Turn An Old Towel Rack Into Useful Plant Storage

If you don't live in the humid parts of America, you'll likely need to supplement moisture for a variety of plants. This is especially true during colder winter months when HVAC systems tend to dry out the air around indoor houseplants. You can avoid the cost of installing a full-house humidifier with simple remedies like placing the plant in a tray of wet pebbles, but it would also help to place growing pots in naturally humid spaces like the bathroom. If you have an old towel rack you're thinking about swapping out (anything with hanging bars or grated shelves to weave towels between), you can instead use them as a place to store free-standing or hanging potted plants. After all, plants that are grouped together (especially in smaller spaces) tend to raise ambient humidity.

Bathrooms are often among the dimmer parts of a home, but if you shower regularly it will help supply the humidity plants need. You could layer your old towel rack with low-light, high-humidity plants like bamboo palm, spiderwort, or pothos; though many varieties of tropical flora that grow in the undergrowth will ask similar conditions. The main question you'll have to ask regarding your towel rack is whether it can support the excess weight. Ceramic flower pots and soil are much heftier than cotton, linen, and polyester-blend towels. If your towel rack is just screwed externally into the wall, at the very least you'll want to make sure there are appropriate drywall anchors in place.

Of course, this home design hack isn't going to work for every kind of old towel rack you might find installed in your bathroom. Something grate-like will offer a perfect platform to place a few ceramic pots. However, if your towel rack is closer to the design of a beautiful DIY curtain rod with one arching line to hang linens off of, you won't have much room on top. You can still create your own Hanging Gardens of Babylon with some containers on strings, but the options will be more limited — especially if you still want to use the rack for its intended purpose and have towels hanging alongside the plants.

If your main argument for storing plants on the bathroom towel rack is to capture that excess humidity, you'll also need to find the right balance. Many modern bathrooms are built with extensive exhaust systems to vent humidity because otherwise mold growth can run rampant. Mold isn't just a concern in the corners of your shower; mold can fester in houseplant soil, too. Be sure to note tips for growing healthy houseplants in your bathroom because if you do strike that balance, turning an old towel rack into a potted plant shelf is a great way to add extra color into your daily routine.