I'm sort of doing both too. But our bath redo is at a stand still, so I just put these up temporarily. Please ignore the walls, which will come down when the project is restarted. First, the train rack which stores and provides a towel bar as well. It will have the blocking to support it placed behind the new walls. The towel ring as shown was the one we used before, the old one, and I might find a place to put it but who knows. And here is my favorite hook of all time, which I purchased from Lee Valley Tools. It can go behind a door and it folds up. It is also a very nautical design, since boats are always short on space. It makes a good mudroom rack where you can hang a hat on top, and then spread out the other hooks for your gloves and jackets. And then this one, on clearance at Pottery Barn and sold as a bathroom magazine rack, but it is a fantastic towel bar/rack too. Not bad on the price either, if it is still available. I'm using it now beside my sink in the bath undergoing redo.

My Runtal towel warmers all have the deluxe controller which includes the ability to program them to go on and off automatically (several times per day, if desired) and to program the temperature level. I can even set different times and temperatures for different days of the week, so weekday mornings the one in the master bath comes on earlier than on weekends. The two in guest bathrooms are simply left off unless I have house guests, when I turn them on and the function automatically. I think the the timer feature is very desirable. Why have an electric appliance generating heat when it's not needed? In the odd event that I'm showering at an unusual hour, I can simply press a button to turn on the warmer manually. The timer feature is especially desirable in the summer, when you want a warm towel in the morning, but you don't want extra heat in the bathroom during the heat of the day.

Here is 3 of the last 5 I have installed here in Vancouver. In Vancouver I get them from Andrew Sheret on Broadway. They are made by Heirloom a company from New Zealand but are sold world wide. I believe them to be the best in the business. Be careful of which towel warmer you buy an make sure you plan on a dedicated GFI protected line if you want to install this to code. This towel warmer is very unforgiving with the install and needs to planned down to the 1/16" if you want it to look good installed on a tiled wall and have the grout joints line up. We always use drywall to map out the grout joints for the finished install and calculated measurements from this temporary outline. Use the finished ceiling as your fixed point of reference. You will need to plan the floor tile grid as well if you want this to look good. The rough in is tricky because you don't get any wiggle room for error. We add 2"x10" solid blocking where the 3 extra feet land and install the rough in the same way. I find if you use a 1" spade bit and eat away a little of the 2"x10" where the rough in mounts the wall will not bow out that 1/8" - worth the 2 minutes it takes. The rough in that I work with will accept standard North America electrical connectors and purchase some 1" flex to use as your conduit from this point to the switch. Make sure you keep the switch 1 meter away from the tub or shower. Vancouver electrical code just updated last year. Double check with your city hall the exact distances you need to maintain away from these wet zones. In my research for the best Towel Warmer I found many have a visable plug, a cord, a light or worse yet are not allowed close enough to the tub to be practical. Many advise not placing wet towels on them! Why is that? My clients love them and in a rainy city it's a great place to dry your coats. In the one shot this was just the side affect. The raised platform is a large curb for the shower hidden to the right. This towel off area is graded back to the shower. When they need their coats they are good to go and toasty warm. Check your distance as many times the supplied length of cable may not be what you need. Make sure you run your 1" flex so it pulls easier from the towel warmer to the switch and not the other way around. The holes needed to be drilled in tile have to be exact. The feet are so sleek they offer a hair less than 1/8" coverage from the mounting pegs. Pick up a new diamond core bit and you will get an amazing look. It's worth the extra for this nice clean cut. These units draw little power and will help heat a room some what. The Runtal line is far more effective if you need extra heat but the Heirloom model is a little sleeker and more contemporary I think. No cords. No lights. No plugs. Add it doesn't come with a "Warning Tag" stuck to fixture telling you not to place damp towels on it - some do. Many might jump at me for these installs and there placement near the showers. For the record both of these installs where inspected by both the UBC Endowment Lands (UEL) office and the electrical work approved by the British Columbia Safety Authority who has juristicition over electrical work in UBC. All switches where one meter away from the wet zones. This is important people - screw this up and someone can die. There are many things that can go wrong like not using Flex as a conduit and stripping a wire as you pull it through the wall studs with a string. Make sure you have a "Sparky" with you and at the very least pull your own homeowners permit to get a second pair of eyes on your job. My opinion on the subject... Here is a link that might be useful: Heirloom Towel Warmers

I go through less than a roll a year. (Though I'm daubing on a lot of paint samples with them right now, because it's less trashy than a lot of little disposable paint brushes!) I won't invest money or counter space in a holder. The roll will get stuck on a shelf in the cupboard. If you're looking for an alternative, you can buy bags of cheap yet sturdy shop towels at the big box stores that you can use and wash and reuse for years. Much more absorbent and scrubby than paper for everything but the most disgusting or dangerous spills. Less germy than sponges.