Our linen closet is a decent size and it holds bath and hand towels for our two main level bathrooms, sheets for our bed, cleaning rags, table cloths, and various other items like a neck pillow, arm slings, extra candles, and extra paper products like kleenex and toilet paper. It also holds most of our medicine items as I like to store them away from the heat and humidity of the bathroom. Well there really shouldn't be an issue fitting all of these things into this closet, it seems to be getting more and more difficult to find what I'm looking for and to get items out without other items falling on me. Here is a before photo:
Like I said, it's not bad but it's not working. I wanted to make this space a bit more functional, a bit more pretty, and an easy place that both the mister and I can grab and/or put items away easily. That being said, I was very reluctant to spend money on organizing this closet. I kept telling myself, "It's just a closet." But I've found that making spaces look nicer often prompt me to keep them looking nice. So I set myself a budget of $25.
I emptied out the closet completely and took an inventory of what we had and what I wanted to keep in this space. I drew out a plan of the closet and looked up some ideas online as to the best way to store the items I was working with.
The first thing I did was remove the mirror. I have never once opened the linen closet to make sure I was put together before leaving the house, nor do I particularly care what I look like when putting laundry away or grabbing a new box of tissues.
I decided to paint the closet a light blue color. I wanted to give it some color but didn't want it to be too dark because the lighting in the hallway where the closet is located is not very bright. Blue is a common color throughout the rest of the house, so that was an easy choice. I went to Lowe's and grabbed a bunch of paint samples and picked out a color I thought would work well. Because this space is so small, I figured a quart of paint would be plenty. When I returned to Lowe's to get my paint, I happened to walk by the discounted mis-tint shelf and wouldn't you know - there sat a quart of light blue paint so close to the color of the selected chip in my hand. I picked it up and danced all the way to the check out line. $5 and I had my paint.
After painting, I lined the shelves with rubber shelf liner. Not only does this add a bit more color but it also will help to keep things in place, especially when we're pulling out towels and other items. This was $9 at Walmart.
In order to corral items in the closet and keep it organized, I knew I'd need some assortment of bins or baskets. I made a trip to the dollar store but didn't really find what I was looking for. Then I visited our local supermarket/department store and found a lot of cute baskets but at $10-$15 a piece, that wasn't going to fit in my very small budget. In a last stitch effort, I stopped into Goodwill. Baskets galore! I picked up four baskets for under $10. (I danced out of there too.)
Back at home, it was time to organize! The big basket went on the floor to hold the toilet paper and kleenex. It fit perfectly and holds these items nicely. It's also easy for me to see when we might be running low.
The next shelf holds our medicines, cleaning rags, tablecloths, and wash cloths. My mister got me a wonderful wine and cheese gift box for Valentine's Day last year and I hung on to the box knowing it'd be useful for something in the future. Sure enough, it holds all of our medicines perfectly. I considered covering it in pretty paper or painting it, but I think the raw wood and logo give the closet some character. The cleaning rags fit nicely into one of the Goodwill baskets and the table cloths are folded up next to them.
I decided to move our sheets into our bedroom. It makes sense to have them right there when it's time to change them. That left the towels and some miscellaneous items for the remaining two shelves. We have two sets of bath towels: one set of large bath sheets and one set of smaller towels. These take up a ton of space. I decided to roll the towels instead of fold of them in an effort to save space. Besides, the mister and I fold towels differently so depending on who folds the laundry (yes, he does help out!) depends on how the towels fit into the cabinet. I figured we both could roll the same! The hand towels were also folded and tucked into another Goodwill basket.
Finally, the top shelf, which I can hardly see, holds items that don't get used very often like the neck pillow and back massage roller.
I created labels for each of the baskets with a Stampin' Up punch and some twine to ensure everything gets put in its right place.
Overall, I'm very happy with the way it turned out and even more happy that I came in $1 under budget!
Here is a before and after comparison:
What tips and tricks do you have for keeping your linen closet in order? Have you danced out of a store after finding a terrific deal?
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