Now watch closely… nothing up our sleeves… abracadabra, a linen closet! That’s right, we decided to use our extra blue board on the second floor hallway and as the wall came down, a closet appeared as if from nowhere!

It was most likely a closet for the master bedroom that someone once covered over. Opening it from the hallway turns it into the perfect linen closet directly across from the bathroom!

We had factored some open storage into the bathroom but to have an extra closet is always a bonus. I know that I’m so overly organized to the point of compulsive that I can keep an open shelved linen closet neat as a pin. But- even I admit there are some things that just shouldn’t be on display, i.e. bulk toilet paper, diapers (eventually!), etc. But even though they’re not the prettiest linen closet items, they should still be stored efficiently. So here are my Martha Stewart approved (I hope!) organizing tips…

I’m sure I didn’t coin the term “Merge Purge” but that’s really my motto for cleaning and organizing. Like items together and keep nothing that you don’t use or love.

For me, the purge part is simple and I do it on a regular basis. Haven’t used this hair crimper since the 80’s- boom! In the trash! These hand towels have seen better days- Salvation Army bin here I come! I know some people have a really hard time parting with things but they’re just things! Don’t think about it! Do you use it? Do you love it? If the answer is no to both- get it out of your house!

Now in terms of the merge part- I like to keep certain items that you might need together corralled in a basket or caddy so it’s easy to take everything you need out of the linen closet in one step. Like this one for laundry day.

I know I’m one of the few but I do know how to fold a fitted sheet. And once you do that, place the flat sheet on top and store them both in the matching pillow case. That way all your sets are conveniently in one bundle!

This is how I roll! I don’t know about you but I always loved the spa-like look of rolled towels so that’s how I store mine- rolled and stacked.

Whether it’s utilitarian plastic bins or pretty glass vases, use clear containers so you can see at a glance what you have and when you need to restock. I like to put my makeup brushes in coffee beans so the dark colors don’t brush up against the light ones. Plus, the smell always perks me up in the morning!

And for unsightly items, I’ll use baskets or canvas bins but always labeled.