Make A Classic DIY Toilet Paper Dispenser To Match Your Natural Aesthetic

Although a room's major features get most of the attention when you're crafting a fashionable space, it's the details that pull a room together. In the bathroom, even something as minor as a toilet paper holder can profoundly affect the final look. Knowing the difference it can make, why not try a handcrafted TP dispenser to cap off the room's design? The project is inexpensive, low-stress, and fun, resulting in a gorgeous piece to upgrade your bathroom and make the space look its best.

YouTuber Natasha Dickins offers an easy yet elegant DIY toilet paper dispenser design to complement a natural aesthetic. The build only needs a few screws, wood glue, and a ¾-inch-thick dowel cut to around 9–10 inches. You'll cut the dowel in half at a 45-degree angle about three inches down the rod. The pieces then turn to fit together at a 90-degree angle, forming an L shape. The long side holds the toilet paper, while the short side screws into the wall with a dowel screw. Keep in mind that toilet paper rolls are 4–4.5 inches long and 4–5 inches in diameter when fresh out of the package. To allow them to fit the dispenser and stay far enough from the wall, the piece of the dispenser that attaches to the wall should be at least three inches on its shortest side. Meanwhile, the longer piece holding the toilet paper should be about five inches on its shortest side to comfortably fit rolls of any size.

In her video, Natasha Dickins adds a wood cap to the dispenser to keep the roll from falling off, a coat of finish, and a dowel screw to attach it to the wall. You should note a few essential tools and techniques to pull off a clean, durable construction. When drilling pilot holes for your screws, use a countersink bit to rest screw heads below the wood's surface. You can then fill the screw holes with wood putty for a seamless wood tone. The finish is also crucial. Since wood breaks down faster from moisture exposure in humid environments like the bathroom, you'll need an effective water-resistant wood seal to maintain your toilet paper dispenser.

The nice part of this build is that you can apply it to all kinds of upgrades. For example, you may want a small shelf to hold your phone, an extra toilet paper roll, or even a small plant to enhance the natural aesthetic. Rather than attach the short side of the dispenser to the wall, you can screw it into the underside of a small wooden board. After inserting a dowel screw into the edge of the board, screw it into the wall to make a platform with the dispenser underneath. You could also build a toilet paper roll holder using a vertical dowel on a wood base with a matching finish.

While this L-shaped design is attractive, easy to build, and versatile, it's hardly the only way to make your toilet paper dispenser match your bathroom's natural look. If you need an even simpler option, you can eliminate the right angle and use a straight dowel. Put a dowel screw into the end of a wood dowel (cut to the desired length). After adding a cap at the other end to keep the roll on the holder, you've got a perfectly suitable TP dispenser.

You could also go the other way and build a more advanced holder if you have the proper tools. YouTuber Crafted by Ray shows off a neat design for a dispenser with two arms mounted to a backplate attached to the wall. A wood dowel sits on the arms to hold the roll in the middle. The build in the video includes using a router and a spindle sander to clean up the design, but you can pull off a basic version with only a jigsaw or scroll saw. For ambitious DIYers, a toilet paper dispenser with a spare roll holder like the one from YouTube channel Charlie Mike Woodworks delivers fitting organic textures alongside convenient storage. Measure the area next to your toilet to see what you can accommodate near the toilet. From there, use one of these DIY toilet paper dispensers as inspiration to put the finishing touches on your bathroom's natural aesthetic!