The Spring Spruce Up is Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday of this week. Make sure to stop by each day for some Spruce Up Inspiration! Several bloggers and I are teaming up to each work on a different room of the house. So be inspired! Best of all, there is a link up on Thursday of this week. So get movin’, spruce up your space, take pictures and write a post!
Mama’s printable Laundry Room Form
There are a few fortunate souls among us who have a separate linen closet in their home. I, unfortunately do not. My handy husband installed some wire shelving in my oh-so-tiny laundry room. Without it, there is absolutely no place in this house to store linens of any type. (Mental note for next house: a linen closet is a must with 4 children. And a big walk-in laundry room. These are deal breakers, I’ve learned. Sigh.)
Since my linens are stored in my Laundry Room, I consider them to be part of my Laundry Room Spring Spruce Up. If you have only a small amount of shelving, you have to make every inch count.
Get Your Linen Area in Tip Top Shape
- Remove everything that doesn’t belong in your linen area.
Tote bags, knitting projects, bathing suits and heating pads do not belong in your linen area. So toss out everything that doesn’t belong there and find it a home – even if that home is the trash can. Only when you get down to the actual linens can you see what you have to work with. - Re-fold items as needed.
If your linens are strewn around the shelf, it’s hard to find the right towel or set of sheets that you need. And when linens are messy, it gives the appearance that they aren’t clean. The cleaner and neater your linens are, the more apt you are to use them. If they are folded well, it also makes your shelving seem more spacious and you can fit more linens on your shelves. I have several how-to-fold posts covering: bath towels, hand towels, and beach towels. And at the end of this week, I’ll have a video tutorial on how to fold a fitted sheet. Nicely folded linens are worth it, even if the only reason is aesthetics. - When shelving towels or sheets, stack the largest on the bottom.
If you stack with the small ones on the bottom, you know they are going to topple over. And then you’ve got a messy shelf all over again. So when folding, go ahead and fold the big ones first. Then fold the small ones and place on top. The whole stack will now slide easily on the shelf. - Store like items together.
If you need a washcloth, it only makes sense to look near the towels on your shelf. One naturally goes with the other. Store all bath towels, hand towels and washcloths together, as well as all sheet sets. Simple organizing keeps you from wasting time searching for items that should be readily available. - Store your most used items at eye level within easy reach.
If you must store table linens, extra mattress pads or your rarely needed formal tablecloth in your linen area, make sure those infrequently used items are stored in the most inaccessible areas. It only makes sense to store the towels, washcloths and sheets within an easy arm’s reach since those are most used. Since you know you can easily reach those items, it makes you more apt to put them away in the first place.
Do you struggle with your linen area? What are your biggest obstacles?
Still Sprucing Up? Need a little more inspiration? Visit the other bloggers that are Sprucing Up this week! Remember that there will be a linky for you to link up your Spring Spruce Up post tomorrow!
Sprucing Up the School Room | Homegrown Mom
Sprucing Up the Craft Room | Many Little Blessings
Sprucing Up the Bathroom | Feels Like Home
Sprucing Up the Playroom | …Life’s About a Dream
Sprucing Up the Garage/Storage Space | A Slob Comes Clean
Sprucing Up the Master Bedroom | Raising Arrows
Sprucing Up Your Homeschool | Jimmie’s Collage
Sprucing Up the Kitchen | So Happy Together
Sprucing Up the Garden | An Oregon Cottage
Sprucing Up the Backyard | Successful Homeschooling
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We have to store our towels in the laundry room too. I have so much stuff in the laundry room that really has no business there. Maybe the laundry room will be the next room that I tackle.
We also do not have any storage closets in this house. Who builds a house with no closets except for the bedrooms?! Anyway I enjoyed this post. =)
Thanks, Tanya!
-Lauren
Straightened towels really do look so much better than messy ones.
They do! I agree!
-Lauren
Oh, Mama, you need not be sad about having no real linen closet. Because you don’t really need one if you store linens where they are used. It is more logical and convenient and household organizers agree. I speak from experience after having to sacrifice ours for a utility closet. In the bedroom, store 2 or 3 sets of them – somewhat folded up – between the mattress and boxspring or mattress and linkspring. This is very handy when having to change soiled bedsheets for young ones. You could also store them and blankets, bedspreads, etc. under the bed in old wooden drawers or large (lidless is optional) plastic containers, but not cardboard ones. A large homemade wooden drawer with wheels to store items under the bed is also an option. If you have so many bed linens that they won’t all fit under the beds, then maybe it is time to sort and purge.
In the kitchen, get rid of the junk drawer or items not used often, and put towels, etc. in that space. Beach towels could be stored with items used only in summer. Or if you use indoor pools in cooler weather, store them in the person’s bedroom. All bath towels should be stored on a shelf/shelves either attached to the wall or cut into the wall, on an over the toilet etagere, or obviously, in the bath closet, if you have one.
Now Gardenia, that is just a plethora of fabulous ideas! Really – I’m impressed with your many fabulous suggestions.
Thanks for listing them!
-Lauren
I so want a huge walk-in laundry room. With a sink! Maybe one day…
Oh! Me too. A mama can dream….
We are blessed with a lot of built-in closets in this house, but our last one was a 40s bungalow that barely had bedroom closets, so I got used to storing sheets in the room where the bed was. I actually like having them in the same room- no wondering about sizes or labeling them, so I keep them on the shelves in the closets of this house, too, even though I do have extra closets.
That I manage to fill with other things. 🙂
Great tips! Even though I have a large walk-in linen closet, I do store our kitchen towels and aprons in the kitchen and tablecloths in our buffet.