Ditch Bathroom Linen Cabinets & Try TikTok's Genius Towel Storage Hack Instead

If you're looking for ways to organize your small bathroom, chances are you're looking for tips on how to integrate vertical organization. If you're dealing with limited square footage, you don't have the real estate to add more things to the layout. Your floorspace is all occupied, which is why it's such a challenge to make a utilitarian space like a bathroom feel less cluttered. After all, you need things like towels, skincare, and toilet paper, but it's hard to find enough room to store them all. But this all changes when you start carving out room on the walls. Keeping this in mind, you can ditch your bulky linen cabinet and instead stash your towels on the wall. This will help clear out some much-needed space for other necessities. You can do this by transforming two towel bars into one towel cubby.

This is a great hack to try for several reasons. First, without a bulky linen cabinet, the space can feel more open or be used for other purposes, such as a cabinet for surplus skincare products. The second is that it makes the towels easily accessible. You can easily grab a towel when needed without having to rummage through cupboards or linen closets. Lastly, it's a straightforward DIY project that even home renovation newbies can tackle, making it an easy hack to try. 

This idea first popped up on creator Courtnii Parker's TikTok account, where she needed to create some compact towel storage in her camper's bathroom. She didn't have much room to work with as it looked about the size of a powder room, so putting a bulky cabinet in the space was out of the question. Her workaround was to add slim storage to the walls, and she did so by utilizing two towel bars from Walmart. A similar option is Moen's Preston Towel Bar, which costs $18 for one at Home Depot. But instead of hanging them horizontally like one normally would, she instead installed both of them vertically next to each other, creating a storage rack.

To install it in your own bathroom, invest in two racks and use the mounting template and hardware that comes with your selected piece. When deciding where to hang it, ensure the racks are close enough together that the edges of your towels will stick out from the sides. This will ensure the towels will be able to comfortably fit in the rack, and won't fall out in the middle. You can also tailor the length of your chosen towel bars to how many towels you want to display. For instance, the Home Depot option comes in an 18-inch or 24-inch bar length. If you have several towels to store, consider getting the longer version.

While this is a simple DIY, there are plenty of ways that you can personalize it to fit your unique style. The first is to choose a towel bar that best fits your bathroom's aesthetic. For example, if you have a minimalist or modern farmhouse style, then you might want to consider getting black bars, such as the KIBAGA bars that retail for $10 a piece on Amazon. These are thin and boxy, and will create two sleek lines on your walls. On the other end of the spectrum, if you have eclectic tastes, consider getting something loud, such as the Botanist Towel Bar from Anthropologie for $78, which has decorative flowers at the ends.

The second way to dress up this DIY is to be selective with which towels you display. This rack can fit between four and five towels, and the ones you store will become part of the room's decor. If you want a serene, spa-like space, consider only selecting white towels for your bathroom. If you're trying to cinch a farmhouse aesthetic, then black and white striped towels might be more appropriate. Or, if you love a colorful space, consider getting a set of towels in a fun shade, such as powdery blue or mint green.