7 tips for perfect linen closet organization for the best ways to sort sheets, keep cleaning supplies handy, make laundry easier, and have guest amenities in easy reach.
This project was sponsored by World Market.
Ever since the New Year, I’ve been a girl on a mission. Okay, really, ever since we moved, I’ve been a girl on a mission.
You know how you get settled into a house for a few years? Get some great organization going in all of the closets and cupboards? And you think, “Hey, look at me adulting and getting my life together.” And then… BAM! You move to a new house, you’re back to square one, and you’re the biggest hot mess on the block.
Yep. That’s been our life the past several months. And one of the top hot messes I’ve been determined to tackle was our bathroom linen closet.
It had sheets spilling out and towels haphazardly thrown in. I couldn’t deal anymore. I’ve been determined to chip away at all of the closets, corners, and cabinets lately that cause our family’s stress.
So after a day’s work, I’m back on my “adulting” game! Baskets and bins for dayyyyysssss, y’all!
If you have a linen closet that needs some love, here are some tips that helped us get ours under control:
1. Choose a rolling hamper that has a removable liner.
We have tile and hardwood floors, so I love that I can easily roll this hamper out of the linen closet when I need to and scoot it around to the bedrooms to collect dirty laundry. Then, just untie the liner and carry the bag of clothes downstairs to our laundry room instead of lugging the entire hamper or dropping dirty clothes everywhere. And if the liner gets grungy, toss that in the wash too.
2. Have a large basket for folding or rolling up extra quilts or comforters.
Especially with having a little one who sometimes gets sick in the middle of the night, we always need clean quilts in easy reach.
3. Utilize wire baskets for visible storage.
They make it easy for guests to find extra toilet paper and washcloths when needed.
4. Stick to white sheets and towels.
This is just a personal preference of mine, but I really only buy white linens because I can bleach them and know they are super duper clean, and they don’t fade like colored linens do.
5. Use a storage caddy to keep cleaning supplies in order.
I prefer putting them in a caddy so that I can tote all of the bottles I need around to our three bathrooms on cleaning day without juggling cleaning supplies and dropping them all over the place.
6. Keep a couple of large clear jars handy.
I like to fill them with bar soaps and toiletries for guests in case they ever forget theirs when they visit.
7. Separate sheet sizes in lidded baskets.
I absolutely can’t stand when our sheet set sizes get jumbled up, and then I have to go digging through a giant pile to search for king and queen sizes. Lidded baskets keep them sorted and make them stay that way.
I’m SO glad I don’t have to go digging through this closet anymore to try to find the right sheet size or scoop up dirty clothes tossed all in the floor. The more I organize the more I’m convinced it’s one of the best stress relievers ever and repays your efforts every single day.
You can find all of the sources I used here:
- Rolling wire hamper
- Large water hyacinth basket
- Glass jars
- Lidded baskets
- Wire labeled baskets
- Storage caddy
So now this little closet finally looks like it belongs in Olivia’s bathroom that we gave a makeover last year.
I’m currently in organizing mode in our playroom and kitchen right now too, which I’ll be sharing more about soon. See? Told ya. Girl on a mission, y’all. Who am I right now?! And why don’t I do this stuff all the time?
You can find more containers to organize other spaces here too.
Do you have any other linen closet tricks you use at your house? We still have many more closets to tackle over here.
If you want to save this post for later, you can pin it here:
Carolyn says
January 29, 2018 at 10:09 amLove it!
I have a hot mess in my pantry! Cant wait to see your kitchen reorganization!
Elaine says
February 25, 2019 at 11:17 pmWowowowowo what is that wall color !?
Lauren says
February 26, 2019 at 8:51 pm🙂 Hi, Elaine!! The colors are :
Wall Paint – Magnolia Home Paint Weekend Eggshell
Trim Paint- Benjamin Moore Simply White Semigloss
Door Paint- Benjamin Moore Wrought Iron Semigloss
Katie says
January 29, 2018 at 10:10 amI saw that rolling hamper and the storage caddy when I was at World Market last week! I was thisclose to buying them, but decided to be good. You may have convinced me to go back though!
Lauren says
January 29, 2018 at 2:46 pmI love it! I waited for our hamper to go on sale though, and I had a 10% off coupon I used on top of that. The baskets and caddy are one sale right now though, if that helps.
Debbie says
January 29, 2018 at 11:23 amI recently just found you & love all your posts. I was hoping you could give us ideas on decorating a kitchen island, entry table, fireplace mantle and book cases.
Katy Beacher says
January 29, 2018 at 12:37 pmThank you for the tips. You gave me some ideas on how to organize my master bathroom cupboard.
[email protected] says
January 29, 2018 at 1:14 pmI have one of those I need to tackle. Hope when I get around to it that it looks as nice as yours. I think going to all white towels will help. Thanks for the links too!
Jayme Rudolph says
January 29, 2018 at 1:35 pmBoy, do I need to organize mine. I have a hall linen closet, and that is it. My problem is that I have multiple sets of sheets, blankets, and comforter sets. I get bored with comforter sets, and then decide to buy a new one, then I launder and fold up the old one into the plastic zippered bag it came in. However, I have at least 2 for each size bed in our home, and sometimes more, not to mention all the extra blankets. I can purge every other type of item in our home, but purging linens well…I am lousy at that. I have ten year old towels folded neat and nicely just because maybe one of animals will need extra bedding when lambing, or maybe the dogs will need them, who knows if it might get cold and the electric went out, and what if more family than I have beds for comes…I could make pallets on the floor for the teens. Lol….see my problem. Closet Linen hoarder, and then I try to make mine look like yours which is awesome, and my linen hoarder comes out. I love your blogs!
