Best Tips on How to Organize a Linen Closet

Let me show you my best tips on how to organize a linen closet by cleaning, decluttering and reorganizing your mess. This will make you proud to open that closet door.

Today I’d like to share with you my best tips on how to organize a linen closet in your home. It’s the time of year where we often turn our time to organizing our homes. The hallway closet or linen closet is just one of many areas in my house that was due for a makeover. It needed a deep clean, decluttering and reorganization very badly. My linen closet is the only multipurpose closet in my house that is not used for clothes or a food pantry. Therefore instead of being used just for storing linens, it functions also for storing and organizing many household items. This includes my kids crafts, activities, games, pet supplies, batteries, small tools, vacuum and mop accessories. In this post I’d like to show you how I made this closet functional for all of these things.

Decluttering the Shelves

First of all, I went to work on removing all the items from the shelves. I did this over several days, a few shelves at a time, because I didn’t have the time to clean the whole closet all at once. If you have large chunks of time, go for it and take everything out at once. I placed the items from the shelf onto my nearby kitchen table. From there I sorted through it all, tossing papers into the recycling bin and garbage into a trash bag. What I no longer wanted or needed I put into a donation box. I sorted similar items that I wanted to keep, into piles until I’d gone through everything. Don’t worry about putting them into bins or containers just yet.

This definitely took some time, especially because as I mentioned earlier, I have a multipurpose closet. Some items like my kids markers, paints, crayons, games for example took a while to sort through.

Cleaning the Closet

Once the shelves were cleared off, I vacuumed the floor on the bottom of the closet and the shelves. Then I wiped off the shelves with a damp Norwex microfibre cloth. This removed any debris or marks on the white shelves. I also wiped clean any bins and containers I was using. This would also be a great time to repair any shelves that needed it or paint. I’d love to paint the walls of my closet white but this will be a project for another time. I just needed to get the job done now.

Organize a Linen Closet

Now comes the fun part. Everything has been decluttered and cleaned. It’s time for my best tips on how to organize a linen closet. Have a look at all the different piles of items you have sorted and decide what you want to keep together. Make a list of what storage containers, bins or baskets you will need for all the items you have organized into neat piles. Mark down on the list what size of container you need too. I had a lot of my bins and containers already from this closet, so I reused what I had and then shopped my own house for a couple more that I needed.

Different Kinds of Organizing Containers

Clear shoe boxes are one of my favourites for organizing kids craft supplies. They fit markers, pens, glue sticks, pencil crayons and envelopes perfect. Best of all they have a lid, that can keep it all contained when the kids carry it to their work area. Plastic bins work great for organizing workbooks, colouring books or card games. Wicker baskets are what I used to hold my household tools, batteries and accessories. I used large bins to hold my smaller linens like pillowcases, small towels, extra curtains or hot packs.

Where to Buy Your Organizing Supplies

Organizing containers can be found at almost any home decor store, big box store, hardware store or dollar store. You could also order them online, Take the list you made earlier that lists each type and size of container you need. Where you decide to shop will depend on your budget. The dollar store has a great assortment of containers for probably the most budget friendly prices. If you want fancier, prettier baskets or bins, check out your local Home Sense or Marshalls.

Labels

After we have collected all our containers and we’ve put similar items into the right container, let’s not forget to label them. This will make it so much easier to see what exactly is in each bin and makes clean up a lot easier too. I used cute black chalkboard adhesive sticker labels from the dollar store. Some other options are tags, printable labels, or a label machine. I used a silver permanent sharpie to write on my black labels. Use any cute marker to hand print your labels or a pretty font on the computer to print them out. Be sure to write on the label all the different items contained in that one bin.

Tips to Organize Everything Back into the Closet

Phew we’re almost done…. We have our things put into the right container and labelled. Now it’s time to arrange everything back on the closet shelves. Before you start just randomly putting bins back, step back and take a moment to think about where you want everything placed. Even draw a quick sketch on a piece of paper if this helps you. Think about what items you want within easy reach for you and your family. Also which items do you use the most often.

For me I had to think about putting my kids art, crafts and games within easy reach. Which meant on the lower shelves. My extra linens and sheets which I didn’t use daily went up on the higher shelves. Items like the vacuum and pet supplies I placed on the bottom of the closet. This arrangement just made the most sense for the flow and function of my home. You do what works best for your family and home.

Enjoy Your Freshly Organized Space!

Now step back and proudly enjoy all of your hard work and how awesome your neat, tidy closet space looks. I could stand and gaze for a very long time at my newly organized space because it just looks and feels so good:) I hope I’ve inspired you to find the motivation to organize your linen closet!

💗 Rachel