Welcome to part 2 of our closet organizing series. If you missed part 1, you can read it here.

Do you have a linen closet that is in need of organizing? Often times,our linen closets become  unorganized and crammed full with sheets, towels, tablecloths, blankets, tolietries, first aid supplies and more.

Does the thought of cleaning out and organizing your linen closet overwhelm and stress you out? Take a deep breath and dive into this blog post where I share some tips for decluttering and organizing your linen closet.

Step 1.Take everything out of the closet

Just like the bedroom closet,  you will want to start with a clean slate. Completely empty out the closet and all it’s contents. 

Step 2. Throw out stained and torn towels. 

If you don’t want to toss them in the trash, consider giving them to house cleaning businesses, auto mechanics or general contractors. I like to keep a few old towels to use when I dye my hair or for cleaning up messy spills. It’s okay to keep a few but don’t go overboard and relocate them to the garage or store under the kitchen sink or a mudroom.

Step 3. Go through your sheets.

Match up all your flat and fitted sheets. Get rid of any that don’t have matches and any that don’t fit the beds in your house. Are you holding on to crib sheets or twin sheets and your kids all grown up? Do you have king sheets and no king bed?

Decide how many sets of sheets you need to keep. A general rule, is 2 sets per bed in the house. That way you have one set in use and one set to wash.

Don’t forget to match up pillowcases with each sheet set. There always seems to be an abundance of random pillowcases lying around. Donate the extras.

Step 4. Go through blankets.

Decide how many you need. A general suggestion is to keep 2 comforters or bulky blankets and 2 light weight blankets per bed.

Blankets take up a lot of space in closets and should be stored elsewhere. A good storage alternative would be under the bed. That is where I keep  mine.

You can also get a trunk or storage ottoman like this to keep at the end of your bed. These also work well in living rooms for storing throw blankets.

A good place for donating blankets you don’t want are homeless shelters and homeless  ministries at local churches in your neighborhood.

Step 5: Sort Through Other Linens

Have you been storing tablecloths, runners, napkins or throw rugs in the linen closet? Sort through them and pare down by 50%. Find an alternate place for storing this items. Perhaps they can fit in the dining room hutch, the kitchen pantry or be stored in sterile tubs in the garage. If not, then be sure to designate a space for them in the linen closet.

Step 6. Sort through everything else

Now go through everything else that isn’t linen like toiletries, first aid supplies, and cleaning products. Throw out anything that is expired. Are there any duplicate or triplicates? If so, consider donating them to local homeless shelters. If you have half empty bottle of shampoo, conditioners or lotions that you don’t use anymore, don’t throw them away. The homeless shelters will take them.

Step 7. Organize Closet

Now comes the fun and exciting part, organizing your closet. Before you get to this step, you might want to purchase some baskets, bins and other storage products. 

When I organize linen closets with my clients I follow these general guidelines.

•  Use the top shelves for storing first aid supplies, medicine, and extra toiletries or cleaning supplies. Store in baskets or bins and label accordingly.
• Store blankets on the floor under the bottom the shelf. They work best here because they are so bulky and take up space. A better option would be to store them elsewhere as suggested in step 5
• Use middle shelves for towels, washcloths and bedding.
• Fold or roll towels to save space. 

• Fold flat and fitted sheets and store inside the pillowcases. This makes them easy to stack on top of each other.

Folding towels and sheets

Folding fitted sheets can become quite time consuming and frustrating. I always hated folding fitted sheets and would get so frustrated that I balled them up and threw them in the closet. Can you relate?

After watching several YouTube videos, I can honestly say, I have finally mastered the task and am able to pass the skill onto my clients.  If you constantly struggle with this or need to train your family members on the proper way to fold sheets, watch these videos to get you started.