Have you always wanted a traditional towel rail to round off your bathroom? Got that amazing bath that is crying out for a cast iron radiator?

Have you ever considered adding a cast iron towel rail based on a radiator? One of the best designs you can have is a towel rail with a built in, small radiator, and it's often the best choice for any bathroom.

Small or large?

Most bathrooms nowadays are fairly small. You'll find that most bathrooms won't fit a massive towel rail, unless you're lucky enough to either get to design the house itself or can extend your bathroom space somehow. But if you're clever, you can fit a towel rail just about anywhere (practical). This could include over a bunker without a sink, or right beside the bath.

Small towel rails are all the rage at the moment, with styles running from ornate to austere – what is important to be sure of is that one, you can fit as many towels as you need onto there, and two, that you don't need ‘another' radiator in the room – as the right towel rail will warm any room with ease. Having a towel rail with a built in radiator can serve both functions, but may limit your drying and storage space, so any design that incorporates a radiator may need to be looked at carefully.

Towel rails aren't designed to be drying racks – a mistake many people make is hanging their towels on the towel rail without considering whether they'll even dry properly – but they do solve the problem of damp piles of cloth that would otherwise need to be washed or tidied away faster.

Do you have a motif?

If your house is being refurbished, or you are using the same radiators throughout the house (which is normal), you'll find that your towel radiator may be slightly more troublesome – it's important to make sure that you can tie the motif back – in many cases your radiator supplier can advise you on your options, but it's important to be sure that your design choices are safe (that you can get past them without scalding yourself) and work with the overall ‘feel' you're going for.

What are you interested in?

Décor wise, if you've got a look you're going for, especially in a bathroom, radiators and towel rails can be used to tie the elements together. Perhaps your bath has interesting feet, in which case, maybe the pattern can be matched on your towel rail. Or on the other hand, perhaps you need something austere to downplay the rest of the ‘furniture' in the room – an austere towel rail will give your bathroom the opportunity to work with its best features and let the eye be drawn to your feature piece – be it your bath or something else.

With many years in the heating and plumbing industry Edward Hall has for sometime now been writing on such subjects as the cast iron radiator , its history and benefits and imparting his vast knowledge on the subject.