Linen Storage

Many of us remember hanging sheets and towels out on a clothes line to dry.  That wonderful smell of the fresh air on the sheets is a wonderful memory - one we can almost still smell today.  However today, many suburbs have ordinances against clothes lines.  Washers and dryers have become a staple in most American homes.  The clothes line has become only a way of life in parts of rural America.

Many older large homes were built with large rooms to store linens.  Table clothes were rolled on tubes instead of being folded.  Sheets were ironed and placed on shelves.  Napkins were starched.  I  love pressed sheets- at least the pillow case-  and a nicely starched linen napkin. 

When designing my new home, I worked with a closet designer to create functional linen storage.  I have a large collection of tablecloths and I wanted to store  them in an efficient manner.  I needed space to sort bed linens by size, so that it would be easy to grab them when grand kids came to visit and I had to set up 4 additional  air mattress beds! During the week of my daughter's wedding, I had to find sheets for 5 additional beds and it took me hours. I vowed to myself - "Never again".     This week, I finally got the time to organize my linen closets.

This is a small linen closet on the main floor.   Extra towels and bath products are stored inside, along with my dressier table clothes and napkins. 

The tablecloth storage rack rolls out for easy access.  Each cloth is stored on its own rack.

I have found it so easy to use and I can easily find what I am looking for.

Napkins are stored in the side cubbies by color story,

allowing me to mix and match as I create a table setting. We have the same

set-up in the kitchen for everyday table linens.

 Extra bath products are stored here for guests.

On the guest level, I am lucky to have a large walk-in closet for linens.

 It is large enough to store an ironing board to press linens. 

 

It has large open shelving  to hold heavy tablecloths and comforters.

 The same rollout system is in this closet, but it holds bed coverlets and spreads.

 Storage boxes have been tagged with their contents- ie  Standard pillow cases

ie- pillow protectors-

 Sheets, mattress covers and blankets are identified by a tag and stored by size. .  That makes it easier to grab the correct size quickly rather than opening each item  up to check the size.

So now that I have conquered linen storage issues, how do I create that wonderful scent for my linens?  I found these  beautiful "Wax Curiosities" in a great store in Asheville called Desirant.

They were placed   in the closets to scent the linens,  

They are beautiful scented wax flowers and so pretty to look at while getting linens from the closet.

You can also  find these little works of art on line. 

https://www.rosyrings.com/products/wax-curiosities/

Another great  laundry scent is Glamorous Wash in the Tyler scent.  It gives sheets a

wonderful clean sexy scent.

They also make sachets for the dryer- perfect for infusing a lasting scent on towels and sheets .

Purchase these on Amazon. 

An organized linen area is a dream come true. There is something to be said for the old fashioned  wisdom of having a linen room in the home.