When we moved into this house, one of the spaces I was most excited to get organized was our master bathroom linen closet. While it’s not huge by any means, I knew that it would be so functional and helpful to have organized for our day to day living. So today I’m going to share with you our bathroom linen closet organization as well as some tips for you when you are organizing your linen closet!
Bathroom Linen Closet Organization
Our bathroom is on the smaller side. We have a shower, toilet, double sinks and a small linen closet all packed into about 72 square feet of space. We are very blessed to have a bathroom in our bedroom and if I’m being honest I totally love the double sinks! 🙂
Before I start showing you the organization in our linen closet, I want to orient you as to where our linen closet is located within our bathroom. It’s directly next to our sinks and in front of the toilet. Our shower is located directly behind the entry door across from the sinks.
This isn’t a huge closet, but it’s definitely plenty for our needs.
The top shelf holds all of our bathroom linens. Washcloths are stored in the basket on the left. The middle basket holds hand towels and we stack our towels on the right. We only have 6 towels for this bathroom. I use two towels when I shower and my husband uses one so we have two sets for each of us. This is plenty. It helps me to stay on top of the laundry and it also means I don’t have to store a ton of extras!
The second shelf houses three baskets. We store our essential oils in the first basket, everything I need to paint my nails in the middle basket, and all of our razors for shaving in the last basket.
The third shelf down has three baskets as well. We store our diffusers that we use with our essential oils, all of my travel bags and any travel sized products (we don’t keep many!), as well as face and lotion items that are mainly backups or out of season scents.
The fourth shelf down has a 3 drawer system that stores all of our medicines. On top of this is a basket where I store all of my extra contacts and any other eye care items. Next to that we have a basket where we store our backup toiletries like deodorant, shampoo, and toothpaste.
On the bottom shelf we have a basket labeled sun care. In here we keep all of our sunscreen items as well as any bug spray. Country living at its best! Next to that is a large basket with my name on it! 🙂 It’s where feminine products are stored.
The floor is where we store our toilet paper, paper towels, Kleenex, as well as a plastic bag holder for our bathroom trash bags. We always take our toilet paper and paper towels out of their plastic wrapping because I think it looks much neater and keeps this area tidier. We purchase our all of these paper products in bulk at Sam’s Club and this is plenty of space to store these larger packages.
I only used three types of organizers when setting up this space. The first are the Better Homes and Gardens wire baskets from Walmart. I have some in both the small and medium size in this space. I also used the Byholma woven baskets from Ikea to store anything related to eye care including my contacts which I purchase a yearly supply as well as eye drops and extra contact cases. I’ve housed all of our medicine in a 3-drawer Sterilite storage container.
If you are struggling to organize your linen closet, these 7 tips might help!
Tips for Organizing Your Linen Closet
1. Keep Things Simple
You don’t need to micro-organize all the time. This is a space that will more than likely have items coming and going on a regularly basis. If you have tightly fitting organizers with little room for flexibility, you will constantly struggle to keep this space tidy.
Instead, opt for open baskets that you can literally just toss things into or grab things as you need them. I prefer hidden storage because visual clutter overwhelms me. However, do what works for you. If using clear containers so you can see what you have works, then by all means do it!
Add labels, but don’t be too specific. As you saw above, I have a basket labeled toiletries. This is where ALL of our extra toiletries go. I can easily see if I have a backup toothpaste or if I need to add this item to my list with a quick glance in this basket. Plus, it makes it much easier for your spouse, child, or anybody else living in your home to find where things are and, better yet, put them away!
2. Only Store What You Use
I’ve been so guilty of this in the past. I receive items as gifts or get things on super clearance and think I need to store them for years when I never reach for them. If you have lotions, shampoos, or any other bathroom items that you aren’t using or haven’t used in the past 6 months, chances are you aren’t going to be grabbing for them. It’s okay to let them go. Your linen closet will thank you!
Also, purge anything that’s expired. It’s time to go through that medicine cabinet and purge, purge, purge!
3. Use the Same or Similar Storage
Like I said, I only used 3 types of organizers in this space and I kept the color pallet neutral. Try and stick to similar organizers in the same color scheme to keep things cohesive. It will be more pleasing to the eye when you open the door.
4. Store Most Used Items at Eye Level
Keep the things you use on a daily basis where you can reach them easily. This will help you see what you have so you can use it up before purchasing new.
5. Limit Your Linens
Okay. This is a big one. I think most people own far more bath towels than they need or use. I say two sets per person in your family plus one extra set if you have guests. My husband and boys use one towel when they shower. I use two. So our sets look like this:
Tom: 1 towel x 2 sets = 2 towels
Caleb: 1 towel x 2 sets = 2 towels
Ben: 1 towel x 2 sets = 2 towels
Kaitlin: 2 towels x 2 sets = 4 towels
Guests: 2 extras
TOTAL = 12 towels
If you have more than you need, I’m giving you permission to purge. Having less means you don’t have to designate as much space to store them and you will simplify your laundry routine!
6. Don’t Keep Multiples
How many tubes of toothpaste do you have in your linen closet? What about bottles of shampoo? Lotion? Hair Spray? We are probably storing far more than we need to.
Use up what you have on hand before you purchase more. And then once you’ve downsized your toiletry stash, don’t keep more than one extra of each item on hand.
NOTE: If you shop in bulk at a big boxed store, make sure you are only purchasing items you will actually use. We do shop at Sam’s Club regularly and I do buy our body wash and deodorant there often. However, I make sure to only buy items we will use up completely. Storing items you will probably never use is not saving you money in the long run and is causing you more stress to store them than they are worth. Try small sizes of new items before purchasing them in bulk to make sure it’s something you will use and enjoy.
Related: The Simple Joy of One from Becoming Minimalist
7. Don’t Overfill the Space
If you are storing too much stuff in a small space, it will inevitably become cluttered and disorganized. Making sure to follow tip #2 (only store what you use) will help. Leaving a little bit of space completely free for growth is a great idea.
And remember, unused space in a closet is a good thing!
BONUS TIP: Utilize a “Halfway Home”
If you are struggling to get rid of something because you aren’t sure if you will use it, put it in a halfway home. A halfway home can be a box, tote, or tub where you store things for a specific amount of time (usually 3-6 months). You need to write a date on the box that’s 3-6 months away and whatever items you don’t retrieve at the end of that time leave your home.
We are very blessed to have a closet to store our bathroom essentials. If you don’t, get creative! Use a few shelves in your closet, a piece of furniture, under the bed storage or even add a few decorative shelves to store baskets and neatly folded towels.
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