Getting Your Linen Closet Organized

When you open the door to your linen closet, what do you see? If it’s neatly stacked piles of towels and sheets and nothing out of place, then good for you! You’re probably in the minority when it comes to homeowners and their linen closets. If you’re like most of us, though, you might need to search for a towel that isn’t threadbare when guests come to visit, or you might often hear from your child that he can’t find the pillowcase that goes with the blue sheet set. If this sounds more like your reality, read on for tips on taking control of your linen closet organization:

Let’s face it: As the years go by, our towels get thinner and more numerous. Our sheets might get pills on them, and we tend to end up with an assortment of hand towels in various sizes, making neat storage difficult. Take everything out of your linen closet and determine what you actually need. Two complete sets of sheets for each bed, including the guest room bed, and two or three towels per person, plus a few extras for visitors, are probably all that you need. If you have substantially more than this, it might be time to make a donation to your nearest thrift shop. If any of your linens are in embarrassing shape, replace them as soon as you are able. Remember that if you bring home new linens, you should get rid of something old, provided you had enough in the first place.

It might seem trivial, but if everyone in the household isn’t on the same page as far as how to fold a towel, chaos can soon reign because the linens won’t all be the same size, making stacking them difficult. Whether you fold towels into half or thirds before folding again into smaller squares, make a decision as to how you want to do it and stick with it.

Unless this is one of your favorite chores, don’t let sheets pile up outside of the linen closet while waiting for you to iron them. Toss them in the dryer for 10 minutes with a damp washcloth, and let the steam beat out the wrinkles. Then grab a folding helper (children are great at this) and get all of the sheets folded quickly.

Linen closet mayhem can occur when members of your household have to go to three different piles in order to find the flat sheet, fitted sheet and pillowcases that go together. Instead of sorting by size and type, try this: Fold the fitted sheet, then the flat sheet. Place them together in the matching pillowcase, then fold the top of the pillowcase over. This creates a packet that each bedmaker can grab in one fell swoop, reducing the possibility of a linen closet avalanche!

It can be difficult to keep everything neatly stacked when it’s all one one open shelf. Putting up some dividers can keep the towels separated from the washcloths. Also, if one pile were to fall out of the closet, it won’t affect the other items next to it. Pull-out shelving is also a good idea if you have a deep linen closet; these will allow you to store things toward the back of the closet without going through a lot of trouble to put them away or retrieve them later.

Keeping your linen closet in good working order will help you save time on laundry and bed-stripping days, and it will also keep your stress level down. It will even make it easier to have impromptu overnight guests. Choose a weekend to go through your linen closet, then follow these tips to keep things running smoothly.