My home has always lacked storage space, so we've spent 20 years trying to find ways to organize a little of the chaos into something uncluttered and usable. The bedrooms in the house all had non-walk-in closets, and they were packed to the gills with stuff. None of the three bathrooms had linen closets or even much storage space. This has always driven me nuts.
Recently, we decided to convert a spare bedroom into my dream closet, and I've been living my best clothes closet life since then. But what it left me with was an empty, small-ish closet that used to hold my clothes and an ongoing lack of storage space for linens. This meant that the table for folding we have in our laundry room was always stacked with clean towels and sheets — something my cats thought was great for sleeping but not ideal for those of us who want to dry off with or sleep in non-furry linens.
Related: Effortless Closet Organization: A Step-by-Step Guide
The solution was obvious. I decided to make the most of that empty closet space in my bedroom and turn it into a linen closet. But since I'd worn out all the favors from my husband on getting the dream closet built just a few weeks before, I needed the closet to be easy to put together because I don't have a handy bone in my body (I once shot a brad nail into my hand because I was holding the nail gun upside down). And since I'd exhausted my budget on the big closet (worth it!), I also needed it to cost next to nothing.
We Already Had a Closet Organizer
In an attempt to make the most of my small closet when my clothes were in there, we had already installed a small five-shelf organizer years ago. I don't know the exact one we used, but it was similar to . I knew the shelf space would work well for linens and sheets, and I decided I'd use the clothing rods for affordable hanging organizers. These are great for making the most of small closets, so I highly recommend them!
I Needed to Hide My Horrible Fitted Sheet Folding Skills
I don't care what Martha Stewart says — it isn't easy to fold fitted sheets. I've tried for years. Years, I tell you! And no matter how much I fold along with the video, when I get to the end, it still looks like a wadded mess. Maybe it's because I have short arms and a king-sized bed (that's what I'm telling myself, anyway).
So I was thrilled to find a way to store my sheets that looked super organized and tidy but didn't require me to fold fitted sheets (or any other sheets, for that matter) with precision. These ($30 for four of them) are an absolute lifesaver for sheet-folding disasters like me! They hold a full set of sheets (or other linens, too), and they sit neatly on the shelves. I love that they have a little window so I can take a peek at the color of the sheets inside and that I can add labels to them so I know at a glance which one I want. I wish I'd known about these years ago.
I Found Shelves That Were So Easy to Build, Even I Could
Given my brad nail trauma from the past along with my lack of spatial reasoning skills that render figuring out flat-pack furniture directions impossible, I needed shelves that even I could put together. I had purchased (and put together) these in our other closet, so I knew I could do it, and I liked that I could lengthen or shorten them easily to fully fill the space. They were also stackable, and, at $60 for two 3-shelf units, it wasn't going to bust my budget. I bought two sets (so four units total) of these for a total of $120. I put them together in about five minutes and placed them on either side of the central shelf unit. While they're shoe racks, they're the perfect height for folded things like hand towels, pillowcases, and washcloths.
I Used the Closet Rods to Add Fabric Hanging Organizers
Building more shelves was out (both due to budget and skill level)! But the hanging rods were the perfect real estate to hang sturdy fabric organizers that had shelves. I measured to see what would fit and found these that could be separated into two sets of three shelves, and when I separated it that way, they fit perfectly over the stacked shoe shelves. Reviews said they were nice and sturdy (they are!), and they were only $32 apiece, so I ordered two — one for each side of the main shelving unit. This left me with two long spaces on either side of the main shelves, so I found a narrower, longer that would fit into those spaces for smaller items like spare toothpaste and lotion. They were $25 each, and I ordered two.
I Filled in the Spaces With Baskets
There was still space on the floor under the six-shelf organizers, so I grabbed a couple of (3 for $35) and filled in the space as a place to stow toss pillows and other small items (or, in our house, sometimes cats). They fit right in (the baskets, not the cats), look great, and keep stuff off the floor of the closet.
I also grabbed some baskets for the shelves. I've used water hyacinth baskets elsewhere in my house, and I really liked them, so I grabbed two sets of ($35 each), which fit neatly on the shelves and store all sorts of stuff while still keeping everything tidy.
I Added Comforter Storage Bags for Large Linens
Since I cocoon myself in more than one down blanket/comforter in the winter, I need a place to store them in the summer, so I grabbed a set of two that I could fit on either the top shelf of the closet or one of the central shelves. They cost under $30.
I Gave Myself a Way to Reach the Top Shelf
So, I'm not very tall, and reaching the top shelf in that closet has always been an issue for me. But since I wanted to store bulk purchases up there, like paper towels, I needed a way to be able to get up there — or at least get my arms up there. This ($42) was just the right height and easy to build (it took me about five minutes), so it's perfect in the closet.
I Feel Like a Grown-Up
This is going to sound silly given that I'm 59, I've raised two kids and countless pets, and I've been a homeowner for more than 20 years, but as I put all my stuff in my tidy linen closet, I felt like a grown-up for perhaps the first time in my entire life. Because now I have more than enough space to store all the things — with extra room in case I need to store more. Who knew that was all it took to finally feel like an adult?
Anyway, if we'd had to purchase the center unit, the entire closet was $564. But since we already had that, our closet was only $436, and that small investment was totally worth it. Everything is very sturdy and holds a lot of stuff. And I have my laundry room folding table and shelves back for laundry stuff. In total, I probably spent 30 minutes putting it all together, and I did it all myself. I spent another hour futzing around and organizing it just the way I wanted, and I am so happy with the result. I finally have all the storage space I want in my house, and that's worth its weight in gold.
