The best towel bar height, toilet paper holder height, and other bathroom measurements to help you get the final touches on your bathroom right!
Since sharing bathroom remodel before & after, I got a ton of detailed questions about measurements for various things in our bathroom. Everything from toilet paper holder height to the height and size of our shower niche, and more. So today I’m sharing all the tips and measurements that you’ll need to make designing and decorating your bathroom a breeze!
Even if you didn’t just buy a towel rack or TP holder that you need to hang or you aren’t about to jump into a bathroom makeover, these tips are ones to keep on hand to refer to down the road…
Ready to get started? Let’s go… (post includes commissionable links; for more information, see my full disclosure statement {here})
Towel Bar Height
The standard recommendation for towel bar height is 48″ from the floor to the center of the bar – I tend to hang mine between 44-48″ high. When determining the best towel bar height for your space, take into consideration how your bathroom is laid out (sometimes the placement of outlets and light switches can affect things) and who is going to use it (for example, you might want a lower towel bar height in a kids bathroom).
The towel bar above in the powder room of our previous homes isn’t the prettiest of options (it was here when we bought the house) but I’ve bought {this towel bar} twice and really love it – classic yet updated! You can also find great options at Rejuvenation, Pottery Barn, and West Elm.
Towel bars typically come in three lengths – 18″, 24″, and 30″. An 18″ towel bar is great for small spaces and fits a single standard bath towel folded in half while a 24″ towel bar fits a single oversized bath towel folded in half. If you have the space, a 30″ towel bar is great for holding two standard bath towels folded in thirds. Of course another option for holding two towels is to get a 24″ double towel bar.
Need new bath towels? Check out my post on the best bath towels for advice on the best ones to buy!
Towel Ring Height
And what about towel ring height? Hang towel rings at the same height (measure from the bottom of the ring) as towel bars if they’re over the floor. If it’s over the vanity like in my guest bathroom, hang the towel ring so the bottom of your towels hang at least a few inches above the vanity which is typically 18-22″ above the vanity (again, measuring from the bottom of the ring):
Guest Bathroom Sources: Vanity faucet | Faucet handles | Chrome towel ring | Gray vanity (similar) | Brass and pearl vanity knobs
Robe Hook Height
Along with being used for robes, robe hooks are a great alternative to towel bars! The recommended robe hook height in your bathroom is between 55-70″ above the floor. Mine are placed at 67″ high and about 10″ apart:
I used {these robe hooks} which come in four different finish options. Mine are the Golden Champagne finish:
Toilet Paper Holder Height
The recommended height for your toilet paper holder is 26″ from the floor to the center of the TP roll. It’s also recommended that the center of your toilet paper roll be placed 8-12″ in front of the front rim of your toilet. To find the best measurement within that 8-12″ to place it, sit on the toilet with your eyes closed and reach to where you’d expect to naturally find your TP roll (if multiple people use the bathroom, have them all do this and then mount it at the average distance). And yes, you will feel stupid while doing this – ha!
Sources: Brushed brass toilet paper holder (comes in other finishes too) | Toilet | Heated toilet seat | Woven trash can
Shower Niche Height
Being intentional with your shower niche rather than having it be a last minute thought when you remodel or do a new build is one of my top 10 master bathroom remodel ideas. While there is no standard shower niche height, about 48-60″ is a good target range. The interior width of my shower niche is 12 ¾″ and width of the larger footrest niche (where I put my foot for shaving) is 7″. I added the heights that I chose for mine to a pic of our shower so you can see exactly what I went with:
Shower sources: Driftwood teak shower bench | Shower head (satin nickel) | Shower valve trim (satin nickel) | Hand shower (satin nickel) | Marble wall tile | Hexagon floor tile | Grout: Mapei Frost | Square shower drain (satin nickel)
A good tile person will take into account where the tile surrounding the niche begins and ends when determining the exact shower niche height and size. For example, you can see how my large niche up top is perfectly sandwiched between the surrounding shower tile with only full tile pieces both above and below it. When deciding on the size of my bottom footrest niche, I didn’t want it to be as tall as two full tiles so our tile guy lined it up perfectly on the bottom and then made it exactly 1 ½ tile pieces high.
If you’re going to divide your shower niche in half so that you have two shelves like mine, that also looks best when the shelf is aligned with the surrounding tile (the top of my shelf is aligned with the top of the surrounding wall tile). Exactly how you divide the two shelves is totally personal preference but I divided mine roughly in thirds with ⅓ of the space below (for soap and a sponge) and ⅔ of the space above (for shampoo & conditioner pumps):
On Shower Niche Shelves: Shampoo & Conditioner Pump Bottles (16 oz white/gold) | Body brush | Sea sponge
Sconce Height
There’s really no one “right” height to hang wall sconces since it depends so much upon where they’re being used. When they’re flanking a mirror in the bathroom mirror you typically want to hang them at eye level where they illuminate your face – but be sure not to hang them so high that the bulbs are visible when you’re standing next to them. In our bathroom, this meant that the distance from the floor to the center of the back plate of our sconces is about 62″.
