DIY Towel Rack

Hey Y'all.......Charlie here.  It"s been awhile since I've had the chance to give you guys some step by step instructions on our latest DIY project.  As most of you have seen, we have been really busy lately.  We spent a couple days working in the bathroom while the Spring weather has been nasty. If you haven't had a chance to see our Bathroom Remodel (on a budget) take a second to check it out.  I'm just going out on a limb here but I'm pretty sure Emily is extremely happy, as am I, with how it turned out.  After we finished the wall we went shopping trying to find a hand towel holder that would fit with the theme of our bathroom.  We looked everywhere......but only found the same old boring circle holder.  This is when I get voted by Emily to figure out a way to make our own.  So seeing how I got the computer for a little bit today, I will walk you through how to build your own custom towel rack like the one we installed.

First off, I used my favorite building material Barnwood.  If you happen to have some old barnwood laying around, Great!!! If not no big deal.  After building ours, I decided to go to our local lumber yard to see what they had for materials (to help the not so fortunate ones with no barnwood).  If you are wanting that barnwood look, get yourself:

1) 2x6 Cedar Board       Measurements for sides    2x6x4
1) 1x6 Ceder Board       Measurements for top      1x6x20
1) 3/4 Wood Dowel       Measurements for rack    11 inches
1) Kreg Mini Tool Kit 

The cedar wood looks awesome when stained and will hold up well in the wet/humid area of your bathroom.    Purchasing the Kreg Tool will help you attach the rack to the wall with ease, but is not a must have.  When your all said and done your materials will cost you less then $20.  Not to bad when an average ring rack costs the same.  Okay enough rambling, lets get to building.....

To start, we need to get our two sides for the rack,  Do this by cutting your 2x6 at 4 inches two times.  Next, find the center of your board and using a 3/4 paddle drill bit, drill a hole 1/2 deep.  Do this on both boards.  Also, cut your wooden dowel to 11 inches.

***I measured a hand towel as if it would be folded on the towel rack.  It measured 6 inches wide.  If your towels are larger or you are wanting to make this as a bath towel rack, measure accordingly.  I figured the dowel to measure 10 inches to allow for room on both sides of the towel.  Cutting the dowel at 11 inches allows for 1/2 inch of the dowel to go into each hole you drilled in your sides.*******

Now we can attach our 2 sides and dowel to the wall.  This is where the Kreg tool comes into play.  If you have been keeping up with our blog you have seen me use this tool before.  If not, check out our DIY Photo Frame .  If you do not own a Kreg tool you can get away with pre-drilling your sides and toe-nailing a screw through the top.  Now, attach one of your sides.

Place your dowel into the hole in the side attached to the wall and then slide into your remaining side.  Now with the use of a level, attach your other side. (But wait I'm not using a level..... If you have a plank wall like ours you can use the plank behind to make both sides level) I used my Kreg tool to drill out both the top and bottom of my sides.

We decided that we liked the look of an overhang for our shelf.  With the hand towel rack being 10 inches, we determined that 20 inches worked the best for us.  I used a smaller width board for our top to give it some dimension.  This is where your 1x6 board is used.  I then centered the board with equal space on each side and with the use of a air-nailer and 1 1/2 brad nails I secured the shelf board.   

So what do ya think?  Pretty simple and it adds a bunch more to your bathroom then those old boring towel rings.  Plus, you get a shelf to display your family photos or even a cool vintage fan (that I surprised Emily with).  Make sure you guys stay tuned, I'm going to have a lot of DIY tips & tutorials coming up! 

Thanks for stopping by!

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