The time is now to get that custom closet in order! These 33 creative linen closet ideas will have you excited to get started.

Continue reading below to learn about all the tips and tricks I have compiled to optimize your linen closet organization.

33 Tips and Tricks for Linen Closet Organization

Your closet space is personal to you, so take whatever suggestions work for you. Think about how you start your day every morning, and incorporate ways to make maintaining your space more manageable. 

1. Take Inventory

Before you embark on your organizing mission, take the time to go through the items and linens you already have in storage. While going through the contents, analyze if any of them can be thrown out, donated, or sold.

Over time, many items go unused, but remain in storage. This opportunity provides you time to find them a great new home. 

2. Find An Appropriate Home

Do you have random items that don’t really belong on your  linen closet shelves, but have found their way there? Items such as lotions, medication and toiletries ideally belong in their own space. If you have an additional space, move them to a much more fitting location.

Doing this allows for a dedicated space for your sheets, bedding, linens, and towels that is not a catch-all area.

3. Give Everything Its Spot

Nothing is more confusing than having someone ask where the sheets are and not being able to find a matching set. Instead of looking all over the house for those linens, take time to give each item a designated space.

I like to have a designated spot for each item to know exactly where to go. 

4. Move Out-of-Season Back or Up

For out-of-season bedding or linens items, they aren’t necessary to have on hand for several months of the year. Move these items to the back of the shelves or the very top of closet storage in organized bins or baskets.

Out of sight, out of mind!

5. Add Labels

All of us have that well-meaning mother-in-law that helps put away laundry or groceries, and then you can’t find anything until you email her about their whereabouts. Labels have helped me in this area. You can make them in various ways, but it's best to choose one that is long-lasting.

I used a sharpie marker and good penmanship, but you can find incredible designs for labels on Pinterest. 

6. Choose Ample Linen Closet Shelving

Many linen closet designs, like those from Modular Closets, Inc., have shelving storage. However, you need to make sure that you have enough shelves to meet your needs. Check your linen closet dimensions first to ensure the shelves are the perfect size for you. Don’t be afraid to change things up with new heights for oversized products. Adjustable shelves are key when re-organizing.

I have my lowest shelf very high off the ground to easily store small appliances and clothes baskets. 

7. Work With Drawers

A simple solution to linen closet organization is to add in different elements that separate necessary items, but don’t give clutter. An excellent option that I love in my linen space is shelf pull-out drawers. I can fit several in one shelf area, and it keeps things like washcloths and toiletries in their area. 

8. Keep Frequently Used Items Together

When you have things in your linen closet that you use often, it doesn’t make sense to store them in a location that isn’t easily accessible. It also doesn’t help to keep them in different areas of the closet. Therefore, towels, hand towels, and washcloths should be near one another and in a central spot.

9. Also, Keep Similar Items Grouped 

The above logic also applies to other items in your linen closet. Although extra shampoo, spare toothbrushes, and body wash bottles don’t need to be front and center in storage, they should be together in the closet.

I keep spare toiletries higher up, so they are together but not right in the middle of everything.

10. Use Baskets or Bins

An easy way to separate shampoo and body wash items in linen closet organization is to place them in aesthetically appealing baskets or bins. Having this separation will allow you to know precisely how many things you have and where exactly they are in each of the baskets. Additionally, the look of the space gives the image of organized beauty. 

11. Lock Up Medications

For all of your cough medicines, sinus pills, and pain relievers, you want to make sure you have a safe storage space that is out of reach for young children. Having a container or box with a tight latch and keeping the items higher up in the linen closet provides safety and peace of mind for parents and caregivers.

12. Labels for Medication By Need

Having a headache and not being able to locate where in the box the pain reliever is can be, well, a headache. Keeping all of the mediations in separate containers, with labels by need, can provide a less annoying experience the next time you go hunting for something specific.

13. Hang Items

Depending on what you keep in your linen closet, some can hang on the back of the door or the closet’s interior wall. Small appliances like an iron or handheld vacuum can easily hang on hooks for easy access and preserve space for other items. 

14. Fold Everything the Same Way

Using the same folding style for each item allows a consistent look throughout the closet. I love having no overwhelming feeling when I open my linen closet. When each item is folded differently, it is frustrating, whereas the same fold gives me a calmer approach.

15. Align the Design!

If your towels have a specific design, fold and place them in their stacks according to the design. Having a towel with a stripe on the left and then underneath with a stripe on the right is a visual annoyance waiting to happen!

16. Protect Your Stacks

There is nothing worse than neatly folding your towels, sheets, and washcloths, placing them in a stack, and then having the whole thing fall on its side. Your beautifully folded tower is now a slightly folded jumble.

I have shelf dividers in place between each item. I have found that dividers help to keep the towels in place very nicely! 

17. Consider Over the Door Hooks

It makes more sense for items like robes or hooded towels to have them hanging up than folded. These are items that are often used daily or at least a few times a week. To be readily accessible when needed, a hooked organizer that goes over the door and has hooks is a great option. 

18. Bundle Like Items

Do you have sheet sets with matching pillowcases? What about decorative hand towels and washcloth collections that are primarily for display?

Instead of placing these in separate areas, bundle them together and put them in one spot. This arrangement can help you easily find the matching pieces.

19. Pick a Color Palette

Although this may not be feasible for those who have an extensive collection of linens already, it can be helpful to have items in the same shades. When I have all of my same-colored towels and blankets organized in the linen closet, it is calming to see when I open the door. 

20. Decorate Your Linen Closet

Some may think this is crazy, but your linen closet doesn’t have to be drab white! Painting the back wall a bright and vibrant color will add a level of elegance. You can even find beautiful wallpaper in a Pinterest search to provide a great eye-catching look in your home. 