Sources: Pedestal sink | Sconces | Mirror is no longer available but {this mirror} is similar
The standard recommendation for how far apart to mount sconces flanking a bathroom mirror is 36″ – 40″ but a lot depends upon the width of your mirror (and the position of the wall studs may also play a role). Our bathroom mirror is fairly narrow so our sconces are hung 33″ apart (measured from the center of one sconce to the center of the other). Trust your eye on this one!
Vanity Light Height
I’ve also gotten some questions about how I decided on the height of my vanity lights and mirror – honestly, I totally eyeballed it! But here are the exact measurements if you want to re-create the look:
Vanity Area Sources: Wood & rattan double vanity | Vanity knobs | Bathroom faucets – brushed nickel | Vanity lights | Vanity mirrors – gold | Woven seagrass tray on vanity (similar) | Soap & lotion sink set with tray
I hope you guys find these simple measurements to be helpful for either now or down the road (be sure to Pin a pic or two from this post if you want to be able to find it later)! If you have any questions about sources for anything in the pics I shared, there’s a complete source list for our guest bathroom plus several guest bathroom ideas {here}, sources for our powder room plus details on how I painted our bathroom’s ceramic tile floors {here}, and sources for our bathroom remodel {here}.
Another post you might enjoy if you missed it is my post on favorite bathroom decor ideas including storage & shelving, bath mats, hampers, stools, countertop accessories and more.
Thanks as always for stopping by,
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Kirsten Valentine says
Thank you so much for all this info!
It is extremely helpful.
I love all your finished and products but was wondering if you could include the small bench seat in your shower photo. I didn’t see it listed. ( I might have missed)
Thank you!
Karen B. says
What would we do without you? Even though I’m not remodeling anything right now, your information is so well-researched and your analysis of what works is priceless.
Have a wonderful upcoming week.
xo,
Karen
Tasha says
I love those two mini, white shelves about your sink for holding the soap and flower! What would you call that/where would I find it? Thanks!
Sheri says
I want to hang a small knick-knack shelf above my towel rack. Are there any recommended distances from the bottom of the shelf to the top of the towel rack?
Tara Betsch says
I am hanging a towel ring AND a telescoping mirror on the wall to the right of my vanity. Where are the proper places to hang them? Vanity is flush with the wall on the right. Toilet is to the left of the vanity. A Cabinet is mounted to the wall above the toilet.
Thank you in advance!
Kathy Lepp says
So VERY practical and helpful! And… good for the marriage. No more arguing about where to hang things in the powder room.
Thank you! Kathy
Stephanie says
Is there 33″ between the inside edges of your sconces, or 33″ from outside edge to outside edge? Thanks!
Kris Jarrett says
Ours are 33″ apart from center to center.
Jeanne Feenick says
Hi there, found this post very helpful. My situation is that I have a very tight space to work with. The only place for a towel bar is beside the toilet. The installer put the rod at 58 inches, a bit over the high end to lessen risk of towel hitting toilet. I am using large bath sheets which when folded are about 7 inches longer than a standard towel. Ceiling height in the room is high at 11 feet. Am I ok with the 58 inches?
Thomas Gerlach says
Came for how high to hang the towel bar. 48 inches, perfect, will put it there. Thank you!!
Rebecca says
Hi Kris! How high would you hang a wooden shelf above the toilet?
Kris Jarrett says
It would depend on the ceiling height and what’s going on the shelf so it’s going to differ a bit from bathroom to bathroom. I don’t have a one size fits all measurement for that unfortunately.
Catherine says
This was very helpful. Thank you
Alison Ward says
Thank you!! We moved into a house and I knew the towel rings “felt” too low and the towels pool on the vanity! I am so glad I found this so I have proof to my husband and can now justify moving them all,
MD744 says
Doing a bathroom refresh. Husband and I disagreed on toilet paper height. HE was right. I had to concede. ☺ Other measurements were also very helpful. This was my first venture into your website. It certainly won’t be my last. Thanks!
Kris Jarrett says
Ha! Well I’m sorry you lost the bet but glad you found your way to my blog – welcome!
Craig says
would paper height vary for standard vs comfort height toilets?
Anonymous says
Thanks so much, I’m in the process of remodeling and this is the exact info I needed. I’d appreciate your thoughts on my space. In the master, I am installing a double vanity with a middle cabinet
from the vanity top to ceiling which is flanked by walls. From the wall to the cabinet is 36″. My choices are wall sconces attached to the wall and cabinet for best lighting or above the mirror. I’m concerned that with even a slim profile of 3 or 4 inches on wall sconces the space might feel cramped as they would only be 28-20″ apart. Thoughts?
K says
I am doing same exact thing. I decided to put a canned light in ceiling on both sides above sink.
Hollie @ Stuck on Hue says
I was reading another designer’s blog tonight and someone asked a couple of these exact questions in the comments. Great timing for me to pass this post on to her, and pin for my upcoming bath reno. Thanks!
Kris Jarrett says
I’m so glad it came at a good time Hollie! 🙂
Katy Beacher says
Thank you. I never gave much thought before about the height of towel racks and TP holders. But, now that you mention it I do hate where the TP holder is mounted in our master bath. Its about level with my elbow and about 2 inches from my arm. Awkward huh?