15 Practical Linen Closet Organization Ideas and Tips
Of all the storage spaces in a home, the linen closet has a sneaky way of becoming a chaotic mess—overflowing with mismatched sheets, toppling towel stacks, and mystery pillowcases that have lost their sets. If opening your linen closet feels like playing a risky game of Jenga, you’re not alone! But the good news? A little strategic organization can transform it into a beautifully functional space where everything is easy to find. Whether your closet is small and cramped or spacious but underutilized, these 15 practical linen closet organization ideas will help you maximize space, declutter effectively, and keep your linen closet tidy for good. Let’s dive in!
This is what our linen closet looked like before I finally got fed up and decided to do something about it. The towels were a mess, the closet door storage wasn't optimized, and it really just needed to be reworked and organized.
Because it was such a small space, it only took me 2 days to reorganize it and give it a major facelift! So imagine what you can do in just a few hours to get your linen closet under control.
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The Best Linen Closet Organization Ideas and Tips
Start by emptying your linen closet and decluttering what you can.
Before you start organizing your linen closet, you need to purge anything you no longer want or need. I like to declutter as I empty a closet. I keep bags or boxes nearby and sort things to donate, throw away, and keep as I go. I trash anything that has expired (medication, sunscreen, etc.). Donate any usable items that you no longer want or you. Bottom line… get rid of as much as you can to free up valuable space in your linen closet, especially if it's small.
Sort and store everything by categories.
One of the reasons linen closet organization can be hard is because of the variety of items that are stored in them. Linen closets can store everything from bedding to medication! So it's very important to group similar items together, such as towels, linens, bedding, and blankets. Lauren from Bless'er House uses glass jars, labeled baskets and neat stacks to group like items together and keep everything in her small bathroom linen closet organized.
Make it pretty.
This may not be your typical linen closet organization idea, but trust me, it is effective. I have always found that when I give a room or closet an aesthetic “facelift,” I'm way more motivated to keep it super organized. We added this removable wallpaper to the back wall of our linen closet. Because it was so pretty, keeping it tidy became a priority.
Label your shelves.
These labeled shelves by The Happy Housie are an organized dream! You never have to wonder where anything goes, and the labels make it so easy for anyone in the family to grab what they need from this organized linen closet.
Use shelf dividers.
Vertical shelf dividers in a linen closet can help keep stacked items neatly separated and easy to access. Best of all, they help prevent stacks of sheets and towels from toppling over!
Add storage to the back of your linen closet door.
This is by far one of my favorite linen closet organization ideas… Make the most of every inch of your linen closet by using the door and any blank wall space for vertical storage! By using vertical space to store smaller items, you can free up valuable shelf space for larger items. We installed the Elfa system door rack on our linen closet door (and we knew it would be perfect since we used it when we revamped our kids' closet organization). After giving the door a fresh coat of black paint, I quickly installed the track and wire baskets and basically doubled our small linen closet storage space.
Use bins to store your towels and sheets.
One of the things we did was store our towels and linens in large canvas bins instead of just stacking them on the shelves. We already had some old canvas bins (these are similar), so I loaded them with our towels and sheets. We no longer have messy stacks of mismatched towels that can topple over! It's very easy to slide them out to find whatever we need.
Cover your wire shelves.
Covering wire shelves with wood not only makes the shelves in your linen closet more usable (it's so frustrating when things slip through the gaps of wire shelving!), but much prettier, too. And it's a fairly easy DIY project you can tackle yourself.
Make sure your bins or baskets are the right size.
This may sound SUPER obvious, but when you store small things (like bottles of medicine or bandaids) in big drawers or bins, it will inevitably be a disorganized mess. You need your storage bins/drawers to be similar in size to what you are storing! I put all of our medication in these plastic woven storage bins and used inexpensive IKEA Skubb boxes inside to keep things even more organized by type and category.
Store towels and linens vertically.
Consider storing your sheets, blankets and towels vertically in bins or baskets, almost like you would store files in a file drawer. It makes it easier to see all your options at a glance and far easier to grab what you need without disturbing the whole bunch. Vertical folding also maximizes storage space, allowing you to store more in a compact area.
Sort and stack towels and sheets.
If the idea of vertical storage in your linen closet is not for you, sort your blankets, sheets, and towels by size and type and then stack them neatly. Just be careful to keep the stacks manageable like Jenni from Dear Lillie Studio. Stacks of towels and linens that are too large/tall can get messy and topple over very easily, which defeats the purpose of organizing them to begin with.
Store pillows vertically.
Kate at Domestikated Life created this organized linen closet in her guest bedroom. Storing pillows vertically instead of stacking them is such a practical and simple way to make them much easier to grab when they are needed.
Label bins and baskets.
Labeling your storage baskets and bins is the best way to ensure everything gets put back where it belongs. Your family won't be able to claim they “didn't know” where something was supposed to go, lol.
Use clear drawers and containers.
Storing smaller items in drawers make deep shelves more functional by allowing easy access to items in the back. And ransparent containers make it simple to see what’s inside without having to open everything. I love how Kris at Driven by Decor has combined clear drawers and containers to help organize the medicine and first aid supplies in her linen closet.
Add cedar lining.
Rachel added cedar boards to the back of her organized closet. Cedar's natural oil repel moths, silverfish, and cockroaches. It also absorbs excess humidity and smells great.
Your linen closet deserves as much attention as any other space in your home. I know dragging out every sheet, pillowcase, and all those medicines and bandaids can seem overwhelming. But I promise you that it is so worth the hard work. It may be tucked away behind closed doors, but with these linen closet organization ideas, keeping linens and towels will be stress-free and enjoyable! You can not only maximize your storage space but create a closet that looks beautiful. So, take some time to give your linen closet a little TLC and transform it into a beautifully organized space for your home.
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- Coat Closet Organization for Under $100
- Genius Small Space Organization Hacks
- Learn How to Declutter Your Home: A Realistic Guide
- How to Conquer the Emotions of Decluttering
- 5 Organizing Mistakes That Make Your House Look Messy (and How to Fix Them)
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Tasha, I’m wondering if you know where to find that beautiful blue and white block print wallpaper shown in the closet with nail head trim on the shelves. I’ve searched, high and low, and can’t find it anywhere. Thanks!!
Hi Melanie! I have no idea of the source for that wallpaper–sorry!