Beaded Towel Bar by Franklin Brass: Review

Remodeling our bathroom was much easier than remodeling our kitchen, and I actually enjoyed this project! When it came time to update my hardware, all of my finishes were in a brushed chrome color. My faucets, lighting fixtures, and my towel and toilet paper bars were all purchased in matching chrome finishes. I shopped around for several weeks before setting on the Franklin Brass brand of towel bars, and boy am I glad I found them! This towel bar comes in a brushed satin pewter finish that matches my satin chrome lighting and plumbing fixtures.

Description

Franklin Brass products are actually made by Liberty Hardware Manufacturing Corporation, and are sold in many stores, both brick and mortar as well as online stores. Their towel bars come in both an 18 inch and 24 inch length, I chose their 24 inch, as that is the size I was replacing. This towel bar comes in a box, which says that it’s easy to install, and is functional for bath, kitchen, or all over the home.

Instructions are included for installation, and there are two plastic molly bolts included with the other mounting hardware, because you are going to have to drill a hole in your wall to install this towel bar. The towel bars are made of die cast zinc, and have the brushed chrome finish on them, but these bars stand apart from the crowd because they have a beaded design on them!

The two circular base sections that cover the mounting hardware on each end of the towel bar have a decorative beading, with darker coloring in this area, which gives it an antique look. The ends of the towel bar also have this same beading, as well as the portion that extends out from the wall.

Thoughts

I have received so many compliments on my towel bars! Aside from the toilet paper holder, they also sell matching towel rings as well as a double hook ring, and I have all but the towel ring in our bathroom. I looked for a few weeks, and had purchased a set from Home Depot that I liked, but when I saw this Franklin Brass set at our local hardware store, I fell in love with it, and it was actually a bit cheaper than the plainer model from Home Depot.

Sears sells this towel bar for $27.99, and it can be purchased online. That’s about the same price I paid, which really isn’t too bad considering it is a very attractive and well made item. Installing it was a little harder, because you do need to drill a small hole in the wall, insert a molly bolt (and we used the spider style metal molly’s, not the plastic ones that came with the towel bars), and then you can screw the mounting plate into position. The towel bars simply sit down into two grooves on this plate, and it ends up being very secure and solid.

We use the large sized bath towels, and two of them fit perfectly on this 24 inch bar! Our old bar, even though it was also 24 inches long, actually had less space on it because it was made of wood. The thinner bars of this one gives us more room. They add a great touch to our new bathroom, and I feel they have a very unique and distinctive look. All the weeks that I spent looking for the perfect set, I never found any others that had the beading on the bar, and this really gives it a special look, setting it apart from other brands.