Norma Rolader says
January 29, 2018 at 2:11 pmOh wow how nice this would be Thank you for sharing and giving these wonderful tips
Mary says
January 29, 2018 at 2:42 pmYou should see mine it is so stuffed that there is no room for everything. I really like the idea with the baskets. You know I’m going to put the sheets we don’t use all the time away and just keep the most used ones in baskets. Thanks for the spark of inspiration Lauren!
Lauren says
January 29, 2018 at 2:44 pmSame! We had sheets stuffed in there that we hadn’t used in years. And they were so worn, I wouldn’t even use them for guests. So in the purge pile they went.
Ann Lee S says
January 29, 2018 at 3:05 pmlove that your closet is within the bathroom! I once had a home with a “laundry chute”, a simple open box in the upstairs closet that fed dirty clothing right down onto the dryer on the main … into a laundry basket.
kids loved to “chute” their dirty clothing down the hole!! I still miss it, and think builders should do more to put in some of these handy things. ann lee, bc, Canada
Lauren says
January 30, 2018 at 12:01 pmI always wanted a laundry chute! My parents when they built their house when I was little took their laundry chute out of their building plans because they were terrified I or my little brother would just jump right in and try to make a carnival ride out of it. Haha!
Andi says
January 29, 2018 at 4:54 pmOh my gosh I needed this so bad! Our linen closet is a hot mess. I tried going through it and I was able to donate some of our stuff, which helped a lot, but it is still bugging me. Thanks for the great tips!
Michelle says
January 29, 2018 at 5:37 pmLooks awesome! Have you found that your toilet paper gets dusty in the wire baskets? I love the look but have been keeping my paper products in their plastic wrapping for fear that they’d get dusty out of the packaging. But maybe I was overthinking things!
Lauren says
January 30, 2018 at 11:59 amOur family goes through toilet paper so fast, it doesn’t have time to get dusty. Haha! Don’t ask me how. But being that the baskets are in a closet, not out in the open, that helps a lot with the dust factor.
Heather says
January 30, 2018 at 7:55 pmI love the “after”! It looks amazing!
And I noticed you painted the inside of the door 😉
Brenda Johnson says
January 30, 2018 at 9:04 pmGreat job! It looks awesome and is getting my organization juices flowing! My pantry needs a serious overhaul, so I am going to be seriously looking for containers, jars and such to re-figure it very soon.
Ivory says
January 31, 2018 at 12:26 amI love your lcloset, but how do I get my’s to look that neat when I have way more towels, bedspreads, blankets, pillowcases, and a few other things. Everything is stuffed in there, but I would love to have it neater. Help!
Marsha says
January 31, 2018 at 10:14 amI never use pins or baskets with slanted sides. They take up space. I use risers in the linen closet so that I can make use of that vertical space. A long narrow box on its side or a milk crate works as a riser. I also like old metal bread boxes with flat tops…Pillowcases inside maybe and small towels and face cloths on the top. I love your site. You have given me so many great ideas!
Lorin Small says
February 3, 2018 at 8:52 pmI so have closet envy. Our house doesn’t have a linen closet so I’ve been using a dresser in the guest room for linen and an over-the-toilet cabinet for shampoo, soap and other item. Older houses have their challenges and storage is one at the top.
Lauren says
February 5, 2018 at 9:35 amSounds like you came up with a creative solution to your problem. 🙂
Marie Jackson says
February 10, 2018 at 7:49 amLove the wire baskets with the labels!
Robin says
February 16, 2018 at 4:27 pmI slide the entire folded sheet set into one of the pillowcases. I have everything I need to make the bed, and it stays neat on the shelf.
Victoria Bradley says
April 2, 2018 at 2:17 pmI love your style and want to buy everything you used but I’m in Canada and World Market doesn’t ship to Canada. Do you happen to know where I can find these lovely items?
Lauren says
April 3, 2018 at 8:05 amHi Victoria,
You could probably find similar items on Amazon. I don’t know what other stores are in Canada, but I find these baskets and organizational products at craft stores, stores like Home Goods, and even our home improvement stores have some cute things in the closet organizing aisles. I am not that familiar with your market, but Amazon practically ships everywhere these days and might be an easy place to start. 🙂
Angela Key-Kirby says
August 8, 2018 at 7:33 pmJust curious which size lidded baskets did you use for king and queen sheet sets I am assuming large and medium but before I ordered I wanted to make sure. Love the look of this you have inspired my next weekend project. Also thinking of painting my doors black I love the look.
Lauren says
August 20, 2018 at 10:41 amYes, you are correct, medium and large work great. Enjoy the feeling of organization! 🙂
Amanda says
January 21, 2019 at 12:58 pmThis is gorgeous! Do you have any tips for keeping your white towels…white? 🙂 I always find makeup stains on mine from myself and guests. Thanks in advance!!
Lauren says
January 21, 2019 at 10:36 pmHi, Amanda! LOL!! There is no trick. Or maybe the trick is that these are in the girls’ bathroom. Their little bodies do not have enough grease and grime to mess them up. I certainly do not use these for makeup removal. 🙂