Making the Most of a Traditional Towel Rail for Your Bathroom

You can enhance the look and feel of your bathroom by adding a traditional towel rail. This is an affordable and easy adaption than is both practical and aesthetically pleasing. There are many ways in which you can make the most of your traditional towel rail.

1. Choose the right output

The size of your traditional towel rail can affect heat output into the room. Most traditional towel rails will be listed in output in watts or British Thermal Units. This will let you know just how powerful the radiator is.

• A large rail can be handy for big families to dry more towels at one time. However you may want to consider adding a thermostatic control. Bathrooms can be quite small spaces and you will want to be able to turn the rail down if it is overheating the room.

• You can work out what size traditional towel rail you want for your bathroom by asking a specialist heating supplier or by using a radiator calculator tool.

2. Positioning a traditional towel rail

Bathrooms are typically short on space. A traditional towel rail will need to be fitted along a spare section of wall. Try to avoid putting towel rails too close to baths, showers, sinks or toilets. This can cause an obstruction and make it awkward to use the facilities in your bathroom. Many people put towel rails behind doors. This is an option if you do have enough room to open the door fully when the towel rail is behind it.

3. Customising your traditional towel rail

If you do have a specific interior design scheme in your bathroom then you may want to customise your traditional towel rail. This will help it to fit into the style your existing décor.

• There are several suppliers that can offer bespoke options for their traditional towel rails.

• This can include special paint finishes (such as antique gold or bold neon colours) or bespoke shapes and designs.

• If you have already bought your traditional towel rail then you could customise it yourself. You can buy special radiator paints but for a more affordable choice you could try using acrylic car spray paint.

• This type of car paint has been designed to be safe to use and can cope with intense heat and wear and tear.

• Spray paints also provide a smooth finish and make it easier to get into all the small fiddly areas.

• If you are painting your traditional towel rail then make sure you do this in a well-ventilated space and protect flooring and furnishings before you get started.

• Remember if you do paint your towel rail yourself you could invalidate the manufacturers warrantee.

• If it is a new radiator then it is a good idea to fit it first and make certain it works before you start painting.