We like to keep our shower towels in our bathroom because the linen closet is down the hallway. Between our towels & the kids’ towels, one vanity cabinet is completely packed when everything is clean. I decided an alternative solution was necessary.
Read on for more pictures & how it turned out..
I looked online for ideas. I found lots of possibilities but only one I really liked from someone on Etsy.com. It seemed simple enough.
Assembly
I wanted to challenge myself using a technique I had never used before. I got myself a dowel jig but didn’t realize it was designed for thinner thicknesses of wood than I was using. That meant I could only use the jig on one part of the wood and not it’s adjoining face. I tried to hand drill the hole but it wasn’t straight enough.
The first pieces of wood I bought also weren’t hard enough. They were basic construction 2x2 pine with poplar dowels. The dowels snapped under even moderate pressure.
Between not getting the dowel holes straight enough on the adjoining face, the dowels snapping, and having put more hours into such a simple project than I wanted, I changed the design slightly and used pocket hole screws instead. It wasn’t the seamless hardware look I wanted, but I knew it would be strong enough because I had built a couch with pocket hole screws in some better pine.
Once I switched to pocket hole screws, assembly was pretty easy, but I had to work swiftly or the pieces wouldn't have adequate support.
Finishing
I really like working with products from General Finishes. They're easy to apply, aren't super thin like some stains, and usually come out pretty close the color on the can. We wanted the towel holder to match the other cabinets that were in our bathroom. I used pre-stain conditioner because staining pine is usually splotchy.
It was a pretty good match.
When I applied the stain, it still came out a little blotchy. Maybe I didn't apply enough conditioner. The wood was very dry, so that's quite possible.
Next came the polyurethane. I picked a gloss one because I wanted to see how it compared to more dull finishes. It turned out to be the sheen I wanted. I applied two coats & would have applied more, but I like that it doesn't look like it's covered in a plastic wrap.
Installation
We found a stud and I drilled directly into it for the top & bottom with 2.5" long screws. I added two more screws on each horizontal piece just in case.
The moment of truth... can it hold weight?
It'll be getting more towels soon!