When my husband and I moved into our home 7.5 years ago, we assumed we’d only be here for about five years.  Fast forward to today and we’ve found that a lot of the design choices we made just aren’t our style anymore, so we’ve slowly started updating the rooms in our house.  Over the Christmas break, we decided to tackle the main floor bathroom which is the one that our kids use, as well as any guests.  (One day I’ll have a half bath!)  To give the bathroom a more finished look, we DIY’ed an old cabinet door into a custom towel rack that is sturdy and looks great too!

Repurpose an old cabinet door into a custom towel rack for the bathroom, pool area or anywhere else you need to hang towels! So much cheaper than buying a new one.

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We found the cabinet door at our local ReStore for $5, brought it home and sanded it.  My husband had a sanding block that worked really well, but a piece of sandpaper folded in half or an electric sander would have worked just as well.

Repurpose an old cabinet door into a custom towel rack for the bathroom, pool area or anywhere else you need to hang towels! So much cheaper than buying a new one.

After sanding, I wiped down the door to remove all the dust and finish that was on top and let it dry off.

To paint it, we used the same semi-gloss paint that we used to repaint the base cabinet, baseboards, crown moulding and mirror frame.  The original stain on the door was pretty dark so we ended up doing a thin primer coat (see below) and 3 additional coats of paint.

Repurpose an old cabinet door into a custom towel rack for the bathroom, pool area or anywhere else you need to hang towels! So much cheaper than buying a new one.

I’m sure I could have used some chalk paint like I did when I repurposed an old crate into a bathroom shelf, but we wanted the finish to be the same as the rest of the bathroom.  (Plus we already had the semi-gloss so we just worked with it.)  We used a combination of foam brushes and rollers to paint it: foam brush for the primer coat and getting into the corners/edges and a roller to get a smooth finish on the face of the cabinet door.

Originally we planned on using a sawtooth hanger to install the towel rack, but thought it might come off the wall too easily.  Instead we marked where we wanted the three hooks to go (we used this kind), drilled a hole in the middle, put some anchors into the wall and then screwed the hooks onto the rack itself to hide the anchoring screws.  Let me tell you: that towel rack isn’t going anywhere without a fight!  *wink*

Repurpose an old cabinet door into a custom towel rack for the bathroom, pool area or anywhere else you need to hang towels! So much cheaper than buying a new one.

I love how our new towel rack turned out!  Using the cabinet door created the perfect base for the hooks and added an extra bit of sturdiness and style to an otherwise boring wall.  In all, this project cost us about $15 ($5 for the cabinet door + $3.50/each for the hooks), which was way less than anything I found online.  DIY for the win!

Repurpose an old cabinet door into a custom towel rack for the bathroom, pool area or anywhere else you need to hang towels! So much cheaper than buying a new one.

Repurpose an old cabinet door into a custom towel rack for the bathroom, pool area or anywhere else you need to hang towels! So much cheaper than buying a new one.


Speaking of DIY, today is the second Tuesday of the month, which means it’s also time for the Inspire My Creativity link party I host!  Each month, I team up with 17 other crafty bloggers to share a craft or DIY that fits within the theme we’ve chosen.  With it being the first month of the year, we decided to do a FREE FOR ALL so each blogger can share whatever project they want with you!  You can check out each of the other co-hosts participating in the link up this month below and then feel free to add your own post to the link up as well.  Remember, any type of craft or DIY project goes so don’t be shy!

Shani  |  Sunshine & Munchkins
Christine  |  Swordfights & Starry Nights
Meg  |  See The Happy
Candice  |  She’s Crafty
Julia  |  The Quiet Grove
Heather  |  Glitter On A Dime
Rachel  |  Adventures of a DIY Mom
Jenny  |  Cookies, Coffee and Crafts
Anna  |  Practical and Pretty
Carmen  |  Living Letter Home
Cathy  |  A Boy and His Mom
Sarah  |  The Strawberry Nest
Adree  |  The Keele Deal
Aimee  |  Things Small and Simple
Teri  |  T. Moore Home

[inlinkz_linkup id=812768 mode=1]

Next month, the theme will be BUTTONS!

28 Comments

    • Shani Ogden Reply

      Thanks Christine! I’m really happy with how it turned out.

    • Shani Ogden Reply

      DIY is my jam. I love it! Good luck with your new house!

  1. I love your DIY! I did something similar but my knobs are sparkly (of, course) hence the name Jesus Glitter. I never think to go to the Resale store though. You have inspired me! I’m looking forward to the buttons theme 🙂

    • Shani Ogden Reply

      YES! I keep asking myself why we didn’t just install hooks right after we moved into our house 7+ years ago. So much better than bars.

    • Shani Ogden Reply

      Yay! I’m so glad you found the tutorial easy to follow.

  2. Your towel rack is so adorable and I love the step-by-step DIY guide you provided here. This just might be a project I could tackle. Thanks!

    • Shani Ogden Reply

      Thanks Lori, I’m so happy to hear that you like the tutorial. Definitely let me know if you have any questions.

  3. Amber Olson Reply

    Very cute! We are about to renovate our kitchen so I will have a bunch of cabinet doors hanging around. Will have to try this out

    • Shani Ogden Reply

      Yes! Definitely see if there’s a way to use those cabinet doors in another way around your home. I’ve also turned a cabinet door into a sign that’s above the cabinets in my kitchen.

    • Shani Ogden Reply

      This is seriously such an easy project! Having a place to hang your towels up is a great help.

    • Shani Ogden Reply

      Thank you! I love being able to repurpose items.

    • Shani Ogden Reply

      Thanks Justine! I’m so glad we were able to find the door because it was literally the only one there and it was the perfect size.

    • Shani Ogden Reply

      Thank you Jenny! I’m really happy with how it turned out and it was so much less expensive than buying one.

  4. I love how the towel rack turned out! It looks so good and gives the towel hooks such a finished look!

    • Shani Ogden Reply

      Thank you! I’m so glad we didn’t just put the hooks straight onto the wall.

    • Shani Ogden Reply

      Thanks Meg! I’m glad you like the idea. 🙂

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