21. Protect Your Shelves

When storing liquid items like cleaners, shampoo, and soap, you are bound to have a leak or a spill at some point. Protect the full shelf material and dividers by using white or colored contact paper or a piece of fabric on top of the wood, plastic, or metal surface.

22. Combine Your Cleaners

For those who store cleaning supplies in linen closets, it is nice to have them ready to go in your home. When you get to clean the bathroom, you don’t want to hunt for the full supplies you need. Having them in a basket or bucket that you can pick up makes for an easier clean.

23. Provide Appropriate Lighting

Fumbling on dark shelves in your house for bedding and sheets is not ideal. Placing different lighting sources within the linen closet helps locate the sheets in storage you are looking for without stress.

I have motion sensor lights in my closet. They acknowledge when the door opens and turn on, making it easier to save money on my electric bill. 

24. Utilize Hamper Drawers

In this day and age, a clothes basket doesn’t have to be round plastic bins. Now people have them in all shapes and sizes, including drawers and wood. Having a drawer-style hamper takes up less space and keeps used clothes secluded. 

25. Remove Packaging

Do you have extra boxes of cotton swabs? What about bags of cotton balls?

First, remove them from their original packaging. Then, get clean see-through bins in your house to store them.

This change allows you to have them organized on a shelf in a white or neutral color palette instead of finding spaces for different-sized packaging. Plus, this way you can save space and make room for more products.

26. Make Toilet Paper Frustration-Free

When you need a roll of toilet paper, you NEED it now! Having this in an organized, convenient spot is great. And having it out of its packaging saves time.

Placing the extra rolls in a large basket at the bottom of the linens closet lets you get up and go!

27. Turntables

Another option for bulky bottles is to place them on an organized spinning turntable with dividers on the linen closet’s shelves. With this great display, you may avoid the search of the back of the cabinet for an item. Instead, you can use the product to access what you need. 

28. Level Up Your Products

For items that are similar in size but wouldn’t do well in a basket or bins (think glass bottles), a better option for your shelves may be an organized multi-level space. This object sits on your current shelving like bleachers, allowing all related items to be visible. 

29. Add Some Fragrance

Having numerous cloth items in one area of the house, you want to know how to keep your linen closet smelling fresh. Adding a scented sachet to the organized bins, shelves, and dividers, can keep them smelling wonderful.

Another option is to put extra fabric softener sheets in the sheets, bedding, or between the towels.

30. Account For Moisture

In some environments, the amount of humidity can cause the items or wood in your linen closet to mildew or smell musty. Adding a moisture eliminator can help with this and keep your linens in top shape, ready to use at a moment’s notice. 

31. Keep a Tally

Having a backstock of products is essential. You always want an organized backup if you run out of items. Documenting how many you have on hand in your bins is helpful. With this, you can know what you have used and what to get in less time.

I use a simple decorative notepad with a sticky back to add charm and organization to the closet. 

32. Hang Your Loofahs

The rope tie that comes with most loofahs is beneficial for storage. You can place your extra, never-used sponges on a tie rack!

Repurposing everyday items can prove helpful for saving space and having things arranged nicely. 

33. Use Hangers For Blankets

Depending on your linen closet layout, having a bar for hangers can be helpful. For blankets and linens especially, having them individually hung and easy to grab can have you find them quicker than it takes to send an email.

2021 Organization FAQs

Taking on an organized linen closet can come with many questions. Here are a few that I get related to this topic:

How Do You Maximize Linen Closet Space?

You can do this in a variety of ways.

The first is making sure that the shelving is adequate and works for you. I recommend looking at several different options for shelving layouts to see what will accommodate the bulk of your items.

Secondly, analyze any areas where you can insert under-shelf drawers or full leveled organizers. These allow you to store more in a limited space allotment. 

Lastly, use every space available. Look into over-the-door organizers, turntables, hangers, and baskets to get much more space.

The options are endless!

How Do You Make a Small Linen Closet Work For You?

If you live in a place that does not have an area you can designate as a linen closet, do not despair!

As one of many small linen closet ideas, you can first transform an existing cupboard into an organized closet by way of adding accessories that allow you to use it in an appropriate way.

Another option is to get a small cabinet or use a shelf that you can store nearby. 

What Can I Use If I Don't Have a Linen Closet?

There are many options for creating a linen closet where one doesn’t exist.

To do so, it is important to know that a linen closet doesn’t have to be one space. Utilizing a spare drawer for sheets and a spare cabinet for towels can prove beneficial. 

Where Should I Store Linen?

The storage area for your sheets will depend on the environment that you live in.

For high humidity areas, you will want to find an area in your home that won’t cause the linens to mildew or retain moisture.

Otherwise, I recommend having your linen close to bathrooms and bedrooms for easy access to sheets, bedding, and towels.

How Big Should a Linen Closet Be?

The size of your linen closet should be based on how much storage and bathroom items you use. This size may look different for those who live alone versus those who have a large family.

If you have the opportunity to build your linen closet to your specifications, I recommend taking into account the size of your household and any specific needs that you have. There are many options available, including walk-in linen closet ideas. 

In addition to that, I would look into a shelving organizing preset product to help guide you with built-in linen closet ideas. Often, you can email the company for personalized ideas!

Final Thoughts

Having perfect linen closet organization in your house can feel like a lofty goal that you will never achieve.

However, that doesn’t have to be the case. Especially with everything 2021 has to use! 

There are many options available that allow you to perfect your linen closet space with minimal effort on your part. With the 33 genius linen storage closet ideas and tips above, you now know how to organize a linen closet!