Friday, November 4, 2011

Nesting

Today I decided to clean out and organize the upstairs hallway closet. 
After refolding the towels, tossing out a bag of garbage, and stuffing things into new bins, I will admit that it looks nicer.  BUT, I can't get no satisfaction.  Still too much 'clutter'.  Am I going crazy?  I keep staring at all the stuff, wondering what, exactly, is bothering me.
Maybe it's the chrome top bins, I would prefer white.  However, we had a few CD bins that weren't being used, so I thought this was as good a place as any. I bought a couple extra to fill up the shelf.
My white towels are getting dingy.  I would like new ones please!  The shelf below the towels holds some essentials, as well as my curlers/curling irons (which haven't been touched in years). In a pinch, I shoved stuff in a couple paper shopping bags in place of bins.  I will look for a better storage solution (something white!)
I am happy with my brushes and combs!  I picked this bin up ages ago from goodwill.  Hmmmm, could I spray bomb the bins on the top shelf white?  Let's DO IT!
Finally, we come to the extra blankets and pillow inserts, some essential cleaning supplies, and TP!  

Like bookcase styling, there seems to be an art to closet styling.  I don't think I quite have the knack!

How is your linen closet looking these days?

21 comments:

  1. Ha! I have so many extra blankets I can barely stuff them in the closet and my hubby won't let me get rid of them. Same with beach towels - we live in Ottawa, how many beach towels does a family of 4 need?
    We are revamping our secret storage entrance to house some shelves so my upstairs closets (linen, secret entrance and way too deep bathroom one) are all going to be reshuffled in the next couple of weeks.

    www.fishlynews.com

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  2. I have quite a few blankets downstairs too!! I wish I had space to keep them all together!

    Secret storage rocks!

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  3. It looks great! Unrealistic magazines make us unsatified! I always feel unsatisified, too.

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  4. how is my linen closet looking nowadays? lol. well, you'd have to see it to believe it.

    my husband and i have NO good sheets. we have old, old, old sheets that are the ugliest things you'd ever want to see (wedding gifts, well intentioned but holy cow are they ever ugly).

    our bedroom is next on our 'to do' list of rooms in the house. i plan on buying new sheets. the linen closet right now looks like absolute heck. everything is mismatched and disorganized. we don't even have good towels - over time, we've had bleach spills and frayed ends and the whole kit and caboodle. that's an expense i have to put out in the near future too - new towels that are actually presentable to guests!

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  5. I would have to say that your reality closet is very close to the dream. Nice Job!

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  6. Just found your blog through Designwali - love what I see.

    Just yesterday, I started organizing my bathroom linen closet - something about this time of year I think. I was floored and a little embarrased to find so many travel size lotions, shampoos, conditioners and soaps ... this may qualify as a "problem" :)!

    I love the look of your linen closet and your "dream" linen closet. Inspiration to get back at it...off I go ...

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  7. shannon your closet looks gorg!! i lonnnggg for a linen closet! there used to be one but they closed it off from thehallway to include it in the attached master bedroom. maybe we can change it back some day!

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  8. NK_StyleingwithChildrenNovember 4, 2011 at 10:38 PM

    girl, you need to have that baby, like, tomorrow!! you have way too much time on your hands :))))) can you come over and help me clean my house?? he he

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  9. i always fold my towels like in a hair salon!
    folded side facing front so it looks more tidy!

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  10. I've been having mini-meltdowns lately about our lack of functional storage. Our house is big and our linen closet is TINY. Like if you take half of a bi-fold door and turn that into a bi-fold door, that is the size of our linen closet. I think your closet is looking good! I like the wire riser things that your inspiration closet uses.

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  11. hmmm, I never thought of that!

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  12. I thought I'd have said baby a week ago (I hoped)...so things are more than ready around here!!

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  13. So nice to hear!!!

    I tossed quite a few useless things from the top of our closet. We have two small medicine cabinets in the bathroom - I purged a ton from them too!

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  14. I think a wire riser would work well for me...for the shelf with the hand towels and face cloths!

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  15. We stole some closet space for the master. In fact, the reason the closet is a bit short (the top shelf isn't very high), is because we stole the top of the closet and incorporated it into the master. We actually have suitcases stored up there. If we left the space as part of the linen closet, it would have been difficult to reach since it is above/behind the doors! (This is my big design idea so I am VERY proud of it!)

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  16. Sheets and towels are $$$$$$$$$

    I finally dumped a bunch of sheets this year...stuff we never used. They went to the rag bag, or to a good home. I only ever have one white set in rotation at a time, and I wash it on Sat or Sun mornings.

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  17. Looks good to me! You don't even want to know what mine looks like. I'm thinking of adding another Pax unit to our Ikea linen closet so I have more room. A job for the new year. Then I'll refer back to this post so I can make mine as pretty as yours!

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  18. Wow so organized! I like your closet better than the inspiration one! That's probably because I'm obsessed with white too.
    I agree with Pierre, I think what's bothering you is the way the towels are facing. I am always refolding my towels after my partner folds them. (Even though that's rare that he'll fold anything). It's ridiculous-my entire place looks like a hurricane swept through it and I'm refolding towels that nobody will see!
    The other thing stylists always do is take the plastic off the TP, but that is a little crazy, esp when you have kids that will just unravel it all...
    Looks great! I would leave the chrome.
    Do you ever read Chez Larsson? She is a white obsessed organizing freak too!:)

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  19. My linen closet is deep, dark and narrow. I inevitably whack my elbows or pinch my arms trying to reach into the closet. It's a total pain and I'm never happy with the way it looks because it's hard to reach things at the back! I also can't store blankets in there because of the deep/narrow thing. Sigh.
    However - I'm just happy I have a linen closet right next to the bathroom!

    I think yours looks great - love the white. Maybe if I used all white it would help me find stuff because it's so stinkin' dark in there! hee hee!

    Ah the joy of living in an old house! Happy belated birthday!
    K

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  20. love. so inspired right now. where are the sheets??? my problem is all the beds with all the sheets. do you keep them separate? mine take up a ton of space.

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  21. Hi Allissa!

    I only have one set of sheets on my bed at a time...I don't have spares or backups. I garage-saled all my extra duvet covers (except the white one folded in the closet)

    When I wash my bedding, I have to wash, dry and put it back together all in the same day. I don't mind doing this because I love slipping into freshly laundered sheets!

    I use white bedding, so changing the pattern isn't really a thing for me!

    I do have a tangle of old white sheets in a bin in the storage room downstairs. I am saving these for drop clothes.

    The baby crib sheets are in a drawer in his room with the receiving blankets...and my son's extra twin size blankets are in a drawer in his room

    Oh and I have a large moses basket of folded blankets in my laundry room in the basement. These are used with the air mattress when guests come by.

    So basically, I gave away and donated a ton of sheets that I never used...there was no reason to hold onto them. I just kept a few just in case!

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