The Thrift Store Find That Turns Your Bathroom Towel Storage Into A Statement Piece

Brass is having a moment heading into 2026. Swan motifs are too, so imagine the thrill of scoring a vintage piece that satisfies both trends in a single thrifted find. If you spy a sculptural swan-shaped magazine/letter holder on the shelves of a second-hand shelf, snap it up immediately. TikToker @dollyh70 happened upon one such piece and reenvisioned it as a hand towel holder. On a bathroom counter, its wings and body outlined in brass make the towels visible and easy to grab as they wait to be used.

Finding a magazine rack like this at a thrift store can feel like searching for a needle in a haystack. However, similar ones pop up on sites like eBay and Etsy, usually priced well beyond what you'd see at a thrift store. This creative way to repurpose a thrifted magazine rack will be hard to recreate exactly without buying online, but flea markets, garage and estate sales, and IRL auctions could lead you toward an exact match. If it's brass and swans you love more than @dollyh70's exact setup, broaden your search to include letter holders, record stands, napkin racks, or similar containers. Even a pair of ornate bookends could keep a lineup of folded towels in place.

Whatever your brass swan hunt yields you, once you have one in hand, there's the question of getting it ready for use. After all, you definitely want a clean object holding hand towels. A loopy '80s-style swan like the one from our inspiration really looks period-appropriate with a golden shine. To polish it up to its former glory, Bar Keeper's Friend is the secret to cleaning thrifted brass until it's sparkling new. Grab a paper towel or sponge and a can of BKF, and give the metal a rubdown. If your brass piece has a wooden base or another material that needs protection, use painter's tape to secure a repurposed shopping bag or other filmy plastic packaging material around the wood before doing any cleaning.

Glossy metallic finishes are so '80s, but your thrifted brass might be sporting an even better patina. You can still clean the brass without losing that covetable finish. Give it a wipe-down with a damp cloth and a small amount of dish soap. If your piece has detailing, you can use a toothbrush to gently work grime out of the crevices.

Now that your brass treasure is clean, the towels' colors are another consideration. You can use color to create a contemporary retro '80s style with golden yellow that was hot during the decade. But a crisp white will look at home in nearly any bathroom and won't detract from the magazine rack's silhouette. Other colors that pair well with brass include pale green, light gray, and a range of blue tones.