There’s more to folding towels than you might suspect. Do you just throw your towels on a hook or rack and just let them dangle? Or do you have a hodge-podge of towels that don’t match? Maybe you have flat, fat folds taking up valuable decorating space on your shelves? If you answered yes to any of these questions, you’re likely doing your bathroom decor a major disservice!
I often see, and even find in my own bathroom, that I forget to embrace towels in the design. As a very essential item in any bathroom, towels should be utilized to enhance the design of your space. The question then becomes, how do you display your towels in an appealing way? Well no worries there, I’ve got a few tips!
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Folding Towels 101
The most important part of implementing towels into your design is to start with good, quality towels. If you haven’t already read it, I highly recommend starting with my guide to selecting the most luxurious towels. Once you’ve selected and acquired a few quality towels, give the following three towel folds a try!
Just a heads up, please excuse the towels here. I was out of town and had to utilize the space and towels in my Airbnb!
The Basic Fold
The basic fold is what I like to call the fundamental towel fold. This will help create a nice clean look for storing your towels. This is essential if you have a lot of open storage in your bathroom. Instead of wasting that space, you can combine a few towels neatly folded, alongside some carefully placed decorations to help elevate your space.
What you need: 1 Towel
Step 1: Lay the towel down on a flat surface and have the backside up. Look at the seams or find the tag for reference on which side is the back!
Step 2: Fold the towel in half hamburger style. If you don’t know hamburger style fold it to where it is short and fat, not long and skinny.
Step 3: Hamburger fold it again.
Step 4: Now you’re now going to have a side with a rounded edge and one with the two loose ends neatly lined up. Flip the nice fold to the back, so the side with the loose ends is face up. Fold this into thirds by folding one side in & the other over top.
Now you have a neatly folded towel that fits on practically any standard shelf! Place the beautifully rounded side out and stack a few of the same towels on top of each other for a well-curated shelf decoration.
The Spa Roll
Next is the perfect towel “fold” to use if you need to store your towels on a counter or the side of the tub. The spa-style roll adds a special flair to your bathroom to make it feel more like a resort than your own personal bathroom. I love the roll because not only does it provide an aesthetically pleasing way to store your towels, but it also takes up a bit less valuable counter space this way!
What You Need: 1 Towel
Step 1: Lay the towel out flat. Then fold one corner on a diagonal toward the middle so the short side lines up halfway along the long side creating a triangle on one half.
Step 2: Fold the towel in half hot dog style (aka long and skinny).
Step 3: Flip the towel over so you can’t see all the folds, just the smooth side, and start rolling from the flat edge at the bottom.
Step 4: Once you roll it all the way to the top, you’ll have one loose pointed end. Tuck that into the side of the roll and you’re done!
Now you have a luxe look that will save space in your bathroom! It’s quick, easy, and elevates your bathroom so quickly. Stack two or three of these together for added texture and/or color in your bathroom.
The Fancy Fold
This one I reserve for the guest bath only. It’s a bit more time-consuming, and definitely, takes a little more practice, but your guests will be impressed and it will give your bathroom a luxurious, spa feel. The best part is this will give your guest all three towels they need (1 towel, 1 face washcloth, and 1 body washcloth) in one classy design.
What You Need: 1 towel, 2 washcloths
Step 1: Take your bath towel and lay it out flat. You’ll want to fold it longways into thirds so your towel looks long and skinny.
Step 2: Take your long and skinny towel and fold it in half the opposite way.
Step 3: Take one of your washcloths and fold it diagonally in half to make a triangle shape.
Step 4: Take your triangle-shaped washcloth and tie it about midway down the front fold of your towel. The pointed end of your triangle should be facing down towards the loose end of your folded towel. If you have a thicker towel you may want to or need to secure it with a safety pin or large binder clip.
Step 5: Depending on how I feel, I go in two directions here. For option one, I take the top flap of the down folded triangle and flip it up then fold it down again to create a dual-layered triangle flap. For option 2, take both ends of the bottom of the folded triangle and tuck them under to create more of a trapezoid-shaped pocket.
Step 6 (Option 1): Now once you’ve created your pocket, you can proceed to place flowers, decorative soaps, travel-sized shampoos or conditioners, or any small decorative item in your pocket.
Step 6 (Option 2): If you don’t want to add the decorative items, or don’t have them then here’s a secondary option! Take your second small washcloth & start with the tag side up. Fold about an inch over the tag, then accordion-style fold the washcloth back and forth like those fans you used to make in elementary school. Now fold this in half and neatly tuck your fan-like washcloth into its cozy pocket.
Your beautiful towel design is now ready to hang on your towel rack! It will be the perfect addition to your guest bathroom and will impress anyone who steps foot in your home. Don’t be surprised if guests start asking for tips on folding towels.
