Repurpose A Thrift Store Find Into Cute Kitchen Towel Storage With A Vintage Twist

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It's always wise to keep your kitchen stocked with fresh tea and dish towels, readily accessible to clean up any surprise messes or for when you're entertaining in your home. However, piles of both clean and dirty kitchen towels can quickly accumulate, and without a system of organization in place, can quickly become an eyesore to both you and your guests. Luckily, resourceful DIY enthusiasts have figured out a hack to keep kitchen tea towel clutter organized with a clever thrift store solution. 

Some resourceful creators online suggest repurposing an old antique scale into a convenient and aesthetically pleasing storage solution that adds character and charm to your kitchen's interior design. You can use the scale in tandem with a basket for dirty linens for a seamless system to dispose of towels once they're soiled, keeping your clean and dirty towels separated and organized. Once you're finished with your dirty linen, you can pop it in the basket below until you're ready to do laundry and replace it with a clean towel from a stack conveniently hanging in the scale right above.

This hack can secretly add more storage to your kitchen while maintaining a kitschy, vintage-inspired aesthetic that's trendier than ever. Vintage scales are striking and unique antiques that spark intrigue, and with a little bit of patience, there's a good chance you can find these hidden gems in the aisles of your local thrift store, secondhand shop, or at estate sales. 

There are many types and styles of vintage kitchen scales you can keep your eye out for during your next thrifting trip. Some of the most popular designs that would work well for this storage hack are hanging scales that are usually hung from the ceiling with a hook and chain, balancing scales with two separate dishes for towels, and pendulum scales, which are stationary and can rest on a flat, nearby surface for easy access. If you spot any of these style scales at the thrift store or an estate sale, they could be well-suited for this towel hack. 

The main thing you want to look out for is that there's adequate space to place the towels and that the scale is sturdy enough, and in good enough condition to be on display in high-traffic areas like the kitchen. Hanging scales are a good match if you have a lot of towels, since they often feature deeper pans that can accommodate more linens. However, stationary pendulum or two-arm balancing scales work well if you prefer to leave the scale on the counter or on a shelf, since hanging scales usually have to be hung from a hook overhead.

When selecting a basket, it's best to go for a rustic or genuine antique basket to maintain consistency in your kitchen's design. Woven baskets made from material like wicker are a great option since they've been used for centuries and are period accurate. Alternatively, these Deco 79 seagrass large woven baskets would also work well if you can't find a more vintage one at the thrift store.

When styling the vintage scale and dirty linen basket in your kitchen, the most important thing is that the two items are in close proximity to each other, so it's convenient to dispose of and replace dirty towels. Depending on the style of scale that you thrifted, this can be achieved in several ways. For a hanging scale, you can screw a hook into the ceiling so that the scale is suspended from a chain that hangs directly above the basket for used towels. This keeps the towel station vertically in line and creates a visually interesting display that's as intriguing as it is conveniently accessible. 

If you thrifted a stationary standing scale, such as a pendulum or balancing one, you could choose to display this on a side table, countertop, or on a kitchen island with the basket tucked neatly away underneath or nearby. Balancing scales are unique since the arms will teeter as you add and remove clean linens from the pile and the weights shift, which can be a dynamic and interesting visual display.  If you like the idea of storing the basket directly underneath, but you don't have a hanging scale, you can choose to display one of the stationary scales on a floating shelf for a similar effect. You can add to this design by displaying other vintage decor items on the shelf alongside the scale that fit the theme, like antique cookware, glassware, or vases of dried and preserved flowers. If you decide to take inspiration from this clever idea, you'll end up with a vintage kitchen design so charming it'll never go out of style.