Interior Design
Store Your Bed and Bath Linen Like a Pro
Do you have an overstuffed linen cupboard? If so, it's time to get creative with your sheet and towel storage...
Linen is something that every family needs and owns. Whether your family has two members or ten, one thing I know… somewhere in your home you are storing sheets and towels. But what if your home, like mine, doesn’t have a linen cupboard? Or if you have a walk-in linen cupboard, how do you keep a rein on the quantity of linen you keep? Allow me to share some smart storage solutions that could free up some much-needed space at your place.
I often get asked by clients who come to my business, Simply Organised, for advice on how many sets of sheets and towels they should keep in their home. Asking these questions is important, because it’s critical to declutter first, before you organise any space.
My general recommendation is that you need between two to three sets of sheets for each bed in your home, and two to three towels for each family member.
A decluttering expert reveals: 3 things I wish my clients knew
A decluttering expert reveals: 3 things I wish my clients knew
The idea is that you have one set in use, one set in the wash and one set ready to go if you need them quickly. The exact amount you need will depend on your washing cycle and how quickly a set of towels or sheets goes from being used to being ready to use again.
Have you ever got out of the shower and realised there were no towels, and had to do a nudie run to the cupboard to grab a fresh one? Not a major issue when you’re home alone, but keeping a spare set of bath towels in your bathroom cupboard will mean they’re always on hand when you need them.
If you don’t have existing bathroom storage, you could bring in a slimline storage piece or floating shelving to house your towel sets.
If you have a large linen cupboard and would prefer to store all your sheets and towels in there, think about how you can keep sets separate and clearly marked so the whole cupboard doesn’t become a cluttered, overstuffed mess.
You may like to try keeping sheet sets inside the pillow case (this requires you to know how to fold a fitted sheet, which is an art form).
How do I… choose and care for sheets?
How do I… choose and care for sheets?
Keep all the linen for each bed together in the cupboard, so it’s easy to find what you need and simple to declutter old sets when you buy new ones. Storing towel sets stacked means whoever is replacing the towels in the bathroom can grab the whole set easily and not have to search for the matching bath mat when they’re in a rush.
Tip: If you don’t use a top sheet on your bed, declutter all the top sheets you have and give yourself back some storage space.
Have a perfectly made bed with 9 simple steps
Have a perfectly made bed with 9 simple steps
My favourite way to store bed sheets is to keep them in the room they belong in, rather than all together in a linen cupboard. Ever needed to change a child’s bed sheets at 3 a.m. and struggled to find a set of sheets? So much easier when all the bedding is kept in each bedroom.
For my kids, we have a fabric container on the shelf in their wardrobe, which holds their spare sheets. The beauty of the container is I don’t have to try to fold their fitted sheets, I just roll them up and pop them in there.
In the master bedroom, we use under-bed storage to house our bedlinen. It’s big enough to fit two sets of spare sheets as well as our spare quilt cover set. This makes it so simple to put clean sheets away, and even easier to grab a fresh set when we change the bed.
My challenge is to think creatively about how you store your linen; although a traditional linen cupboard can be fantastic, you may also benefit from storing towels and sheets in the rooms where you use them.
Oh… and don’t forget to declutter those excess towels and sheets too – I don’t know about you, but they seem to breed at my house.
TELL US
If you found this story useful, don’t forget to like it, share it and save the photos. Join the conversation.
MORE
5 Flat Surfaces You Can Declutter Today
TELL US
If you found this story useful, don’t forget to like it, share it and save the photos. Join the conversation.
MORE
5 Flat Surfaces You Can Declutter Today