I am so BEYOND excited about this project. It’s, like, totally one of those moods where you finally know how Maria feels when she sings, “The Hills Are Alive” in The Sound of Music. Yeah. It’s that level for me. I have been obsessed with the comeback that lucite (the clear acrylic) has been making over this past year. The term “Lucite” is actually a brand name for a type of acrylic, but lately it’s become synonymous with the general product (kind of like how you say “kleenex” when you mean a tissue). Anyway, I’ve been dying to work a little lucite into our new house, but once I saw how crazy expensive it can be, I thought I’d try the DIY route to see what I could come up with instead. I’m in the middle of making over our guest bathroom, and I decided that a lucite and gold towel bar would be a great addition to the space. This project is so easy too! It literally took only minutes to complete!
Supplies:
–clear 1″ acrylic rod (I had mine cut to 26″.)
–ceiling brackets for 1″ drapery rod (x2)
-gold spray paint
-drill or screwdriver
-super glue
Since my ceiling brackets were a little more antique gold than I wanted, I first painted the brackets with a few coats of gold spray paint and let them dry.
Once the brackets were dry, I mounted them to my wall (where I wanted the bar to hang) about 24″ apart (use painter’s tape and a level to get a straight line to go off of). The lucite rod was 26″, so mounting the brackets in a little closer allows some of the lucite to hang out either side of the bracket, but you can adjust it how you like and buy whatever length of rod you need.
Slip your clear rod into the brackets and either tighten the screws that come with the brackets to keep the rod in place, or you can use a bit of super glue to glue the rod into the brackets.
Once your towel rack is complete, add those towels and let it get to work!
The look of the lucite and the gold is just so polished, and I love how it brings the coolness factor of a simple towel bar up a million and a half notches. If you can spend a little bit more on your project, you can use these brass end brackets instead of the ceiling brackets, but it will cost about $80 for the towel rack instead of closer to $30 like mine did. Now that I’ve completed one task with lucite, I can’t wait to think of more places for it—challenge accepted! xo. Laura
Credits // Author: Laura Gummerman. Photography: Laura Gummerman and Elsie Larson. Photos edited with A Beautiful Mess actions.
41 Comments
How clever are you! And I didn’t know Lucite was a brand name. The more you know…
This is so amazing, how do you always come up with such incredible interior ideas? I could use your blog to decorate my whole apartment! Thank you so much for sharing this!
https://www.makeandmess.com/
Yesss, I am doing this in my new bathroom, had been looking for a towel bar like this already, thank you!!
http://www.shopthecoconutroom.com
So cute Laura!!
Ooo, I really love this DIY. The door of our bathroom needs to be replaced so I’ve been trying to find towel hanging solutions that don’t just look boring so I’ll definitely be trying this. I would love gold accents in my bathroom, I think it makes everything look a lot more expensive, but all of our hardware is silver so I think I’ll have to stick with that.
Elanor
https://elanorsims.wordpress.com/
Love it, simple, inexpensive, beautiful DIY!
What gorgeous DIY!, I have to try it out
i want to see that print you have above the toilet! please! 🙂
This is so pretty! Shame we just decorated our bathroom haha.
You’ve also taught me that Lucite and acrylic aren’t interchangeable words, so there you go…
Becky | http://accooohtrements.wordpress.com
Sorceress! I was JUST looking for a good DIY tutorial for an acrylic curtain rod and this pops up.
Do you think a 12″ would work for hand towels? And if so, with the same brackets or something smaller? SO cute!
I love the idea!
Regards from the Spanish blog http://inatrendytown.com
I can totally do this!!
I sort of want to shoot myself right now. I had no idea you could even get any of those parts yourself. I just bought the exact same thing for the $80 or so that you mentioned. Ugh. Great DIY!
Wow, how simple, yet so effective x
http://www.wonkylauren.com
This is so simple, but really awesome!
Where does a girl buy an acrylic rod??
A tissue holdeholder to match too
This is such an amazing idea! And it looks so simple! I want to test this out in my bathroom ASAP! Great blog, thanks for the continuous stream of great ideas!
xx Annie
http://www.somethingswellblog.com/
There’s a link under the supplies list 🙂 -Jacki
Have you had any issues with the rod sliding? I’m always a little hesitant to use super glue…it seems so permanent!
XO, Amanda @ lifeonlinton.com
wow, love it!
xx
http://www.cherry-mag.com
It’s from Urban Outfitters 🙂
Laura
Yes, it should, you just have to find a smaller bracket. I’m working on a hand towel holder that coordinates but has a slightly different look 🙂
Laura
I have some square acrylic rod left over from an other project and was wondering what do with it. This is such a great idea! It will be perfect for a hand towel bar in my bathroom.
apartmentamour.com
Brilliant! Love this idea – the rack will be clean, sleek and strong! Fabulous. Thanks.
http://doodlet.me/
Laura all you new home diy projects are amazing!
Easy, pretty, perfect x
http://jessicawoods.fr
This is so beautiful! I love how stylish this is.
Love it! So simple but gorgeous
http://soldenochedecocrochet.blogspot.com.ar/
LOVE this!
Who knew that ordering plain Lucite was so inexpensive! Very cool project and the price is nice too. I’m thinking I might need to add one to my daughter’s new bathroom to match her acrylic jewelry organizer I designed!
Very cool idea! I don’t have much lucite in my home, but I like this trend!
Monica – Mocha and Moccasins
The brackets come with screws that you can use to keep the rod in place as well, they just stick out the bottom a bit which is why didn’t use them, but you won’t have to glue them if you do that instead 🙂
Laura
Such a great DIY!
http://www.llindatt.blogspot.com
You rock. This just made my day. Totally my level of DIY haha 😉
I love how simple and affordable this DIY is!
Spray paint is a save all in any type of DIY situation!! I always keep some on hand, gold and bronze color in particular. I am currently working on a HUGE DIY for my condo and hopefully i’ll be able to get the post up by the end of the week. I’d love for you to check it out at http://www.lovinlivinlearnin.com, and let me know what you think!
What color white did you use for your interior? Love your aesthetic!!
Where did you get the rod cut or did the company you bought it from do it?
I love glass, lucite, acrylic way too much! I found some towel bars at Seconds and Surplus here in TX that I could put lucite through because I wanted my brackets to be a little fancier and it worked perfectly! My latest find lucite legs for my couch and loveseat, lucite lamp finials, of course, I have glass tables everywhere. I found beautiful glass knobs at Hobby Lobby to go with the glass pulls I had to order from Home Depot because the size they had in stock was to short for my bathroom cabinets. I am creating my dream home so from glass entry doors into my bedroom, to glass closet doors to a future wall with glass blocks in it, not a wall but actually, 1 here or there some contractor is going to have to figure it out. I have glass scalloped vessel sinks with a chrome and glass faucet, glass and chrome light fixture and I recently found glass and chrome tile as an accent piece for the bathroom at Seconds and Surplus. Can’t wait to put it all together!!