Skip Metal Paper Towel Holders: Keep Them Off Your Counter With An Easy-Tear Alternative

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While we may all fantasize about an expansive, ultra-modern kitchen worthy of being featured in magazine photo spread, many of us are eager to maximize counter space. This is especially true with bulky but very necessary items like paper towels. Not only do rolls take up a lot of space in closets or kitchen cabinets, but metal tabletop paper towel holders are easy to knock over, which is the last thing you want when you're already dealing with a messy spill. There are smarter ways to store your paper towels, and one simple solution can save space and your sanity: a wall-mounted paper towel holder.

On YouTube, content creator and professional woodworker Overkill Woodcraft shares a short video in which he mounts a wooden paper towel holder to the bottom of a cabinet hanging above his countertop. At the start of the video, the creator demonstrates how trying to quickly rip a piece of paper towel off of the standing, metal holder is often not seamless. Many will understand, noting that it often takes two hands, multiple tries, or the sheet gets stuck. This hanging alternative is easy to use and out of the way– plus, the rustic, wooden, wall-mounted holder is much more pleasing to the eye.

Rest assured that you don't need to be a woodworker to mount a one-handed paper towel holder in your kitchen. Some paper towel holders, such as this handcrafted, $85 Acacia Wood Paper Towel Holder on Etsy, include the installation hardware. If you want it on the wall, use a level to confirm the exact positioning. Then drill the necessary holes and insert the accompanying expansion tubes. Place the paper towel holder against the wall and, aligning the holes, screw them in tightly.

Note that there are variables depending on where you want to put your towel holder and what type of kitchen wall you have. If you want to hang the paper towel holder under your cabinet like in Overkill Woodcraft's video, check the length of the screws; if they're too long, they could poke all the way through, into the cabinet itself. If you're mounting on drywall, insert a drywall anchor (which will likely be sold separately) to mount the towel holder. Options like HILLMAN Plastic Pan Head Drywall Anchor 10 pc are strong, sturdy, and affordable at $11. And if you have tile walls in your kitchen, you don't need to drill or use screws; instead, use an alternative like this still-affordable AIDILI paper towel holder for $25 on Amazon that includes adhesive strips.

Once you complete this smart, stylish setup, your kitchen counter will be clearer, and your paper towels will be much easier to grasp. As for your old paper towel holder, there are some genius ways to repurpose them in your home.