Repurposed Bathroom Towel Rack

Let’s be honest. Kids don’t develop the motor skills needed to properly hang up a bath towel until they are at least 20. And if you have a Y chromosome, there is a chance they might never develop.

So instead of stressing myself out, I ditched the towel rod and built a repurposed bathroom towel rack instead. The best part is that there is now room to hang bathrobes too and plenty of space for extra towels when we have visitors.

Like always, I forgot to take a before photo because I always get too excited to start a new project and totally forget. But I found this beauty sitting off to the side at a garage sale. I honestly have no idea what it is. I think it might have belonged to a bunk bed or something. But something similar could be done with an old ladder, a headboard, or some fence paneling. When I asked the guy at the garage sale how much he wanted for it, he looked at me like I was totally crazy and told me I could have it for free. Yipee!!!!

I prepped the thing by giving it a good sand and a sloppy tan paint job. I sanded it down, and then went over it with my favorite stain, Watco. Later I dry brushed over it with white paint.

My favorite part is the hooks. To make them, I bought some old garden hose faucet knobs off of eBay that were all different shapes, colors, and sizes. I then grabbed some old bottle corks and drilled a hole through the middle. Lastly I got the biggest nail that would fit through the hole in the faucet knobs and screwed it through the knob, then the cork, and then into the pilot holes I drilled into the rack. You want to make sure the screws are long enough to secure firmly into the rack, but not so long that they go through the back and into the wall.

I love the way it looks and it has saved me so many headaches with the kids. No more wadded up towels haphazardly slung over the towel rod! Next project (if I ever get the time!) will be to hang a cute little vintage sign above it.