What To Do When My Linen Closet Is Too Small

There are solutions to every problem so let's take a look at each one of them. It seems the larger the home the smaller the closet and storage places are becoming, at least for linen closets in many of the homes being built today. We all have beds so we need sheets, we all need towels yet linen closets are shrinking and the shelves are also getting narrow.

Solution: First of all make sure the linen closet is being used only for linens. Are there other essentials needed in the home that could be kept else where like tub toys, medicines, bibs, or maybe hot pads for the kitchen? Take these out and put somewhere else. Assess the linens you are keeping. Do you have too many towels, both hand towels and bath towels? If the answer is yes then get rid of the ones you don't need, like, or are in poor condition.

In the bathroom there is a lot of unused space over the toilet. There are ready made shelves that can be attached to the wall. Beautiful cabinets with doors can be attached to the wall or there are some that are part shelves and part cabinets. Free standing shelves or cabinets can also be placed over the toilet and are made with extension poles which makes these very easy to install and are portable in case of a move. Both shelves and cabinets come in a variety of pre-finished wood stains, white and cream finishes. These can hold extra towels, wash cloths and even a variety of other small items used in the bathroom.

A beautiful towel holder that holds several towels and wash cloths can be used in this area. A hat rack in the bathroom can hold extra towels or if there is not enough space on a towel rack it can come in handy to hang bath towels which are being used by each member of the family. A basket could be placed on top of the toilet to hold rolled up wash cloths or hand towels.

I do not recommend keeping towels under the sink as there is a possibility of a leak at some time, even small drips can cause material to mildew.

Sheets that normally go in a linen closet can be folded very neatly and tightly and put in the matching pillowcase and placed on the shelves. This also saves space having the sheet set all together. If you have a variety of sheet sizes label the shelf using a label maker or masking tape showing the size of the sheet to be placed on that the shelves. (twin, queen, king) This helps the person returning clean sheets to the closet to know where to put them and not just jumbling or shoving them in the closet.
Sheets can be placed in rolling containers that fit under beds where the sheets will be used. The specific sheet needed for that bed is available, not taking up space in the closet and it saves time as it is in the room where it will be used.

If there is room in the bedroom closets; sheets as well as extra towels that don't fit in the linen closet can be kept in baskets where the linens are easily reached and accessible. When looking for storage solutions first get rid of what you don't need, keep only necessities in the main linen closet or shelves, and then find other places in your home for the extra linens. Always try to have the items in places that are convenient.

About Author Marilyn Bohn : Marilyn is a creative organizer who has been organizing for over 20 years. She is a member of the National Association of Professional Organizers and is working towards becoming a Certified Professional Organizer. Professionally she has been organizing homes and offices for over two years. She holds a bachelors degree in Social Work. She has reared five daughters and currently lives in Utah. Go to her website http://www.marilynbohn.com where you can find free organizing tips and interesting blogs and helpful articles on organizing.

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Organize Your Home Storage and Simplify Your Life!

Be delighted with yourself — committing to organize your home is the first step in actually doing it! The Linen Closet will need attending too eventually so let’s go there now.

If you have excess laundry to deal with, you probably have a linen closet that is less than user-friendly. Once you have clean towels, rags, and other linens to put away, you won’t do it if their destination is less-than-appealing.

So let’s organize it! This is the first place where you’ll have to be brutally honest with yourself about what you keep and what you get rid of. When I say, “get rid of,” I don’t necessarily mean it ends up in the trash—if it’s towels, bedding, etc., that are in bad condition, your local animal shelter would be grateful for your donation. They always need things for the dogs and cats to lay on in their runs and crates, and your cast-offs in this area will be eagerly accepted.

Take stock of what you have for shelves. Do you have wooden or wire shelves? Do you have problems with things “falling through” if you have wire shelves? If so, you don’t have to worry and go buy scrap wood to line the shelves with—a simple piece of shelf-lining (you know, that bumpy green stuff that comes in rolls) will lie nicely and prevent small things from falling through. If necessary, put some of that down.

Now take a look and see what you’ve got in terms of extra bedding.

How many beds in your home? You should have a minimum of 1 extra bedding-set for each bed, a maximum of 2. Think about it before you start to write me and tell me why you need 6 sets of bedding for each bed—if you have small children who have nighttime accidents (or get the stomach flu in the middle of the night), you might have to change sheets in the morning (or the middle of the night if it’s barf!), and you’ll have some clean ones to put on. You’ll put the dirty ones in the washer and get the machine started on that task. Then you’ll swap things to the dryer. You’ll still have clean sheets on the bed and if you’ve got 2 extra sets, another clean one in the linen closet.

So now with that argument won, go through your bedding. Do you have mis-matched pieces? If so, put them in the donation pile. Do you have twin pieces mixed in with king pieces? If so, separate them in two piles. Make sure everything is folded (I’ll give you a pass on the fitted sheets—those are impossible to fold neatly!). Now set aside one or two shelves for your bedding. Make sure that the bedding for the queen bed is not piled up with the stuff for the crib or twin bed. You can fold the stuff in squares or fold it in to long rectangles and then roll it. Either way is acceptable—it just depends on how much space you’ve got.

Now we move on to towels and other things in your linen closet…

3. Take stock of your towels, washcloths, and other terrycloth things. Do you have towels that are holey or bleach-stained? Do you have towels that aren’t very absorbent from using too much fabric softener? Do you have towels that don’t match your current bathroom décor? Donate them. Keep only that which matches your décor (unless you turn it in to a rag), and only that which wouldn’t embarrass you to put out for guests when they visit. That should pare down your towel collection to a more manageable number.

I can’t tell you an exact number that is appropriate here—that depends on how many members are in your family. What I can suggest is 2 towels per person—one that’s currently hanging in the bathroom and one clean one that can be conscripted into service when the current one is in the wash. Do you have washcloths? One for every-other day of the week would be appropriate—many people don’t use them anymore, in this age of scrubbiest, poufs, and other facial cleansing methods.

Do you have a rag-pile (or kitchen-towel pile) in your linen closet? If so, fold those and put them on a shelf that’s easy to access. You’ll use those most frequently, so make them easy to reach and use. Again, sort through and see what’s in reasonable condition and put the rest in the pile for the animal shelter.

What other things are in your linen closet? Do you have table linens there? If so, do you know what’s there? Are they neat enough that when you need them you don’t have to go digging and put the iron on “fry it silly” to get the wrinkles out? If any of the above is true, pull them out, wash, sort, keep only the best, and fold (or press) them quickly and put them away.

Finally, if you have other miscellaneous things (doilies, candlesticks, etc.) in your linen closet, set a shelf aside for those things. If you don’t have a full shelf to ascribe to them, use a shelf that’s only half-full of other items. Again, sort through and keep only what you’re in love with—anything else can be donated to a charity-resale shop, given to siblings, or sold on eBay.

Don’t keep things “just in case” great-aunt Mildred comes by—she won’t, and if she does, she probably won’t remember what it was. Remember, you’re organizing your home so that it’s not just a house of stuff for your family. That’s much more important than not offending a distant relative!

Congratulations—you’ve won the battle with your linen closet. Isn’t it such a nice feeling to open up a closet and not be in danger of the falling towel zone?

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