Towel bars and bath accessories can be much more than functional. The trend these days is to match them to the faucets in the bathroom. Many faucet companies offer a line of bath accessories to complement their faucet styles. You may want to follow this trend or choose to mix and match. Whatever your choice, new bath accessories can definitely add new life and function to your bathroom.

You will need:

• New towel bars and accessories
• Screwdriver
• Drill
• Molly bolts or other fasteners 

1. CHOOSE THE NEW FITTINGS. If you want to match your bathroom’s decor, take a picture of it with you when you shop. It’s also a good idea to remove the old fittings before you go shopping and take them with you. Most towel bars are offered in standard sizes, but measure your existing ones just in case they are metric or new versions may have to be cut to fit. Measure from the center of one post or base to the center of the opposite one. Make sure the new backplates will completely cover the old ones. Often, paint and wallpaper can fade behind the old ones.

2. CAREFULLY REMOVE ALL OLD FITTINGS. If you are trying to take off old towel bars and the screws are not exposed so you can easily see how to remove the towel bar posts, look for a setscrew at the bottom of the post or at the bottom of the baseplate. Some styles even have a notch with a tab holding them on. Just push in on the tab with a small slot head screwdriver to remove.

3. MOUNT THE NEW FITTINGS AND BARS. When replacing the bars, you can try to use the same mounting plates or hit the same holes. If you are successful, run out and buy a lottery ticket while your luck is on your side! Often, when you remove the screws that hold the old mounting bracket to the wall, you’ll find little space left for new screws. Sometimes, if you replace a horizontal screw pattern with a vertical pattern, you’ll have enough fresh drywall for screws to be placed with the other orientation, which will allow for a stronger grip. If you have to remove Molly bolts, drill them out and push them into the wall. If your new backplates have holes that closely match, you can use wing-toggle bolts through the original holes. But the best bet is usually to start fresh with new holes. Just make sure the new towel bar base covers the old holes completely.

4. COMPLETE THE FINAL TOUCHES. Make sure that all fittings are attached securely. Then hang some new fluffy towels up to complete your new motif!