The Affordable Organization series is dedicated to providing reasonable, real-life tips to help you become more organized. In contrast to the normal blog postings each week, these posts will include lots of pictures to supplement the writing. And if you’re tired of hearing from me, you’re in luck. Ashley will be the chief author of these posts! This post may contain affiliate links, please see disclaimer page for details.
Tip # 3 – Linen Closet Organization
The linen closet can sometimes be tricky. The major problem is that hardly anyone uses it for only linens. The linen closet holds not only towels and sheets, but in many cases, also clothes, jackets, shoes, cleaning supplies, and various other possibilities.
I will always argue that the best method of organizing is reducing. There is only so much clutter that can be organized. This is part of the reason minimalism has worked so well for us. As someone who loves to have everything organized and in its place at all times, having less clutter and more space means everything.
As you can see in the pictures, our linen closet holds our medicine, extra toiletries, towels, sheets, and blankets. The shelves were originally natural wood with a good deal of polyurethane slopped on. It didn’t look pretty. To brighten up the space a bit, I added contact paper to all of the wood shelves. We thought about painting them, but I liked the idea of having a nice pattern since this closet basically opens up into our kitchen at the beginning of the hallway. In the following paragraphs and pictures, you will see how each shelf is organized.
Linen Closet Top Shelf – Toiletries & Medicine
As you can see in the picture above, our top shelf is used for toiletries and some medicine. The see-through containers with labels make it easy to quickly locate what we are looking for. Dave still struggles to find things sometimes, though, don’t ask me how. Since the top shelf is a little bit difficult to reach, we use this for the items that we don’t need as often.
Also, notice how much space we are utilizing by stacking the containers. So often, closet space is wasted when an 18″ shelf has only one 3″ item on it.
Second Shelf – More Toiletries & Medicine
The second shelf is more or less a continuation of the first — more baskets and bins for both toiletries and medicine. This shelf is used for the items that we need more often. Notice the Mesh Stacking Shelf on the right side. These shelves from the Container Store are sturdy enough to hold some heavier items, but also high enough to fit other baskets below. This allows us to have two platforms so we can fit twice as many baskets.
Third Shelf – Towels
The third shelf holds all of the towels that we use upstairs. The kids have a shower/tub downstairs, so we leave additional towels down there for them. There are conflicting opinions on whether it is better to roll or fold towels to save space. Whatever your preference, rolling smaller towels and facecloths and keeping them in a basket helps keep them looking neat and organized, while also reducing the amount of space they take up.
Fourth Shelf – Sheets & Humidifiers
The next shelf holds all of our extra sheets. This closet is only a few steps from the bedrooms so it makes it very easy to switch things out. As for the humidifiers, C had pretty bad asthma when he was younger. He has been much better lately, so we could probably get rid of these or at least move them into our garage to open up more space in the linen closet.
Floor – Extra Blankets
We have two large canvas baskets on the ground which hold all of our extra blankets and comforters. These are rarely used but are necessary for the few times that we have someone staying over.
Affordable Organization – Linen Closet – Price
- See-Through Bins – $1/each = $15 (Dollar Store)
- Beige Bins – $1/each = $6 (Dollar Store)
- Contact Paper – $1/each = $6 (Dollar Store)
- Canvas Baskets – $14.99 (Amazon) (Similar – could not find original)
- Mesh Stacking Shelf – $16.99 (The Container Store)
Total Price – $58.98
Conclusion
This is how we keep our linen closet as organized and orderly as possible. As I mentioned, we may be able to get rid of or move a few other things to free up more space, but the closet serves its purpose well right now.
If you are interested in the Affordable Organization Series, be sure to check out our other posts:
What about you? What ideas do you have for better linen closet organization? I’d love to hear in the comments below.
