They look beautiful in magazines yet linen closets are often so frustrating in real life. Here are three common frustrations:

1. You grab a towel and four tumble to the floor.
2. Company is on the way and you need to make the bed. By now you’ve unfolded and refolded several sheets trying to find the queen fitted sheet. They can look so much the same when folded. 
3. There’s no toilet paper – again – and you’ve got more cream rinse than a curly poodle could use in a lifetime. It’s too hard to see what you really own.
   

A few organizing tips and tricks can end these frustrations and get your linen closet organized. It might even look like a magazine photo when you are finished.

 

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Begin by removing everything from the closet. You can’t really move things around and sort them out until you take this step. Divide items into stacks of like-kinds. Place twin, full, queen and king sheets in their own stacks. Sort out towels into wash cloths, guest, hand, bath and beach towel stacks. Place blankets and comforters in a stack. Pull out all the toiletries and supplies.

 

Follow these steps to get organized:

• Look at your stacks and determine if you have too many of an item. Now that you can see how many things you have in each category, you may be able to donate some of the older items or perhaps those that just aren’t your favorites. This will give you more room in the closet.

• Place folded sheet sets inside of one of the pillowcases from that set. Inside the one pillowcase should be the bottom sheet, top sheet, and other pillowcase. Fold the pillow case around the bundle. Stack them in the closet. No more hunting for matching pieces!

• Use a handwritten label or label maker to label the edge of the shelf with the sheet sizes. This way, they will get returned to the right stack after washing.

• Contain blankets from tumbling off shelves and coming unfolded by rolling the blanket to a size that fits on your shelf and tying the roll with a piece of ribbon, similar to how sleeping bags are stored. Or, recycle the clear, zippered bags that comforters and blankets are sold in. They will often hold several.

• Measure your shelves and choose containers, such as wicker baskets, small plastic tubs or even fabric-covered boxes, to hold stacks. This enables you to grab a bath towel without the stack falling off the shelf.

• The floor of a closet tends to get dirty from dust drifting under the door. Use the floor to hold non-fabric items such as a vaporizer, humidifier, scale, or case of toilet paper. Keep the closet floor clean by remembering to pop the door open and clean the closet floor when cleaning the bathroom floor.

• Sort bottles and containers by use. Use baskets or containers to hold medications, toiletries and extra supplies. Be sure to purge out expired containers. On tubes, look on the crimp end to find the date. Remember that old make-up can cause health problems and also needs to be purged.

• Don’t forget to consider the inside of your linen closet door as storage space. An over-the-door, clear-pocket “shoe” keeper is a great organizer. It can easily hold medications or supplies, such as lotions and cotton swabs. Be sure to label the pockets. If storing medications in a home with children, make sure to follow safety precautions of adding child-proofing devices or locks to this closet.

 

 

About Lea Schneider

Professional Organizer Lea Schneider’s organizing advice has appeared in Woman’s Day, Natural Health and Better Homes and Gardens Kids’ Rooms magazines. She is the Grand Prize Winner of the Rolodex Office Makeover Challenge. Her team of professional organizers, at Organize Right Now, provides organizing assistance through her Organize Online program. She is the author of Growing Up Organized: A Mom-to-Mom Guide. Learn more at www.organizerightnow.com.