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Kid's Bathroom - Part 1 - Upcycled Towel Rack

My kid's bathroom is boring, completely undecorated and non-functional. There is nothing wrong with boring, but I would like to have a place to hang towels and store bathroom essentials, especially since this bathroom is the one guests use to shower when they visit. I'm making several changes to make it work better and look cute!
Boring Bathroom
The first thing I'm adding is a towel rack to keep towels off the floor. I had been browsing racks for a while, but couldn't find anything I liked enough to shell out the money that was being asked(I'm cheap). Then I happened to drive by a cabinet in bulk trash near my in-laws house so I borrowed a screwdriver, saved a door from the dump, and started a new project!


After cleaning the door & taking it home I went to Hobby Lobby & got some hooks and chalk paint. I've been wanting to try chalk paint forever & this was a small enough project that I wasn't too worried about starting over if I messed up. I just used a regular paintbrush we already had in the garage painted away! I didn't sand at all & wasn't sure what to expect but was pretty pleased with the results. It looked a little spotty after the first coat & you could definitely see tons of brush strokes. After the second coat you couldn't see any of the wood underneath but it still had visible brush strokes. I don't really mind that for this project since I'm going for a weathered beachy vibe, but I probably won't use it for something I want looking "good as new". I used some finishing wax hubs had in the garage from his wood turning projects and didn't buff at all since I didn't want a super shiny finish.

First Coat of Chalky Paint
After 2nd coat of paint and waxing
Next I measured and drilled holes in the board and screwed my hooks in. These originally had a hanging tab, but I wanted it more secure so I used some special appliance screws to fit the thread size correctly. It would have been MUCH simpler if I had used drawer knobs like I was originally planning before I saw these and decided I liked them better. I'll update this post after I get it mounted to the wall. I haven't drilled into the studs by myself before & want my super handy husband to supervise and make sure I don't mess it up. ;)

***Update***

I got the towel rack, a new shower curtain, and some floating shelves hung! Well, handy husband hung everything but the shower curtain, but it's up and I'm so happy with how it turned out! See pictures below & read Part 2 to see how I stained the crates.

Towel rack is up! Don't mind the top of my 3-year-old's head.


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