Organizing The Linen Closet

Once I had the closet renovation completed I was really ready to get in there and put things away, but I had to wait.  I had painted all of the old shelving and it needed a few days to completely dry and cure otherwise everything I set on them would stick and damage the paint.  Not to mention I'd have paint stuck on things I don't want paint to be stuck on.  So patience had to prevail here and we continued to step over our linen closet items that were being temporarily stored on our bathroom floor.

In the meantime I got ready by going through all the storage totes and containers I had leftover from packing up my daughter's things for college.  I washed them inside and out and used a magic eraser to remove any label residue and black marks.  Some of these containers are quite old and I've had them for years and years.  The magic eraser worked like a charm even taking the dingy gray off the lids and making them white again.  Yay!

By the time the shelves were ready the containers were nice and dry so I began by putting like items together.  This time I wanted all my pillows, blankets and extra linens to be in containers to keep them corralled and protect them from dust.  I also wanted to keep the extra toiletries from looking messy.  Same with our extra laundry supplies.

Laundry detergent & soaps.  Toothbrushes, toothpaste & razors.

On the upper shelf is my Christmas china
Foaming hand soaps in the BBW bag

The bonus is that this little project didn't cost me a dime.  A little elbow grease as well as some soap and water made these old containers clean and like new again.  I used up what I already had on hand and was able to make it work quite nicely to meet my needs.

I still have some space so it isn't jam packed
The bottom bin is empty, the one on top holds my electric blanket

After all of the work I put into this closet I really want things to be and stay nice and tidy.  I really want to see neatness and order whenever I open the door.  Definitely not chaos.  I did a little bit of purging when I emptied the closet so only the items we truly want and use have gone back inside.  I love the end result and am quite happy with what we have going on in here.