Leave Your Old Towel Bar Behind: 9 Modern Alternatives

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A towel bar might not be the most exciting bathroom accessory, but it serves a vital purpose. It ensures that your towel is within reach after showers or baths. It also helps your damp towel to dry fully between uses, preventing mildew from taking over. There is, however, a final purpose that it serves: it can bring massive stylistic appeal to an empty wall. While any old towel bar can hold your towel and help it dry, there's no reason that you need to settle for basic when there are more modern options available. 

Whatever your desired aesthetic, there are many modern options available for bathroom towel rods. Individuals who are interested in form and function might decide to invest in a towel bar and warmer combo that ensures comfort at all times. There are also free-standing towel racks that offer the ultimate flexibility in terms of placement or swiveling towel bars that can swing out or be tucked away when not in use. There are also more minor departures from conventional towel rods with metal bars that have clean lines and simple forms, which are common in modern design. Finally, for individuals who'd like a modern bathroom but don't want to bid adieu to natural materials, bamboo towel hooks and hangers are well worth looking into. 

If you want to say goodbye to traditional towel racks, there's an Amazon alternative for a spa-like experience: the Colliford Towel Warmer. This product retails for $84.99 and is made from dark gray 304 stainless steel, which is highly resilient in areas with a lot of moisture. Its six bars give you plenty of spots to hang towels between uses, and the heating element of the towel warmer keeps your towel toasty — unlike the basic hardware you've been living with — for hours. Individuals who are interested in a bigger model can also opt for the 8-bar or 10-bar versions of the product.

Individuals with a small bathroom can still benefit from ditching their old towel rack for a modern alternative. The KES Freestanding Towel Rack retails for $83.22 and is available at Home Depot. It features a heavy white marble base to keep it steady, while the modern, staggered, T-shaped towel bars make it easy to accommodate a number of towels for everyone in your home. The small footprint of just over 10 inches by 7 inches ensures you can tuck it away. You can also seamlessly move it next to the bathtub to facilitate puddle-free drying.

If you like a streamlined aesthetic that allows for more or less towel storage, the KOKOSIRI Swivel Towel Bars could be a good fit. The product retails for $36.99 and comes with four horizontal bars that measure just over 14 inches in length, making it able to manage a number of towels. It even fits well into spaces that would be too tight for a traditional rack, thanks to the 180-degree rotation design, which can swing out when it's in use. Fold dry towels to a manageable width, then drape them over the bars for a sleek look.

Individuals who prefer a modern and minimalist towel rack will likely be drawn to the Sayayo Matte Black Towel Wall Mount, which has a streamlined, rectangular design. It retails for $33.99 and measures roughly 23 inches long by nearly 3 inches wide, so it sits close to the wall, but the open cut-out in between the wall bar and the front bar offers plenty of space to hang your towels between uses. It also can be oriented vertically for storage purposes, allowing you to roll and tuck extra towels one on top of another. 

For individuals who need a little more space for their towels without dominating a wall, the Double Towel Bar ($19.99 on Amazon) from JIAPAIDUO offers a sleek model worth considering. It measures 24 inches long by just under 6 inches wide and 5 inches high, and its matte finish is undeniably modern. The rod closest to the wall can serve as a space for towels yet to be used while the front can hold ones that are already in use. Or, stagger large and small towels on the back and front rods for a spa-like feel.  

For bathrooms that are in need of more surface space for folded towels, plus a modern spot to hang bath and hand towels, the Alise Double Towel Rack brings both. Retailing for $49.99, it has a horizontal shelf from which two rods hang down for holding and drying your bath towels. The shelf itself can hold a couple or few folded towels or baskets of bathroom essentials. Measuring about 24 inches long by 8 inches wide and about 5 inches high, it fits plenty of functionality in a small wall space, and customers praise its easy installation process.

For individuals who want a modern but also natural hanging option for their towels, the Kazai "Toke" Coat Rack with Hidden Hooks is a streamlined find that can organize your entryways as well as it can your bathroom. It retails for $59.95, and the top has a small shelf that can be filled with lightweight decorative items such as a vase of dried flowers or a reed diffuser. The hooks themselves are out of view, making the product simple and uncluttered on your wall. It's available in a variety of finishes.

Another model inspired by natural materials is the MinBoo Bamboo Multi Hook Rack, which retails for $24.99. It features thin, vertically oriented pieces of bamboo of which four swing down to hold your bath towels. The rack's measurements are roughly 16 inches long by 7 inches tall, making it an accent feature as well as functional piece of hardware. The product is easy to install with drywall anchors and is praised by customers for its performance and modern appearance.

For a final modern option that offers a refreshing departure from traditional towel bars, the FORIOUS Double Towel Bar ($37.99 on Amazon) could be an intriguing consideration. It is available in three different metal finishes, including brushed gold and matte black, both of which add some modern flair. The staggered bar layout makes it easy to hang and retrieve towels when you need them.