Wednesday, August 10, 2005

The New Kitchen Towel Rack

Oh the problems of a frugal veggie mama! Some well meaning person threw away the empty roll of paper towel that I've been using as a kitchen towel drying rack. What's a girl to do? I do still keep a roll of paper towel in the house for emergencies but I'm certainly not going to make it an easy grab by hanging it where it belongs. (The last roll of paper towel we had lasted several months because, in our house, most spills can be handled by the dish cloth, mop or kitchen towel.)

Anyway, I've been searching for that perfect towel bar, rack or hook without any luck. I did come across a black metal fish with several hooks that would work for the dish towels but I just didn't like it. Besides, towels get funky smelling when they stay wet and I didn't think they would dry too well hung close together on the fish. I needed something black, metal and small to fit in with the kitschy, country, wrought iron decor.

This morning I had a brainstorm. In the garage I had several grates from barbeque grills that I had scavenged (the why of it all is a long story that I'll save for another time.) With hacksaw in hand, I cut off the first three rows of the grate. This created what looked like a miniature ladder, which I painted with the leftover black rustoleum that I always seem to be using. Because the grate was pitted from use, it gave the whole thing a wrought iron look which was nice. I then unscrewed the paper towel rack and predrilled holes under the cabinet for the hooks that the new rack would hang from. Once the hooks were screwed in, I painted them as well.
It really looks great.

I think the best part of it all is the lessons my kids learn from watching a project go from idea to execution. For my girls, its the notion that you don't have to wait for Dad to do something, you can do it yourself. For my boys, its the excitement of helping with tools and watching seemingly useless things be transformed into functional items.

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