How To Declutter + Stylize Your Linen Closet In One Afternoon

No lies. Decluttering and organizing my linen closets have been on my to-do list for years but it sounded so boring and tedious, until now. After tackling this hall closet I can’t wait to get my hands on our other one!

I partnered with Extra Space Storage on this post (and as always, all opinions are 100% my own) to bring you my decluttering, organizing and styling tips to take your linen closet from this…

Before Photo of Disorganized Closet

TO THIS...

After photo of decluttered and organized linen closet

[This post contains affiliate links at no additional cost to you.]

 

In just one afternoon, I transformed this entire closet and went from avoiding it like the plague to wishing I could leave the doors open all of the time! 

THE PLAN

  • choose color theme
  • purchase baskets
  • declutter
  • organize
  • stylize
  • HAVE FUN!

Sure, I could’ve went in and just neatly folded everything, but where’s the fun in that?!

If you add an element of fun, like making it pretty, then you’ll be more inclined to tackle an otherwise boring project.

 

COLOR THEME

I chose to go with black and white since that’s the general color theme of the bathrooms upstairs anyway. I’ve been hoarding towels through every style change through the years, and to be honest -we don’t use them. Like EVER. So I was finally ready to part ways with every random towel in this closet to complement my color theme.

How to Organize, style and declutter your linen closet

STORAGE

I chose to go with baskets because I have a really bad addiction to them (like almost as bad as my pillow addiction) and all of the baskets I used here are from At Home Store. They have a huge selection with incredibly reasonable prices (if you’ve read my blog before then you know I’m frugal when it comes to home decor).

If you need more function for grouping smaller items, then you might choose to go with plastic bins that are easy to label.

If you want to use baskets like I did but still need to label then you can always get cute tags (like these) and use twine to attach them to the baskets.

 

DECLUTTER

This is the least fun part, but completely necessary to getting organized. I began by removing every single item. After it looked like the closet threw up all over my hallway, I began sorting into three piles – keep, donate, trash.

 

 

 

A ragged towel that you bought in your first home 15 years ago does not count as sentimental value. Toss it!

When I had all my piles sorted, I bagged my donation items and set them aside. Then I bagged the trash and set that aside.

 

ORGANIZE

Now that the donate and trash piles were separated from the items I wanted to keep, I began grouping like items together and putting them in the baskets.

 

STYLIZE

Any extra linens or items that didn’t fit into my black and white color theme went into a black and white basket. Now, the FUN part – putting it all back together!

The key to styling any space is to create balance.

I achieved this by alternating the black and white baskets and patterns. The top and bottom shelves got white on the outer edges with black in the center, the 2nd and 5th shelves got black and white patterns, and the two middle shelves got a mix of alternating black, white and patterns.

THE VERDICT

I wish I hadn't put this project off for so long! I honestly couldn’t be more thrilled to finally have this linen closet decluttered, organized and styled. I think I made this project so much worse in my head than it actually was, so if you’ve been doing that too then I encourage you to stop putting it off and get started!

There’s no better time than now to get going. – Kevin Systrom

Be sure to visit Extra Space’s Blog and Instagram for more helpful tips on decluttering, organization and storage!

 

 

 

Christina

P I N  T H I S  I M A G E  F O R  L A T E R

How to declutter, organize and stylize your linen closet

Comments

Christina, such a fabulous post! And the video is the topper for all those visual learners. I did this with my linen closet in my master bathroom but there are many more spaces that need this.

Thank you, Mindy! I wish I had a linen closet in my master bathroom. One thing our house seriously lacks is storage space! Tongue Out 

Love, love, love this! Not only is it beautifully organized - it has a color theme!!! I think this is the prettiest closet I've ever seen Christina. Bravo!

Thank you, Tana!!

It looks amazing Christina!! Great job! I wish my linen closet looked like that!

Thank you!! It wasn't that bad to do and I feel so much lighter! ;)

I would like to know approximately how much you spent on this amazing makeover. My linen closet is beffing for this!

Less than $150!