Organizing My Linen Closet in 3 hours for Under $40

Let it be said that I can not stand when things are disorganized. I'm a busy mom and when I reach for something I expect it to be there. I'm also not patient (a fact that I'm sure my husband would be willing to lovingly attest to) so when things aren't where they're supposed to be, I get, well, irritated.

That being said, I present the reorganization of my linen closet for under $40 (I bought 4 plastic drawer sets for $9.99 each, I owned all of the other items already).

To the far left is a shot of the linen

closet pre-organization before & to the right of that, a shot of the post organization.

A few disclaimers: this project took several hours (maybe 3), however that includes entertaining my son every 5-15 minutes so your time may vary. We also have a pup so I was careful with the personal care products, medicine, vitamins, etc. Kept a close eye on both the pup & my 2 1/2 year old while those items were out. We have a child-proof cover on the knob so once the door is closed, it's not an issue. Just something to keep in mind if you're tackling a project like this with pets and/or young kids around.

Here are the before shots of each shelf:

TOP SHELF: the fire extinguisher (not handy), toilet paper (which my daughter couldn't reach & I'd always have to drop what I was doing if she needed a new roll), a few random first aid items, a first aid kit, the clippers I use to cut my husband's & son's hair, my husband's travel toiletry bag, & a tin of great soaps I got for Christmas.

2ND SHELF: To be honest, this shelf was not entirely

disorganized. I always knew where things

were. My family, however, did not. And they'd knock over items while riffling through the shelf looking for whatever they were looking for & I'd end up being the one who had to fix it. It just got old.

THIRD SHELF: Towel shelf. Probably the most well-organized. ;)

FOURTH SHELF: This was not good. Random beach towels. Large white plastic basket full of what had previously been organized items but had sort of become a "catch-all". Small plastic drawer full of baby first aid items I no longer needed (seriously, who needs THREE aspirators??), and the red bag is my travel toiletry bag.

BOTTOM: But the bottom of the linen closet was the worst. Plastic bags taking over, on top of that a cooler bag, several more cooler bags behind that & behind everything, a box full of paper bags, bubble wrap, & bubble mailers to reuse. There was also a hair dryer & hair straightener in there somewhere...

Getting started...

1.) First step was to clear out the personal care products, medicines, first aid items, etc & sort them. Don't forget to check expiration dates. I try to donate items that I'm not going to use before their expiration date but I don't always get to them in time... Keep in mind that a product is not rendered useless one day after the expiration date, however, if you're like me and you don't use medicine much, you're likely to have many products on hand that may be several years old that have just been used once or twice, if that.

First aid items for itchiness...

Homeopathic remedies, cough drops,

medicine, etc.

First aid products...

My husband's items...

Skin care solutions: aloe, witch hazel, bug spray, Tiger Balm, sunscreen, moisturizers.

This is a happy sight. An empty shelf. Clean, after being wiped down with a vinegar & water solution.

I emptied out the bottom of the linen closet & swept it. Sorted the plastic bags & re-organized the box of paper bags, bubble, wrap, & bubble mailers (to reuse). Set everything else aside to reorganize later.

To cut down on dead space in the closet, it was worth it to take the time to remove many of the products from their boxes. Sometimes the inserts have coupons so it's worth it to check them. I wanted to keep some of the inserts with their medications (not all medications have complete instructions on the bottle) so I taped them.

Going through the expired items, I sorted the paperboard, paper, trash, & plastic.

TOP SHELF: The top shelf is DONE! And for free. I had the basket already. Cooler bags in the basket, beach blankets to the right.

SECOND SHELF:

I moved the towels up one shelf. From left to right: hand towels, bath towels, bath mats.

THIRD SHELF:

DONE. The two bottom drawers cost $9.99 each. The plastic container with no lid on the left holds all of our painkillers & supplements - the supplements had previously been in our kitchen so I was able to free up that space out in our cabinet. The plastic drawer on the left holds my husbands items. On the right, top to bottom: the basket holds two 7-day travel pill containers. If we ever get ambitious enough to start taking supplements again, we'll be able to get to them easily. Under the basket, the plastic drawer holds the kids medicines - I already had this drawer set so it was FREE. And the bottom plastic drawer holds my items - this was a new drawer, $9.99. To the left of everything are the hair clippers & my husbands travel toiletry bag & to the right of everything is my red travel toiletry bag.

FOURTH SHELF:

I already had the plastic basket so that was free. It holds extra band-aids, q-tips, my Christmas soaps in bags, hair care items, etc. The two plastic drawers each are new & cost $9.99 a piece. The one on the left holds first air products & the one on the right holds cold care remedies.

BOTTOM: The box is reorganized with paper bags, bubble wrap, & bubble mailers. In front of that is the fire extinguisher (easy to get to), the first aid kit (easy to get to), & the toilet paper (easy to get to - especially for my daughter).

DONE! :)