Last Updated on October 28, 2022 by Ellen Christian
Organizing linen closets isn’t as easy as it sounds when you have a small home. Learn how to fold sheets for a linen closet with these tips.
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Organizing Linen Closets
As much as I would love to have tons of closets in my home, I don’t. We have one very small closet upstairs that we use as a linen closet .
Right now, it is the place I cram as many sheets, beach towels, and miscellaneous items as I can and still manage to close the door. Lately, it’s been getting harder and harder to close the door so I decided that it was time to add organizing linen closets to my decluttering project.
You can see the chaos in my before picture below. Part of the problem is that I don’t have a dedicated linen closet. Instead, I keep them where we store our health and beauty aids. It’s not an ideal situation but for now, it’s what we have.
Remove everything
The obvious first step is to remove everything from the linen closet. Wipe down any shelves and if you want to lay down shelf paper. I prefer to wipe things down with vinegar and water. Once it dries, the vinegar smell disappears. It’s a healthy eco-friendly cleaner that works very well. I often make up a batch of my orange citrus spray to clean with as well.
Declutter
Separate everything you took out of the linen closet into two piles: things that don’t belong there and things that do belong there. The obvious next step is to put things that don’t belong there where they go. That will leave you with as much linen closet storage space as possible.
Toss the Trash
Before you put the sheets and linens back into the linen closet, search for things that are torn or stained and no longer usable. Either toss or turn them into rags. Consider donating them to your local animal shelter.
Match Them Up
Match up the sheets that are left. Try to find the matching pillow case, bottom, and top sheets. If you’re like me, this isn’t as easy as it sounds.
I have lots of different sheets that don’t match. I throw away one piece that’s damaged and then hold onto the other pieces forever and don’t use them.
Keep or Toss
If you want your sheets to match, get rid of the unmatched ones. If it doesn’t matter to you if they don’t match, try to find an extra pillow case, bottom sheet and a top sheet that you can use as a mismatched set.
These work well when one of the kids has a stomach bug and you don’t want to destroy the good sheets. I got rid of 2 bags full of mismatched sheets or damaged sheets that we never used. I kept one set in case of a stomach illness.
How to Fold Sheets for a Linen Closet
Folding sheets is one of the great mysteries of the world as far as I’m concerned. My bottom sheets are never folded properly according to my Mother. In an attempt to impress you all with my neat, organized linen closet, I spent a lot of time attempting to get all of the bottom sheets flat and neat.
Normally, I just sort of randomly fold them to fit in the space allowed. I used this article by LifeHack to show me how. It’s not that hard. It just takes a few minutes more.
I was honestly surprised how many miscellaneous sheets I had. I am very good about tossing things that are torn but I only toss the torn one.
That means that the rest of the sheet set sits there and never gets used because it isn’t a full set. All that manages to do is create a lot of clutter in the linen closet.
The finished result is much more organized and it is easier to find things.
Put it Away
Depending on the sizes of your linen closet, you may want to simply place the sheets flat on the shelf. If you have room, I have always found that wicker baskets or cubes make storing sheets much easier.
They stay together and in one neat area. Another option is a linen closet cabinet that is freestanding if you have the room. There are also a number of linen closet organization systems available.
The final result isn’t pretty, but it works quite well. There is no more chaos, and I can see right away what I have and don’t have. Instead of holding onto things in the future, I will get rid of what I know I won’t use to prevent this happening again.
Is organizing linen closets something you need to do?
Ellen is a busy mom of a 24-year-old son and 29-year-old daughter. She owns six blogs and is addicted to social media. She believes that it doesn’t have to be difficult to lead a healthy life. She shares simple healthy living tips to show busy women how to lead fulfilling lives. If you’d like to work together, email info@confessionsofanover-workedmom.com to chat.
I gave up on sheets in the linen closet. Now I fold one pair of sheets and place them under the mattress of the bed they fit. Then I make the bed with the second set of sheets. Hence, I have saved the two best sets of sheets for each bed and donate the rest. Why do we need more? We don’t! I got this idea from another internet blog, no, it was pinterest, maybe it was a blog, I honestly can’t remember. But, the action of doing just this one thing, completely freed up space for blankets, beach towels, tablecloths, etc. in the linen closet Things that would normally not fit! I love it whoever thought of it! Thank you!
That is definitely a great idea! Thanks!
One tip passed down in my family to keep sheets organized is to place one pillow case, the flat sheet and fitted sheet inside the second pillow case when storing. That way you have a matching set together all the time. When you want to change he bed, everything is together!
Folding the fitted sheet is the worst. But keeping them organized is a job itself. Thanks for the tips
This post can help me greatly. Linen closets get really messy at my house!
I always had the hardest time organizing my linens until i learned to but sheets inside the matching pillow case so id never lose anything.
My linen closet looks terrible! When we first moved here it was nice and neat, but as time has gone on, I’ve just tossed stuff on the floor of the closet. It needs an overhaul!
I really need to do this. I am pretty sure there are some crib sheets lurking in our linen closet…
Love the fitted sheet folding method! I did organize my linen closet last year but I still really need to go through again and get rid of the sheet sets we don’t use. It’s so hard to throw out sheets!
I do not have a large closet for my linens or towels. I have a hard time getting this area organized. My mom is also a perfect sheet folder and I never can do it properly which ends up taking up more room for me. I need advice for sure.
You should see my linen / stuff closet. It started out so nice and neat and now it is just a mess. I am afraid that if I took everything out I may never get it all back in LOL! But I do appreciate your tutorial on folding a fitted sheet. I despise folding them!! They never look as neat as yours! Thanks for the motivation, it is time to tackle it!
I really need to do this. Thanks for the tutorial!
I detest folding sheets! I keep them all in a spare bureau but I have way too many mismatched things too!