Saw this when I checked out atticmag last night--so many clever and creative ideas! Thanks for sharing them. :-)

I really love my Michael Aram paper towel holder (Botanical Leaf collection)! I was afraid it would be more of a form, rather than function item, but it actually functions quite well (bonus!). My mom fell in love with ours while visiting, and despite her preference for keeping her paper towel roll under the sink, and off the counter, wanted the holder, too (I got it for her birthday last year!).

Here is a link that might be useful: Botanical Leaf holder

That's a pretty one, Cat Mom. There are so many options available now with the internet.

The workshop of David T. Smith is really neat. I may have to order a paper towel holder from them. I can't figure out if they ship to Canada. Anybody know?

If it weren't for under cabinet lights I would have gone with the paper towel holder mounted there. Doesn't bother me to have the roll in plain sight. The most important thing is that it's within easy reach. I'm happy with my Cuisipro.

Cat, do you have that leaf holder? Don't the leaves get covered with paper dust?

I liked the ice tongs and the paint roller. Mine is just an ORB thing I purchased at Target, but it's pretty.

I hadn't seen the paint roller before. I'd like it for a studio, garage, utility room, craft room or something, but am not sure I could live with it in my kitchen. Not real reason it shouldn't be though.

I may have to get my sister that Log n Roll one. I bought her a squirrel cookie cutter and whisk last year and she knew exactly why she got them. Many years ago, she took to feeding a squirrel in her back yard. She'd take pictures of him and brag about how he was coming up to her. Until he bit her -- right through her thumbnail! Very painful with shots to follow. There's been a family joke of sorts about squirrels ever since. The paper towel holder would be hilarious for her.

Looks like you have to order them from Europe, at least for now.

Well, how about that! My paper towel niche is on there. I so did not expect that! LOL!

Why not!? It's a great idea. I had a similar dead space in our last house - not large enough for paper towels, but someone else out there does and they will see yours and BINGO! That light bulb moment will happen.

really OT, but squirrels were mentioned...
lascatx - I feel I must stand up for your poor, maligned squirrel-bitten sister. The squirrel probably didn't mean to bite her. Since squirrels have eyes on the sides of their heads, they're not at all good at seeing things that are right in front of their noses. The squirrel thought her finger was the nut. Poor sister, and poor squirrel, because he was probably disappointed to get finger instead of nut.

I know this because I feed squirrels, and before I started to spend all day, every day reading about kitchens, I actually read a couple books about squirrels. I think I'll pass on the Log n Roll, though.

Squirrels are just rats that eat nuts. Don't be fooled by the fluffy tail.

natal, yes, over time it does build up, but I try to remember to wipe it down when I'm wiping down the counters so it doesn't really build up much.

Now ask me how often I need to wipe down the ebony-stained vanity in the MB....!

There is this one from Maitland-Smith, if you want to devote a lot of real estate to your paper towels.

(Why is it that once you start raising chickens, everyone thinks that the perfect gift for you has roosters involved?)

Now ask me how often I need to wipe down the ebony-stained vanity in the MB....!

On my to-do list is refinishing the oak vanity in our bathroom. I really wanted something dark, like ebony, until I started thinking about the paper dust issue. Thanks for reminding me, lol.

Still love how it looks though! :-)

I bookmarked that outdoor one from BBQ Guys.

I want to do a small powder room that has wet room potential and of course the problem with wet rooms is that things that you want to stay dry can get wet. (Like toilet paper in particular). One of these would come in really handy: I just need to come up with a rod that will hold on the rolls.

Ginny, both my sister and I know the squirrel was not trying to bite her. She thinks she must have jerked a bit or something. But those teeth sure are sharp and the jaws strong. And this followed weeks or months of her going outside and chattering with her squirrel. That might be more the reason the ending turned into a family joke of sorts. The squirrel was fine, BTW. ;-)

The irony didn't escape me. It is a pretty funny story, except for the blood and pain part. In fact, I think you should buy her the Log n Roll. I take it she no longer feeds squirrels?

Many years ago, when I had a more country style, I did the tong paper towel holder.

Shelayne, yours is my very favorite. It's a wonderful example of how to turn a problem into a feature!

Kitchendetective, I guess one rooster couldn't hold it up by himself. ;D

Pal, wondering if you could search around and find one made for TP. There are a gazillion outdoor paper towel holders available with the popularity of outdoor kitchens. Maybe you can find one that would work.

I don't think so, at least not intentionally. I remember us joking about not knowing what she was saying to them -- the dangers of speaking in a language you don't understand.

She has a birthday next month and just a week before, they will be moving into an apartment and beginning a year of 2 city living to support their son's sports interests. I hope it works out for them. At least they are a 4 hour drive. My son is heading to college and it would be a 4 day drive -- 3 days pushing it. We are still working out logistics. Anyway, maybe the second kitchen and the new challenges would be a reason to inject some humor. She and her family are all one who you can't buy tings they really need for, so ya never know.....

I had a client who moved because a squirrel (that her homeowner's association insisted were not there) ran out of her ductwork, up her leg and bit her on the stomach. It was a baby so she did not have a high risk of rabies.

I give her a squirrel of some sort every Christmas >:P

The only covered or pop out toilet paper holders I seem to find are vintage.

We also thought long and hard about where to put the #$%^& paper towels, and chose to stop buying them. Bad news for the advertisers. One less product to promote. Bad news for free TV on the airwaves. One less product to promote. If you tell two friends, and they tell two friends and they tell two friends, pretty soon you have a new norm, that is sleeker without any paper towels.

Look at Rev-a-shelf's under sink caddy which rolls out and graciously offers up a roll of paper towels. In my new kitchen, built with the help of GW, it's one of my favorite devices. I bought two at either Home Depot or Lowes for around $45 each, and the towel shelf is perfect. Search the rev-a-shelf.com site for "under sink caddy."

I really am looking at the ideas about paper towels, I just don't have anything to add.

On squirrels, however... We own an art gallery, and one year for Christmas my husband commissioned one of the artists we represent to create a cast bronze squirrel sculpture. Not something you would generally consider a gag gift. It's really quite beautiful. (if you like rats with fluffy tails, right, marcolo?)

I'm sure it's beautiful. Evil always is. At first.

marcolo-Hahahahahahahahaa!

I have first-hand experience with that kind of "evil". When I was a child, we had a baby squirrel that we nursed back to health, and we named him Sammy. Sammy the squirrel was in this large box in my bedroom, and I put all kinds of things in there to make it his "home". Not only did Sammy Squirrel chew his special furnishings, he chewed through the box, he chewed the nose and fingers off my brand-new "Velvet" doll (the evil little rodent!), shredded my mother's window sheers, and as the coup de grâce, ran "up" under my Aunt's patio shift (or house coat) and bit her where the sun don't shine. Fortunately, she was fine. A little frazzled and kinda creeped out, but fine.

We let him escape out the front door before my dad came home that day.

Yes, I love the little beggars, but they are destructive. They've never tried to live in our house, fortunately. But we used to keep the bag of peanuts in the sun room, whose door opens onto the patio from which they were fed. One enterprising squirrel chewed through the screen to get into the room and get the nuts. We fixed the screens and moved the nuts into the house.

One fell down the chimney at my friend's house and chewed the window frame trying to get out. Poor thing must have been panicked, but my poor friend had the big repair bill.

They're not really evil, just clever and persistent. And dead if they try to move into the attic, cute or not.

I'm going to put the paper towels on the counter on one of those holders that work with only one hand.