so the swivel towel bar and grab bar can hide.

  • williamsem
    11 years ago

    Since this thread seems to have become the repository for ideas, I will add our solution since it hasn't been mentioned yet.

    We purchased a double curved shower rod. On the outer rod is the shower curtain and liner on rolling double sided hooks that keep them separate and allow the liner to hang a little lower than the curtain. On the inner rod we hang the towels to dry. Works great!

  • HeatherLynnd
    11 years ago

    I have an old door I want to repurpose and I'm wondering if it would just be too huge to hang towels from in our kids bathroom. It is a full-sized door and was thinking I would hang the door from the wall and then attach hooks the door. Anybody have any advise?

  • lalithar
    11 years ago

    Any suggestions for nice looking hooks?

  • patty_cakes
    11 years ago

    I hear ya~hate those dang things! I knew I wouldn't be installing the builders grade ones, so had to hunt down something I thought would look better.

    I love these, and have them in the 2 of the 3 baths, the power room just the single bar.

    Since most of the light fixtures and stair balusters are wrought iron(sometimes known as 'rod' iron LOL), they work perfect in my home.

  • patricianat
    11 years ago

    I found an old, somewhat ornate, brass quilt rack in an antique shop and I have the space for it in my bathroom and it holds larger towels and smaller towels are folded on the vanity. I do have an antique brass peg hanger that I found in an antique shop which holds my robe.

  • PRO
    House of Monarchs
    last year

    I'm seeing this as well. A lot of bathrooms with no towel bars. I don't want them either. Instead stacking on a shelf looks more spa like.

  • Newcolor Frank
    last year

    Beautiful bathroom Bee! Fabulous job.

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