Replace Your Paper Towel Holder With A Stylish And Space-Spacing DIY

We may receive a commission on purchases made from links.

Somewhere along the line, you ended up with a boring paper towel holder, and it has been sitting on your counter ever since. Sure, it does its job, keeping the essential roll at arm's reach when you have big spills to clean up. But it doesn't exactly inspire creativity or add to your kitchen's ambiance. Replace it with an idea from Factory Direct Craft: a hanging, bohemian-style paper towel holder adorned with beads. Not only is the hanger cute, but it's also easy to make with relatively inexpensive materials.

The main part of the design is a thick dowel that runs horizontally through the paper towel roll core. It keeps the bottom rigid and allows the roll to rotate freely when you're pulling off sheets. In the original design, the sides are made from leather cord, like this Genique round leather cord, strung with beads to add a decorative touch. You can swap out the leather for wire to create a more modern look or a strip of torn fabric with frayed edges if you're looking for cottagecore kitchen DIYs. 

The beads you choose also help create a certain style or theme. Chunky, naturally shaped gemstone beads keep the look more organic, while perfectly round metallic beads offer a sleek, symmetrical design. You can even find food-themed beads, like these KitBeads Acrylic Strawberry Beads, for a quirky hanger. And the best part is that you can still find a genius way to use your old paper towel holder instead of throwing it away.

This project is a great DIY paper towel storage idea for small spaces — it hangs on the wall to keep more countertop space free. Since paper towel rolls are usually around 11 inches wide, use a 12-inch dowel. Paper towel tubes are usually around 1½ inches in diameter, so choose a narrower dowel to let the tube slide on easily. You can paint or stain the dowel or leave it as natural wood.

The original design uses a 4-foot piece of the leather cord for the hanger. Glue one end of the cord to one end of the dowel, wrapping it around a few times and gluing it in place. Then, slide on as many beads as you want to decorate the cord. You can tie a knot in the cord to keep the beads in a certain position. For example, you might start the beads above where a full roll of paper towels would sit. Or, create sections of beads with the leather showing between by tying knots on both ends of the beaded sections. When you get the beads positioned, slide a paper towel roll on the dowel and tie the other end of the leather cord onto the dowel to hold the roll on.

You can also play with the way you connect the leather string to the dowels. For example, try tying loops on each end that are just slightly larger than the dowel. Slide the loop off and on the dowel when you need to change the roll. Or, screw small decorative knobs into the ends of the dowel and hook the leather loops over them. The larger knob shape will help keep the cord loops from slipping off.