WHy don't you get a hook and get a bar/ring and have someone hold them up where you would put them and see what you think?

One consideration is that having a towel bar "just there" may not be so out of place when you have towels on it- and alot of people 'dress' their bathrooms by putting decorative towels up. I've got two kids so any towels I put up get used in short order but my mom and mother-in-law both have towels that stay put in their bathrroms like decoration. So I guess you have to decide if you want that to be a feature. :)

Another thing you might consider which I've seen and think is great is one of those swinging multi bar towel racks that (like your toilet paper holder) don't close on one end. I think that is why people find hooks more functional than a towel bar because you don't have to feed the towel through...

Good luck! It is funny how the small decisions can be so difficult... :)

Amy
Fremont, CA

We're in a humid climate and I think bars are better for drying towels. In our bath remodels, we hung both bars and hooks. I put the hooks close to the shower door so that you could easily grab a towel before leaving the shower (goal is less water on floor).

Hooks range in price from $2-35. I found some very nice brushed nickel ones at a building supply place for $2 each.

I got towel hooks because I'm the only one in the house that keeps towels straight on a towel bar. However, I find that the towels (big fluffy bath sheets) do not dry on the hooks. We dry ours in the dryer and then fold them and put them in a drawer. I still like having the hook just outside the door to the shower for ease of grabbing the towel after the shower.

I'm still angsting over this too...can't pull the trigger on hooks-only.

So on the hooks you have, dm, the towels don't fully dry? I'm truly sorry to hear that :(. I was hoping they'd be far enough away from the wall to allow air in behind. Did you get the larger swinging kind too? I know you have the immobile ones with the double bar supporting, and the triple hook, but did you get the bigger ones too? That's what I'm thinking of for DH's and my towels. His towel is *extra* large--bigger than an average bath sheet.

Like you, I'm still thinking of having the hook next to the shower, but I can't think of where we'd put bars (I kind of forgot that aspect of the design)...we may have to put them up on a *pocket* door wall (we haven't put the door in yet).

Hi fly. So far we're only using the pivoting triple hook -- those are the ones that don't dry (and these towels are really large). We're used to drying the towels in the dryer anyway -- it's in an upstairs closet and always has been, very convenient. we didn't get any of the large hooks, just the single small ones and the triple pivoting.

Ah, thanks, dm. We'd have to trot our towels around to the dryer through the family room--kind of a drag...maybe I'll just set the fan and heat to be on for a while and hope. The bigger hooks have more clearance behind them, but there will still be points where they touch the wall...

I have large towels and a Restoration Hardware large Bistro train rack next to my tub. I don't have a linen closet, so I keep my folded clean towels on the shelf above, and I hang used wet towels on the three hooks below. The hooks hang quite a bit away from the wall, and I never have a problem with the towels not drying. I've had this train rack for about three years, and I've been very happy with it. It's a lot of functionality for a small amount of space.

When we recently remodeled the master we went w/ all hooks. So far so good. The towels seems to dry OK...we don't get them soaking wet, we just drip for a couple of seconds before toweling off.

The washcloths are another thing -- not having as much success with them getting dry.

Our hooks are by Gatco, and the design is Austin. They are described as robe hooks, but they handle our thick, heavy towels very well. BTW, to the single dad who posted --we got the Euro toilet paper holder to match. And yes, now my hubby changes the roll!! ; )
Susan ~

Here is a link that might be useful: Gatco Austin

We have hooks and heavy 33x66 bath sheets and have not had any problems with them drying - I have found that they don't dry as well on bars because the towels have to be doubled over to fit on the bars if you don't have room for 36" bars. Double bars were even worse IME because there ended up being eight layers of thick fabric in a small area. Two towels on one double hook (Delta Victorian, not one I'd recommend) dry just fine. I live in coastal New Hampshire where it is downright malarial in the warm months and arid in the cold; towels are laundered once a week and we have no problems with funkiness. We do also have the issue of towels not being hung neatly on bars, and I think decorative towels are silly (I am pretty much a failure as a girly-girl!). :-) Here's a picture:

{{gwi:1394152}}

One way to evaluate whether towels dry sufficiently on hooks where you live would be to get some of the cheap over-the-door hooks from somewhere like Walmart and give it a shot before installing anything permanent.

That's a great idea, johnmari, thanks. I know we have one of those somewhere (easier said than found at this point). It's DH's towel I'm most concerned about.

Do you ever get any wet on the wood wainscoting under where your towel rests?

We have not had any problems with the wainscot getting wet, flyleft. I would hesitate to hang a dripping washcloth there, certainly, but the towels don't get sopping wet from a simple dry-off. Just in case, though, the entire wainscot did get three coats of oil-based varnish (foul stinky stuff, but the water-based had a strange plasticky look).

Thanks, johnmari. I have a hook up with approximately the same distance from the wall as the Motiv Frame, and we'll see what happens w/DH's towel after his shower tonight. If all goes well, I will take the plunge.

To drkona: what are you thinking about all this?

To drkona: what are you thinking about all this?

Hey Fly, nice way of saying sorry we hijacked your thread! :)

I'm not sure what the doc is thinking about this, but I really appreciate the info.

I've thought about gettting the big hooks from restoration hardware but with shipping the cost is substantial. I almost bought some smaller ones I found locally, but by the sounds of it, if you're going to use hooks you better go big.

At least I tried, dm :)

And so far so good with the trial hook--I think I'm going to order the Motiv Frame :)

budge, the hooks I originally fell in love with were from RH--they're SO nice and heavy. And the finish is beautiful. I can only hope the Motiv Frame hooks live up to the comparison. That's a point for drkona, too--the Restoration Hardware hooks are really well done, and not expensive, comparatively, to high-end bath hardware.

At least I tried, dm :)

Indeed you did! And so far, the Motiv Frame are holding up (finish and looks-wise) very nicely.

fly, i'm loving the help here!
my brain is sooo worn out over this stuff. granite kitchen counters and vanity tops go in next week...so all i am missing are these hooks/bars and a bathroom mirror!!

i think maybe a combo of hooks and bars...w/ maybe a train rack. i should post a pic of the room...how do i do that?

DRK

DRK, you can't link to a picture unless you upload it to an internet photo sharing site first, such as photobucket or picasa or shutterfly. A lot of people here use photobucket because it's easy to embed a picture in your post.

So,

1) open an account if you don't already have one

2) upload your picture (downsize it either before you upload, which makes uploading faster, or after you upload it - a full-size digital photo is too big)

3) right click "copy" on the link below the picture that says "Tag", return to this box, and press "paste".