I received this email last week from a reader:
Help! I have been trying to organize my linen closet over the past couple of weeks. I went to Walmart and bought a big 3 drawer storage unit and several other storage containers. Yesterday I took them out …….. didn’t work for me. I’ve got my sheets and blankets organized, but what is my problem is all the extra stuff. I want to store my toilet paper, paper towels, extra shampoos, soaps, bath products, etc. Do you have any suggestions? My shelves are deep and wide. The measurement from the bottom shelf to the floor is about 28” and each shelf is 13” between each shelf. They are 24” deep and 36” wide.
Finally on the first shelf I would store the overstock toilet paper/paper towels along with the under shelf basket that the reader already has for her small products (nail polish, toothpaste etc). I wish I was there to help her out! It would be so much fun. I can’t wait to see what this reader decides to do and hopefully she’ll let me share her after photo with you.
Twisted Cinderella says
Great ideas! I may just have to tackle my linen closet sometime soon!
Beth@Sportsmomma says
When I tackled my linen closet I did the following and it helped and made things look a bit nicer- this was just for the towels, sheets, etc. I put my sets together- fold the fitted sheet, flat sheet and ONE pillow case- put them all in the second pillow case- voila-they are always together. When I fold my towels, I put them on the shelf with the folded side facing out- for whatever reason it just looks neater. I also use lots of baskets for the extra stuff!
Thanks Laura- I LOVE LOVE LOVE your site- as I said on my site-since moving into my new house you have saved my sanity!!!
Debi says
Laura, you truly are a genius! But I’m sure you already know that. Perfect solutions. “Reader” will undoubtedly have her closet in tip-top shape in no time now. Hope she does pass along pics so we can all see the final result. I just love those “before” and “afters”!
Susanne says
I love those blue stackable bins. They are great for kid’s closets too!
Gretchen says
Okay…are you tired of me coming on and saying, “great idea”? Because I think you’re going to be getting a lot of that. 🙂
Black Domestic Goddess says
Laura:
I am so glad that I found this site thanks to the hip mama blog ring. I read your ideas for the lazy susan and am getting ready to tackly mine right now – I suppose I’d have to say it’s Freshen it up Friday!
Munchkin Land says
Oh, good idea! Laura, I’m getting so excited to come back and read all of your great tips. We’ll be moving in very soon and I know I’m going to need them!
I guess it is a different feeling when its YOUR house, huh?!
The Chatty Housewife- says
I think one of the most important things is learning how to fold. When things are folded properly and all to the same size, with smooth edges, ANYTHING can look organized.
1. one extra pair of sheets per bed ONLY.
2. cleaning products stored where you use them.
3. like items stored together.
-My bandages are with my other first aid items in a large shoe box.
-Garbage bags are under the sink because that is closest to where we use them.
– I don’t buy extra shampoos or other items until the one I have is almost totally gone. The extra items go beside the almost empty ones wherever they are, and when it’s empty it gets tossed right away.
Crazy MomCat says
I’m delurking to say I love your site and read it daily. This linen closet matches my own troubled one so closely, that I have some questions–
The blue bins you have–do those go on the floor with the rolling cart next to it?
Second, what do you do about medications? This closet is where we keep those. Currently, I have an open basket that I put cough syrups and things in up high, but it always worries me with having a three year old who likes to climb. Any ideas for that?
I hope your reader does post the end results so I can copy him/her! HA! Thanks!
Danielle says
there is a blue bin from ikea (if you have one near you) that looks like the one in your response . my sister has a bunch of them on her shelves that she stores everything in by category and then labeled the bin. it seems to keep everything contained and you can take them out easily. and the best part! they only cost 99 cents!
http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/57192396
if you dont have an ikea near you, they are cheap enough if you knew someone close to one they could buy them and ship them to you.
Org Junkie says
Hi Crazymomcat, yes I would put the blue bins on the floor with the rolling cart beside it.
I did a post on where I store my medications:
Organizing Medications
Hope that helps!
Cate says
Hi Laura,
just wanted to jump in & say “hi” from New Zealand. I’ve been enjoying your site for a while.
Cheers,
Cate
Lisa says
I just started organizing my linen closet, too. I think I will be incorporating your ideas as well as one I used from meckmom.com who suggested using the giant Ziploc bags to create a “bed in a bag”. We have a lot of family visitors and have plenty of extra sheets and pillows. This worked wonders and opened up two shelves! I’m still working on it, but am loving the ideas! Thank you!
Helen says
I like the idea of putting the sheet sets inside the pillow cases! I may have to retackle the linen closet today. I have the same closet as in the pictures. My main problem is extra blankets. They seem to take up way too much space.
Danielle says
this is for helen- for your extra blankets you could get those giant storage bags that you suck the air out of. i had those for my daughters baby clothes and extra blankets. just dont let you husband slide them across the garage floor when your moving! they dont work so well after that.