Little Upgrades: Bathroom Hooks

Mr. 3 and I needed some towel hooks for the main bathroom.  Our new apartment only came equipped with one towel rod hanging over the toilet and one hand towel ring hanging over the toilet paper holder.  It seems like an odd configuration to me...drippy wet hands using a hand towel over the toilet paper = soggy toilet paper.  The towel rod doesn't provide enough space to drape the towel without it touching the water tank on the toilet (ew) and there is only room for one.  I hate slinging wet towels over the shower curtain, so I decided to get some new, additional hooks.

I picked these up while I was on a mad dash around Target picking up toilet paper, paper towels, and moving supplies during the week of our move. Although I seriously did not need one more item that I was going to have to carry up the stairs, I snagged them anyways, Target always sells out of things.

$8.29
Threshold Darby Hook
Source: Target

I bought two hooks, but I wasn't too crazy about the dark iron color.  I decided to spray paint the hook and the center of the flower in champagne gold to go better with my other bathroom colors.  I also thought the white flower went well with my new shower curtain!

Kate Spade Morningside Heights Shower Curtain
Source: Bed Bath and Beyond

I could have gone the silver route, but I've been on a gold kick lately and I can always repaint later if I change my mind.

I used Rust-Oleum spray paint in Champagne Mist from Home Depot.  I had previously used the silver kind for making my magnolia wreaths for my wedding, so I was familiar with the product.  Other blogs I've read like Young House Love seem to like this brand too.  The color is great and I like that the primer is built in. You can also use it to spray on almost any surface and it protects against rust (bonus for bathroom fixtures!).  The can is super easy to hold and easy on the hands.   I've done a bit of comparative shopping on spray paint and Home Depot usually has the best prices and selection.  At $6.76 a can, it may seem a bit pricey for such a small project, but since Rust-Oleum can be used for outdoor items too, I have some ideas for my patio project that will use up the rest of the can (and then some!).

$6.76
Source: Home Depot

I also bought some green frog tape to protect the white bits on the hooks from getting sprayed.  According to Mr. 3, blue painters tape is out, green tape is in!  Basically, if you use blue, you don't get crisp lines, there's still room for the paint to creep under.  Although I wasn't painting lines or walls for this project, I feel like somewhere down the line this might come in handy.

Mr. 3 helped me out on this project by taping off one of the hooks while I worked on the other.  The man loves a can of spray paint, so I let him handle the painting part too.

Step 1: Tape off parts you don't want sprayed.  Because this was a round object and we didn't want the center painted, we used lots of little bits of tape to make sure it was all covered.

 Step 2: Lay down paper to protect floor and whatever else you decide you don't want painted gold.  

Step 3: Spray with light quick strokes.  We had to go back and forth quite a bit to get the dark iron color covered.  Do this in a well ventilated area.  We sprayed outside on the patio.

Step 4:  Wait until paint dries.  According to Rust-Oleum that can be as little as 30 mins.  We waited an hour or so.

Step 5: Flip the hooks over and spray the back of the hooks.  We didn't bother taping off the back of the hook since it's going to be hanging on the wall.

We waited a bit of time for the hooks to dry, but evidently not enough.  We brought them inside to look at them in the light and saw that some fibers had gotten trapped in the paint.  Sigh.  We sanded the fibers off and resprayed.  After waiting for them to dry for 24 hrs, Mr. 3 got to work and did some quick installation.  Yay towel hooks!

More on the bathroom later, I've got a few things left to do in here before I can show you the whole thing.

Little Upgrade Cost Breakdown

2 Hooks: $17.57

Spray Paint:  $7.17

Frog Tape: $7.39

Total Cost (with tax): $32.13

Although it seems a bit high for two hooks, I've got future uses for both the spray paint and the frog tape and these two hooks hardly used any of either.

What do you think?  Cute? Easy?  Are you doing any little upgrades to your home?