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How to Install a Towel Bar Securely

How to Securely Install a Towel Bar | Pretty Handy Girl

Have you ever reached for a towel and realized that the towel bar was barely secured to the wall? Installing a New Towel Bar Securely is a fairly simple DIY task if you know how to anchor the brackets.

As part of my little laundry room refresh, I decided to replace the dated brass towel bar that had started to come loose.

Install a Towel Bar Securely Materials:

(Contains some affiliate links)

Towel Bar (SyleSelections 18″ Chrome Towel Bar)
Level
Painter’s Tape
Drill
Drill Bit
Screwdriver
Small Flat Head Screwdriver
or Mini Hex Wrench

Optional:

Scissors to cut out template
TOGGLER Drywall Anchors if not mounting on studs

Install a Towel Bar Securely Preparation:

Begin by removing the old towel bar if you have one already installed. Look underneath for a tiny set screw. Usually you will need a small flat head screwdriver or allen wrench to remove it.

Once the mounting bracket is removed, you will see the mounting plate which can be removed by unscrewing the screws. Patch any holes in the wall and touch up the paint before installing the new towel bar.

Mounting Instructions:

Find the template that came with your new towel bar. Sometimes it is on the instruction sheet, and sometimes you have to cut it off the product box.

Hold the template up and line up the bracket locations with studs. If you can’t line it up with two studs, you can use a good wall anchor. Don’t use the anchors that came with the towel bar. (Here’s why you should never use those freebie wall anchors.)

Tape the template in place and level it. Make any adjustments necessary to get the template perfectly level. Read more

February 11, 2015/15 Comments/by Brittany Bailey

accessories, art, arts and craft, Birthday Gift, Crafts, decor, Gift Ideas, gifts, Holiday decorating, Home Decor, kitchen, Paintbrushes, painting, Painting & Antiquing Techniques, red and white pillows, towel bar, Très Frugal, Tutorial

Faux Cross Stitch Tea Towel

How about a cheap and easy DIY gift idea today? Faux Cross Stitch Tea Towels are sure to please anyone and they cost less than a dollar! I bought several of the red striped Tekla tea towels at Ikea that cost .79 a piece!

I came up with the idea after seeing Miss Mustard Seed’s cafe curtains. But, decided to create monogrammed tea towels to give as gifts.

Materials:

Ikea Tekla Tea Towel
Red & green acrylic paint
Tiny round paint brush
Painter’s tape
Light box (if you don’t have one, you can tape your letter and towel to a window during the day.)

Instructions: Read more

November 21, 2013/6 Comments/by Brittany Bailey

bathroom, Decorating, towel bar, Upcycling

Installing a Branch Towel Bar

The other day I showed you how to prep and sand a branch to make a towel bar. If you haven’t viewed that tutorial, you may wish to do so now.

Okay, so let’s get started. This shouldn’t take too long, but you’ll want to grab a few supplies before you begin.

Materials:

Prepped tree branch
Tape measure
Pencil
Level
2 Handrail brackets
Drill with drill bits
Philips head screwdriver
Safety Glasses
Miter saw or hand saw
Water-based Polyurethane
Brush
180 grit or finer sandpaper
Damp Rag

Tutorial:

Start by marking the desired height of your towel bar. I hung mine at 38″ high.

Use the drill and the philips head bit to insert one screw into the bottom of your handrail bracket. Drive the other two screws into the bracket.

Repeat the steps above to install your second bracket.

Rest your branch on top of the brackets. Mark the desired length of your towel bar onto the branch.

Cut the branch with a miter saw or hand saw.

Sand down any rough edges at your cuts. Lay the branch on top of the brackets.

Center the branch and check to make sure it is relatively level. If it isn’t, you might need to move one of your brackets.

Hold the “U” shaped hook under the handrail bracket and make a mark where the holes are on the branch.

Choose a drill bit slightly smaller than your screw.

Drill pilot holes into your branch for the first bracket only.

Rest the branch onto the bracket and drive the screws loosely through the “U” shaped hook and into the bottom of the branch.

Line up the other end of the branch onto the handrail bracket and trace the holes through the “U” shaped hook.

Remove the screws holding the first hook and drill pilot holes where you marked for the 2nd “U” shaped hook.

Lay the branch back on top of the handrail brackets. Attach the screws through both “U”shaped hooks and into the branch’s pilot holes.

Wipe off the branch with a damp rag. Brush a water-based polyurethane over the entire branch and allow it to dry (about 30 minutes.)

Gently sand any burrs or imperfections off the branch and wipe the branch with the damp rag.

Add another coat of polyurethane.

Repeat sanding and adding a coat of polyurethane until your branch has 5 coats of poly. Do not sand the last coat.

Let the branch dry completely for a day and then add towels to your unique branch towel bar!

I purposely left some extra overhanging branch on the ends for extra towels.

I don’t know about you, but I love it! I think the branch is unique and adds some warmth to the bathroom. How about you? Do you like it? Or is a branch in your bathroom just wack-a-doodle!

Linking to: Funky Junk Interiors Branch Party.

August 31, 2011/34 Comments/by Brittany Bailey

power tools, sander, Tool Tutorials, towel bar

Sanding Tutorial and Prepping a Branch Towel Bar

We’ve moved several times and each time I’ve packed one special tree branch with us. I have had this branch so long that I can’t remember where I found it. I do know that I picked it up on one of our camping trips. Whether it was Yellowstone, Acadia, Nova Scotia or somewhere else I’ll never know. What I do know is that I kept it because I thought I could do something really special with it someday. Well, that day has arrived. I decided to turn the branch into a towel bar for my sons’ bathroom.

(This post contains affiliate links. To learn more about affiliate links, you can read my disclosure page.)

Materials:

Tree branch stripped of bark and branches
Coping saw or other hand saw
Sandpaper (80, 120, & 180 grits)
Pencil
Scissors
Power sander
Gloves
Dust mask
Safety glasses

Tutorial:

Start by sawing off any nubs, knots and sticks using a coping saw.

Pull out the sandpaper and power sander. 3M just sent me these color coded sandpaper sheets. I think the idea of color coding them is brilliant! It really helps you grab the right grit quickly. I give them two gloved thumbs up.

Stack your sandpaper sheets. Lay the sander along one edge of the papers and trace a line along the edge of the sander with a pencil. Be sure to leave excess on both ends to attach under the clips of your sander.

Cut the papers along the pencil line.

Load all three pieces of sandpaper into the sander (if possible). The coarsest grit (80 grit) should be on the outside, followed by the 120 grit and finally the 180 grit sandpaper.

Now you are ready to start sanding!

Here is a video tutorial on sanding the branch down. I’ve upped my level of professionalism, so I hope you enjoy my efforts.

Coming up next. Installing and finishing the branch towel bar.

August 29, 2011/23 Comments/by Brittany Bailey