The Well Organized Linen Closet

Does anything lend a touch of elegance and a grace note to your life like a beautiful and beautifully organized linen closet? Whether it’s the exquisite custom linen closet like the one above, designed by Sussan Lari Architects for a family home on Long Island, New York, or any of the ones below, organizing and storing your ironed, pressed and folded linens where you can see and access them, is one more step in setting up the foundation for a gracious lifestyle.

The storage of linens, in lovely spring colors, in a closet, as in this picture from http://marthastewart.com are given an extra touch of organizational elegance by the placement of the beautiful brass labels on the front of each custom shelf, making it easy for you or your housekeeper to see where to place each set of sheets.

My favorite resource for these solid brass labels { beware, though, the polishing needed on occasion! } is Van Dyke, because of the way they’ve covered the screws and their shape. You can buy them, if you’d like, by clicking here. Make sure to check the height of your shelves, though, before purchasing, them, to make sure they’ll fit!

If the idea of polishing the brass labels on occasion makes you think twice, then clipping a printed note with a clothespin { as Martha Stewart has done below } onto the front of pretty, pale ivory, straw baskets, might be an easier and more manageable organizational solution for you. Three resources for straw storage baskets like these for your linen closets are Dallas headquartered, The Container Store, Garnet Hill and Hold Everything.

Another organizational solution for a linen closet is a pretty stand alone armoire, like the one pictured below from http://bhg.com, with the charming keyhole detail at the top. I also love the way one set of towels are tied with a grosgrain ribbon and how the pillowcases are wrapped around the fitted and folded sheet. Details make all the difference, don’t they?

Painting or wallpapering the back of each shelf is a lovely detail, too. One of my friends from the world of social media, Laurie Chambers Laizure, owns a company, http://customizedwallpapers.com, and if you’d like, she can make a customized and removable wallpaper for you to coordinate with your linens and your laundry room areas. This solution works well for those of you who like to be able to change your linens from season to season. Removable wallpaper does not damage your valuable antique armoires or beautifully painted walls.

One detail I like to add to shelving is liner paper, and this beautiful liner paper, designed and manufactured by Mary Lake -Thompson, although made as a drawer liner, is a particular favorite of mine since it’s scented with lavender, which I like for my linens. You can purchase it by clicking, here.

And, although soiled linens will not go into your linen closet, but into your laundry room, I could not resist showing you this beautiful container for them from The Laundress. Isn’t it pretty? And, if you love the idea of having custom monogrammed cotton storage bags for your out of season linens, they’re the resource I would recommend for these, too. You can find those, by clicking here.

Your very fine antique linens will need to be wrapped in acid free tissue paper and, if moths are a problem in your area, you may also want to add a couple of cedar blocks to your linen closet. Over time, their aroma will lessen, and if you notice this happening, just rub them with a little sandpaper to release their fragrance again.

Most stores will have acid free tissue paper available, but I love buying things in pretty packaging like this, from Martha Pullen. You can buy it by clicking here.

My 18 year old daughter and her friends might only be able to start out with a simple linen closet like this one, as featured in http://bhg.com as they go off to college this year. The guide, below this picture, from an early issue of Domino Magazine, which she and her friends are now happy to buy again {!} , will help them - and maybe your daughters, too.

Notice how Domino has also shared how to fold a fitted sheet on the bottom of this screenshot from their Sept. 2008 issue? The need for some type of information never changes - like the type that Mothers pass on to their daughters….for instance, about how organization is the foundation for a gracious life.

As for me? I prefer to gaze at this exquisite custom linen closet that I started this post with..and I hope to one day be able to create something similar for one of my interior design clients here in Midland, Texas or, perhaps, you?

To see more from this gorgeous home, photographed by Peter Rymwid, please click here.
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Have a blessed day ~

Leslie Hendrix Wood
Decorator
Chancellor Interiors
Midland, Texas

Founder,

http://hadleycourt.com/blog/

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