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Are you doing some organizing this week? Don't forget your linen closet! This area is one that many of my clients seem to put aside and forget to do. This will leave their family and their home disorganized. You may not want to, but this smaller closet space will help you get your morning routine (Affiliate Link) off right by allowing you to find your needed supplies quickly. It will also save you money on accidentally purchasing more items than you need. But what things need storing in this closet? This post will help you get it organized in the best possible way. Here we go.
What items should be kept in a bathroom closet?
Jump to:
- What items should be kept in a bathroom closet?
- Bath towels, hand towels, washcloths (of course)
- Extra beauty supplies
- Extra General Supplies Utilized in the Bathroom
- Laundry Baskets
- Baby Cleaning Supplies
- Bathroom Cleaning Supplies
- Summer Swimming Supplies
- First Aid Kit
- Updated 2023:
- And don't forget to label the areas!
- Where to place items in a linen closet?
Bath towels, hand towels, washcloths (of course)
Group these items by type and stack them on top of each other on the shelf.
If you often have guests, you may want to have a separate upper shelf that holds a complete set.
Extra beauty supplies
If you are like us, you may buy doubles of things to ensure you have supplies for the entire family. Things like extra leg razors, nail polish supplies, extra make-up, etc... are handy to keep in bulk. These extra supplies can be stored in small open-top wicker baskets or bins to hide the quantity.
Visit our HOW TO MAKE A CUTE GUEST WELCOME BASKET FOR THE HOLIDAYS post!
Extra General Supplies Utilized in the Bathroom
If you go to a wholesale store to purchase bathroom supplies, you may have a stockpile of toothbrushes, toothpaste, toilet paper, and tissues. Bins with drawers work nicely with deep shelves (Affiliate Link) in your linen closet for these items. Bins with lids also work well for toothbrushes and toothpaste. Keeping the bulk toilet paper rolls (Affiliate Link) on the top shelves (Affiliate Link) works great. I find that removing the packaging allows for easy access when you need it most.
Laundry Baskets
If you can fit laundry baskets in your linen closet, it's ideal to have one for darks, one for lights, and one for bleach items. If you do not have room for all three, have one or two. Below is one I found that has dividers for these sections.
Laundry Basket 3-Bag Rectangular Sorter Basket
Buy Now →(Affiliate Link)
Baby Cleaning Supplies
Babies come with lots of things. Baby shampoo, baby powder, bathtub, moisturizer, etc... can be added to an already stuffed linen closet. It's best to keep these items separated in their own bin. Having these items in one place will make bathing your baby easier. Some acrylic bins with handles with sides at least 4 inches high work nicely to store these items and grab them when you need them.
Bathroom Cleaning Supplies
A few rolls of paper towels, toilet bowl cleaner, tub and tile cleaner, floor cleaner, etc... should have a home in the linen closet. No one wants to go downstairs to get things to clean the closet. Also, if you have little ones, you may not want to place them under the sink. So, the linen closet is a perfect spot. The cleaning process will be quicker and easier if you have the supplies right there and ready to use. I use open-top acrylic bins for these cleaning supplies since they are sturdy and usually have handles.
Summer Swimming Supplies
Other items stored in a linen closet are beach towels, goggles, sunscreen, etc... They should have their own bin or area on the shelf. An open bin works great for bottle items that are quick to grab. Folded beach towels on a far corner of the shelf when not used to help keep them clean and away from possible use. I prefer to place the water shoes (Affiliate Link) near the other shoes (Affiliate Link) closest to the front door because they can make a mess if they are brought to the far end of the home. If you have a mudroom, you can add these supplies there instead of the linen closet. Summer swimming supplies can be stored in the garage (Affiliate Link). However, the towels and sensitivity-to-temperature items should be stored in the linen closet.
First Aid Kit
If you have a smaller home, it works to keep the first aid kit in a portable container like the one I created for our home. Create a first aid kit and basket that holds all the supplies. This briefcase-like divider container works great for storing all these small items.
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If you do not wish to make your own first aid kit, I found this one on Amazon (affiliate).
First Aid Only OSHA-Compliant All-Purpose 100-Person Emergency First Aid
Buy Now →(Affiliate Link)
Visit our other bathroom posts for more tips!
Visit these other posts that may help you with your bathroom.
BATHROOM ORGANIZING ESSENTIALS
THE IDEAL NARROW LINEN CLOSET LAUNDRY BASKET OPTION
WHY YOU SHOULD NOT STORE BED LINENS IN A BATHROOM CLOSET
NARROW LINEN CLOSET STORAGE OPTIONS MADE EASY
If you have a larger bathroom and place the above items in your vanity or sink cabinet, you can also organize the closet with linens like the image below from an organizing project of a client of mine.
She didn't need to store anything but towels in her linen closet, but she still organized them by type. And, at the bottom, she had an open bin for her laundry baskets. This closet was in the hallway near her powder room. Odd place for a linen closet, but it worked for her.
