7 Steps to a Fantastic Linen Closet

Not everyone is lucky enough to have space for a linen closet in the house. If you are one of the lucky ones, it’s certainly worthwhile to make this space work for you. Say goodbye to the leaning tower of towels and the mismatched sheets…and hello to great organization with these linen closet organization tips. You really can make a fantastic space with room for all of your sheets, towels and more. Here’s how.

1. As with any reorganization of the closet space, you’ve got to start to make order by making chaos. Pull everything out of the closet and place it on the floor.


2. Once you’ve got all of your items surrounding you, it’s time to sort them. Sort everything into categories so that the pillows are together, as are the blankets, towels, sheets, table linens, table runners, and so on. Anything that you find that isn’t related to a linen closet should be stored elsewhere.


3. Discard all sheets and towels that have become worn and ratty. Then, limit yourself to three sets of sheets per bed and three sets of bath towels, hand towels and washcloths per person. Everything else that is in decent condition can be donated or turned into household rags.


4. Now, clean out the shelves. Readjust shelving as necessary, keeping in mind that sheets and table linens need a shelf that is about 10 inches high, while towels need 12 to 16 inches. Leave an 18 inch shelf on the top for bulky items such as blankets.


5. Put the bulkiest items or those that are infrequently used, such as comforters, quilts, blankets and more on the highest shelf. Store them in a zippered bag to protect them from dust, allergens and humidity.


6. Purchase a number of wire baskets or wicker baskets to more easily store and organize linens and table cloths. Use one wire basket to store all the bedding for one bed together. For instance, all of the fitted sheets, top sheets, duvet covers and pillow cases for the king size bed would go together in one wire basket, while the futon sheets would be in another storage basket, and the twin sheets would be in a third. If you plan to purchase more sheets, make sure to purchase them in contrasting colors so that you’ll be able to readily identify the sheets for each bed based on their colors. Table cloths should receive a wire basket as well.


7. Next, purchase wicker baskets to store towels. Keep towels together so that the bath towels, face towels and wash clothes for one bathroom will all be in one wicker basket, and those for the guest bathroom will all be in another, etc. Either neatly fold towels to store in each wicker basket, or roll them up for a spa look.

With these steps, you’ll be amazed at how much more efficient and organized your linen closet will appear. Make sure to keep the humidity at 50% in the linen closet, and the temperature at 60 or 65 degrees F. Check textiles once in a while to make sure that nothing is mildewing or experiencing mold, and continue discarding older sheets and towel as necessary and purchasing more wicker baskets and wire baskets as needed. Voila! You’ve made an organized linen closet overnight!