Easy Linen Closet Organization

Listen, I love my kids. And my husband. But so help me, if one more of them grabs something from our hall closet and then just shoves it back in, I will lose my ever-loving mind. I love to be organized, but these ankle biters have me at the end of my rope. I currently have sheets that no longer fit beds we own, simply because they make awesome forts. My husband, the overly protective firefighter, has stocked our health supplies to the point where I look like we shoplift daily from CVS.

It had gotten to the point where I dreaded opening the doors. Blankets (prime fort building materials) were always barfing themselves out the doors because they were haphazardly shoved back in. Who actually needs a bar of soap if it means opening the doors that lead to the garbage pit from Star Wars? Not this girl! I’ll just use hand soap or something in the shower. It was time to fix this trash pit, and fix it right. Operation Linen Closet Organization was underway.

Oh my. In what fresh hell am I living?

Here is how every conversation between Troy and me goes when one of the boys get sick. One of us “do we have any (children’s/infant’s) Tylenol/Motrin?”. Other person “I’m not sure. You should probably get some more at the store”.

Oh, look what was hiding behind a box of gloves. Fancy that.

I started by removing everything from the closet and putting it on our dresser. And then looked at it and realizing we’re health and beauty hoarders.

I got these drawers at Target in small and large. I did my best to put similar items together and get the organization in the drawers to make sense. Once everything was set up, I got to use one of my favorite things around – the label maker.

When Troy saw the finished product, he said “this is what I should have gotten you for Mother’s day”. In actuality, doing the task was the rewarding part. If he wanted to give me a gift like that, it would have been best to take the kids away so I could do it in peace. You don’t need to wrap or put a bow on an afternoon of linen closet organization.

I then turned my attention to the total cluster of the sheets and towels. I found these InstaCrates at Costco for $7.98 each. They fold and collapse, and the cool thing is they’re made in the USA. Since the crates are deep, they each fit about three to four sets of sheets. I fold and store the sheets inside a pillowcase from each set. It keeps things together and semi-tidy. Until of course it becomes the back wall of Fort Jack.

The floor of the closet got a nice cleanup thanks to a big drink tub. It is full of blankets and other fort materials, and the boys can shove them back in without too much help.

One of the things that took up a lot of room prior to the org, was the giant box of Costco Band-Aids. We’d take a bandage out, and then never be able to get it back in the main box. Thus Band-Aids were always floating around the shelves and we were forever asking each other “where are the Band-Aids”.  A $3 coupon organizer changed my life. How many times can you say that? Band-Aids went from this:

To this:

I now walk by our closet with a pep in my step, instead of dreading the next time I need a clean towel. Just looking at all these photos again, give me a total organizing lady boner! Linen closet organization is totally my jam, and I’m not afraid to admit it.