Updated 2023:
Recently, I started working with this linen closet client again, and she shared with me how her linen closet looks now. She did great! After so many years, her kids are now in high school and elementary school; they needed more space for larger towels, so she reduced it to just two large bins.
Some home zones will need reorganizing as the kids grow and change; this area just needed a little modification to stay organized for her family. I'm so proud of her for keeping the continuously used area organized for so long.
If you need support and advice on organizing your home, check out my Virtual Organizing Services. Reach out, and let's talk about your goals.
And don't forget to label the areas!
Now that you have all the items in your linen closet. It's time to label (Affiliate Link)! It's a great way to reinforce your new system. Label (Affiliate Link) the bins so you and everyone in your home can find things quickly and notice if things are missing or if supplies ran out. Like the image above, you need to label (Affiliate Link) it if you can't see what is in it. But to stay consistent, be sure to mark it anyway. It looks so much better when everything is labeled.
Where to place items in a linen closet?
Below is a visualization of where to place the items in a well-organized linen closet. Remember: Above eye levels are infrequently used items and lighter items. At eye level should be the frequently used things, and below eye level should be the heavy items and larger bins.
Tip: Pull items out of the closet that does not pertain to the bathroom. It will drastically reduce the number of items in the closet and, as a result, make it less cluttered.
That's it! I hope this post inspires you to make your organized linen closet. Do you have any unique items in your closet? Please comment below if you have any issues with where to store them. I will get back to you as soon as possible. Happy Organizing.
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Below are some additional tips from other experts about linen closet organization.
13 Tricks for Organizing Your Chaotic Linen Closet from Good Housekeeping Magazine
Organizing Your Linen Closet from HGTV
Please note these are affiliate links through Amazon, and at no additional cost to you, I will earn affiliate fees if you decide to make a purchase.
Linda Samuels says
We have a tiny linen closet. It holds linens (towels, sheets, blankets) and a stock of personal care products. One of our bathrooms holds additional personal care products and cleaning supplies used just for that bathroom. Laundry baskets are kept in the laundry room.
Melanie Summers says
Very interesting! I agree with a lot of the comments noting how funny it is that most things we store in linen closets are for bathroom backstock and cleaning supplies. Our linen closet doubles as a utility closet so we have to be extra careful about not overflowing the space. I love all your suggestions and your idea to keep bed linens in a drawer in your BEDROOM! Doesn't that just make sup much more sense, haha. It would be much easier as well.
Julie Bestry says
I was fascinated that your post on linen closets didn't mention bed linens, as those and towels would be the primary thing I'd usually store there. Do you recommend storing linens somewhere else, specifically? I definitely agree with most of your advice, though I've stopped recommending First Aid kits be kept in linen closets if they're located in bathrooms, as sometimes you can't access the bathroom if it's "occupado." (I often suggest the pantry, as so many of our daily booboos occur in the kitchen.) As others have noted, linen closets can vary so much in width (not enough) and depth (often too much), making it hard to get/keep organized; thus, your advice is needed all the more!
Sabrina Quairoli says
I recommend storing the bed linens in the bedroom they will be used in. Most of my clients have linen closets that are in or very close to the bathroom, and I get concerned that the bedding will get damp from the humidity in the bathrooms. Bedroom dresser drawers are a great place to store bedding. They don't allow it to get out of hand because you only have one drawer to use. When it gets full, you get rid of the oldest one.
Janet Schiesl says
I was just at a prospective client's this morning and they called their linen closet, the junk closet. Of course, that's what was inside. I have 3 narrow clothes hampers on the floor of my linen closet. I love storing them there - out of the way.
Lucy Kelly says
I love how we still call it a "linen" closet when often the last thing that makes it in there is linens! I've noticed that clients want to use this space for everything they're not sure about, so your post will be handy for them. Thank you!
Diane N Quintana says
I wish linen closets were built to serve what they need to hold. So often they are narrow spaces with shelves that are either too deep or not deep enough. Your strategies for organizing the space are great and easy to follow!
Seana Turner says
I worked with a client on this last week. She got some great, stackable, clear drawers that were great because the shelves (as they so often are) were very deep and widely spaced. Then we used some divided turntables to hold the tall products (e.g. hair products). Adding structure to these gaping spaces is what makes all the difference. What a pretty linen closet that is!
Julie Stobbe says
I always find linen closets hard to organize for my clients. They come in so many sizes and shapes. Some have very deep shelves others narrow. Sometimes all the things you mentioned will fit in and other times I have to great creative and put some things in bedrooms on the closet shelf and use the space in the linen closet for items that everyone needs to use near the bathroom. The lists are great so each person can prioritize which items should be in the linen closet and which items can be stored somewhere else if the linen closet won't hold everything.