If you decide to install one, I’d install a true towel bar. But, if a towel is hanging there, don’t you think it will get in the way of opening and closing those doors? Maybe that won’t bother you...?

FWIW, I prefer the white canisters, but I actually think a colored canister or one with a pretty pattern would be beautiful.

Towel bar will be useful. I always go for use over look.

Consider how it will take away from your cabinets, even when clean and fresh

There are lots of other options

I like the towel bar that is mounted inside the cabinet like @Maureen shared.

I absolutely love your kitchen! My husband even chimed in to say how nice your kitchen looks in those photos.

I like the white cannisters look nice. The earthy texture of ceramic gives more of a feeling of function and "warmth" than the stainless steel, but really you should choose whichever is most practical for its intended use.

A lot of comments about adding color and I actually strongly disagree. The simplicity of the color palate is part of what makes your kitchen shine. The gorgeous soapstone counters are the real star; adding color just visually distracts from them in my humble opinion.

I always keep towels on my oven handle but the solution of adding a sliding holder to one cabinet seems the most appealing.

Sarah - I've looked at so many pictures, of all sorts of white kitchens, and I agree with you on the color factor. I like the clean slate of simplicity, and thank you for liking my soapstone. It was my absolute heart's desire I'm still trying to decide whether to oil it or seal it or leave it to do what comes naturally.

I would not put anything on the panel right below the sink -- will be uncomfortable for you if you need to lean in to the sink to open the window or while doing dishes.

@Bonnie, I’m no help with the towel bar (do like the little ladder shown below!) but I love your countertops and your floating shelves. Can you share where you purchased the shelves? I’m looking for some about 24-30”long. Thanks!

“...thank you for liking my soapstone. It was my absolute heart's desire I'm still trying to decide whether to oil it or seal it or leave it to do what comes naturally.”

Soapstone is impervious to everything. Nothing can stain or etch it. Sealing is contraindicated for soapstone‘s unique composition. In fact, sealing it will cause surface issues. You can oil or wax it, or leave it alone to oxidize naturally.

We oiled ours off and on for the first year. Since then (4 years) we haven‘t oiled.

Oh...and no handle on the panel below the sink.

Enjoy your soapstone...we love ours!

Another vote to leave off handle or bar - it will be an obstacle to getting close to the sink. I especially wouldn't want to belly up to a wet dishcloth.

A bar or hooks under the shelves might be a more practical place to hang damp towels.

Lovely kitchen, BTW.

How do you dry wet hands if you towel is under the sink?

darbuka - I was leaning towards oiling it. I thought about leaving it au natural, but my idiot contractor got some clear silicon on the soapstone when he sealed the sink in place, and I've tried everything to get the dark marks off, like paint thinner, alcohol, turpentine, acetone - nothing will get rid of the dark marks. Believe me I was fit to be tied, but if I oil it, they'll blend in with everything else. I love my soapstone!!! Thank you for your input as to what to do with it. I'll probably do the same as you did - oil it a few times and then be done with that. Again, thank you!

L P - the shelves are 2" X 12" boards - I'm not sure what the wood is, but I got it at a umber yard in Austin, TX, that sells hardwoods, etc, not a place like Home Depot, and it was the only wood they had that came that big. I stained them with Cabot semi-solid deck and siding stain - I think the color was Acorn - and applied 4 coats of Minwax Helmsman poly, sanding with very fine sand paper between each coat. It's labor-intensive, and completely unskilled, so I decided to do it myself. My contractor was going to get brackets made up by someone and he assured me that he could drill straight holes into the wood, but I just wasn't confident in any of that whatsoever. He did install them, but I bought brackets for floating shelves on Amazon - https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07ZTBHD4H/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

And I bought this gizmo to drill straight holes, that I will pass along to one of my (adult) children who dabbles in carpentry. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07KGP9K7Q/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

My contractor liked both the brackets and the self-centering jig. He cut holes in the drywall put up the brackets to the studs (they didn't have to be exactly evenly spaced on the boards because they're hidden), adjusted them with the shelf boards to be level, and then the ceramic tile was fitted around the brackets. My shelves are 30" on one side and 35" on the other. It took one 12 foot board, which the lumber yard kindly cut in half so I could get it home, and then the contractor cut it to length on site.

The hidden brackets require the use of a 1/2" drill that's really long. When you put the boards onto the rods, it's a really snug fit, no gluing required, so they could actually be pulled off should the need arise.

I priced solid wood shelves - good grief they're expensive! My 12 foot long board was $130, $70 for the jig and drill, $5 for stain (I bought a half pint and still have some in the can), and $18 for a quart of Helmsman Oil-based Satin Poly. Should you think you want to tackle at least the finishing of the boards, buy the best 2-3" brush they have for oil based paints, and thin your poly just a little bit with paint thinner - more thin coats is better than a few thick coats. My kitchen is small, and it would have looked even smaller if I'd have put cabinets on that wall.

Bonnie, we oiled ours daily, for the first week. You’ll see how quickly the oil evaporates at first. The second week, we oiled every three days. After that, once a week, for a month. Maybe twice since, in four years...when our son visited and was looking for something to do. 😊

Suggestion to make your life easier...take a dedicated cloth (we use(d) a yellow polyester one), use that to oil the first time, and then stick the oily cloth in a plastic bag. Keep using that cloth, and after a while, there will be enough oil residue on it, that you won’t have to spread much oil on the counter. Also, if there is just a small area that needs oiling, the oil already on the cloth should do the job.

We found that the different sections of the stone oxidized differently, as some areas have more inclusions than others. Also, don’t be alarmed when areas right next to the cooktop get darker than the rest of the stone. That’s just oxidation of cooking oils that have splattered over time...even after cleaning, they’ll be there. It’s called “patina”. Embrace it!

Not a professional, but avid cook. IMO, I would treat the blank as if it were an actual drawer when selecting hardware. I believe it gives a more cohesive look to the cabinets. No one wants the blank drawer to be where eyes rest instead of the beautiful counters or other details. Also, I cook a lot and don't want drying my hands to become a 4 part process.

Darbuka - Thank you so very much. I use my kitchen, too, and I will look forward to the patina around the stove. It actually sounds quite nice.

Where did you hang a hand towel before you renovated? Hanging from a hook on the side of uppers that have been removed? I'd suggest looking for other options to see if you can find something you like before drilling into your false drawer to hang one over your doors, unless you already know it won't bother you. In the early "shortage" days of the pandemic, we hung extra hand towels in the kitchen to conserve paper towels. We tried using the dishwasher handle, the oven door handle, the refrigerator handle and a hanging bar over the cabinet. Everything below counter level drove me crazy, because they would drag on the floor, fall off, or prevent a cabinet from closing.

L. D. Johnson - after four months of this uproar, it's hard to remember where I put a towel - LOL! We were only in the house for a few weeks before the kitchen work began. The old kitchen, replete with yellow cabinets and mauve formica, was so bad that I didn't care where I flung things. Mostly, we pulled them through cabinet handles anywhere it worked. The kitchen was beyond nasty, but we bought the house as an extremely well-priced fixer-upper, knowing that the kitchen was going, going, gone. The 40-year-old orange shag carpet has also left the building :-)