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Bathroom towel storage: train rack, baskets, inside closet or ?

15 years ago

I have a small bathroom so my options are limited... if I had my druthers, I would be able to store/hide towels in a bathroom closet, which I don't have. I do have a large vanity but large towels would take up too much real estate in its drawers.

I've been looking at train racks, Restoration Hardware and Potter Barn have them, and they look ok to me but seem so overbearing. I'd like to find one with hooks and a bar, but the ones I've seen are just huge looking. So maybe a better solution is a train rack, then a couple of hooks on the opposite wall, AND a bar somewhere too? The train rack would have to go above the toilet so I don't think a bar under the train rack would make perfect sense.

Big basket on the floor maybe? *sigh*

I don't have room for another piece of real furniture in this particular bathroom.

If anyone has any photos of their solutions, or suggestions as to where else I might find a rack or shelving/hook combination, please post em. Thank you!

Comments (10)

  • 15 years ago

    We ran out of wall space, and ended up with a double towel bar that we couldn't hang.

    This was our solution, a train track as you mentioned, with hooks, from RH. It is a shorter one, not all of them came in the shorter size, so this was a bit of a coup.

    For the only location we had left, I preferred the train track there to the double bar there, for aesthetic reasons, so even if you bring home and mock up where it would go may help.

    {{gwi:1419278}}

    Here is a link that might be useful: RH small train track

  • 15 years ago

    I saw this on the Pottery Barn site and thought it could be nice over the toilet as closed storage for towels. I like that it's a cabinet, but I think it could easily fit a few folded towels. It has hooks on the bottom, though I suppose you couldn't hang anything too long or it might interfere with the toilet.

    {{gwi:1419280}}

  • 15 years ago

    Do you have floor space? You mentioned baskets. I've been looking at the madras cube, the seagrass cube, and the madras bath tower. I love world market :-)

    Here is a link that might be useful: World Market storage baskets

  • 15 years ago

    Thanks everyone. All great suggestions. Techiestar I may resort to baskets at least for the moment, since with those, I can always change my mind and install a bar or rack or hooks later, while still having towels in a basket for now.

    I'm wondering whether I should get a basket with a top though... if only because my black lab loves to grab towels and run with them!

  • 15 years ago

    Be careful with storing towels in a basket, many have rough woven ends or other knots that could "catch" and snag towels. And definitely have a covered bin, both to prevent dust getting on the towels and to keep the dog from absconding with them.

  • 15 years ago

    floating shelves are good for towel storage - can be painted the same as wall color to blend and not feel so bulky

    A train/hotel type holder is good inside the shower too if wall space is tight....like where they hang in hotels..high and at the back shower wall. You would definately want a higher end all-stainless one if hung there.

    A more involved fix idea- in two homes we've owned I've "stolen" space for storage by adding wall cabinets that bumped into an adjacent room's closet...such as I took a foot and a half from the back of a hall closet that backed up to a bathroom and used this as an inset wall flush towel cabinet. The coolest space stealer we made was when a bedroom closet backed up to a back shower/tub combo. wall; we built a 14 inch deep niche at the back of the shower (and tiled it in) for towel storage...this was handy storage and worked very well, this was in the mid-90's before the digital age and all this sharing of ideas...I can't find any photos of that. :(

    Also, even stealing a few inches from any wall and placing shelves that are recessed in and extend out with an 8 inch ledge or so gives you enough for towel storage with less bump-out into a small room.

    Wonder if I'm clear in comunicating my ideas, but hth.

  • 9 years ago

    I know this is an old thread, but I love these ideas. Anyone else have a great idea? I wanted to do something very similar to what kitch-n-kat proposed, but my GC got confused and thought I wanted to recess a cabinet not just add to the back, so now I am not sure I can have my cabinet or not. But I really REALLY need a way to store extra towels.

  • 9 years ago

    My basement bathroom and laundry are separated by a low bulkhead, so I built in cubbie space for the towels on the bathroom side and a storage unit on the laundry side. Carving out space from a wall works if you have any depth to work with!

  • 9 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    I LOVE train racks and found several on Ebay. GREAT prices! Hotels use them in their small spaces. Very stylish!