Recessed Toilet Paper Holder

A recessed toilet paper holder was a project that was floating around in my mind for a while. However, when the toilet paper holder in my downstairs bathroom unexpectedly broke, I escalated the task to the top of my To-Do List. Now I just needed to figure out the details and get it done!

Location???

Because the new TP holder was going in a fairly small bathroom, I was limited on where it could be placed. My first choice was to recess it into the vanity cabinet. However, when I measured inside the cabinet, I found that the distance from the inside wall of the cabinet to the sink would not allow enough room for the recess. Darnit! So it was on to Plan B and the new TP holder would be located in the wall between the bathroom door frame and the shower curtain.

Demolition:

In an ideal world, there would be two studs with their centers spaced exactly 16″ apart on each side of where the new 14.5″ wide TP holder would go. Additionally, there would be no electrical lines or plumbing lines in the wall. If this were the case, I would just need to cut a hole in the drywall and insert the new frame. Easy-peasy. But nooooo! I don’t have an “ideal-world” downstairs bathroom. It turns out there was a stud in the middle of the opening, along with one electrical wire for the bathroom light switch and a second wire for an outlet on the other side of the wall. And both wires were penetrating the stud. All this made the demolition process much more complicated.

To tackle the demolition, I first pulled the two wires out of the existing stud. Then I stapled them to the next stud to right of my opening. Next, I cut out the section of the stud that was in the way. And finally, I put in a new header to support the upper remaining portion of the stud. The demolition was unexpected extra work, but it didn’t take me too long.

More Demolition:

Meanwhile, on the other side of the wall, there was an existing outlet that was now in the way and needed to move a few inches to the left. Removing the old outlet box was simple, but it did leave a hole in the wall that would need to be patched and I strongly dislike patching drywall. It’s so messy & time consuming and has never been something I care to do. But I would rather tackle it myself than hire someone to do it any day.

Construction:

I made the frame for the TP holder from 12″ wide wood shelves that I cut into 4″ wide planks. I screwed the planks together to make a 14.5″ wide by 19″ tall frame. A back panel for the frame was not necessary because the backside of the drywall served as the back of the unit.

Next, I inserted the frame into the opening and nailed it in place. There was a little extra room on the side, but no worries there because I planned to cover that up with trim.

Adding Trim:

Next step was adding 2-1/2″ wide casing trim around the frame. I cut the trim to the proper lengths and attached it with finish nails.

Finishing Touches:

With the frame and trim in place, the project was close to complete. I built the TP frame without a back and was using the back side of the drywall as the back of the frame. The only problem with that is the back side of drywall is rough. So I applied a thin coat of drywall joint compound to the back to smooth it out.

After sanding everything, the final step was to caulk all the joints and nail holes and apply a couple coats of bright white semi-gloss paint over everything. Finally, I screwed in two pairs of closet rod brackets and cut and painted a wooden closet rod to hold the toilet paper.

End Result:

And here’s the finished product!!! This project involved some unanticipated extra work, but everything worked out. I love it when a project turns out EXACTLY as I imagined!