How to Store Extra Linens

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Since this is the time of the year to stock up on linens during all the “white sales” at local department stores, I thought it might be a good time to talk about storing and organizing extra sheets, blankets, pillows, towels, etc.

I already showed you how our lack of a mudroom forced me to get creative and turn a $20 armoire into a totally functional mudroom… well, I also had to get creative when it came to storage for extra linens because we don’t have any type of linen closet either {and our renovations have not created a convenient place to put one yet!}

I know many people share this same frustration when it comes to storing extra sheets, blankest, towels, etc. so here are some of my tips to hopefully simplify the process. 

1. Sheets:

We only have one set of sheets for every bed in our house… and they are on the beds! When it’s time for me to wash them, I wash/dry them and put them right back on the bed. Not only does this force me to get the laundry done on time, it also eliminates the need for extra storage.

For small children/babies who frequently get their sheets dirty in the middle of the night, I simply put 2 or 3 layers of waterproof mattress pads and sheets on their bed so I can quickly take the top layer off and put them right back to bed.

If you do want to have an extra set of sheets for each bed, consider storing them in between the mattress and box spring — you won’t be able to feel them, and you’ll save lots of storage space!

***One more tip for storing sheets — if you are storing extra sets in some type of cabinet, drawer or closet, simply fold the set together, and then put it inside one of the pillowcases. That way, you’ll keep every set together and you’ll never have to go searching for a missing bottom sheet or pillowcase ever again 🙂

2. Blankets:

We live in Michigan… it gets REALLY cold here in the winter, and we keep our house REALLY cold at night so we all have multiple blankets on our beds. However, in the summer, we don’t need all the blankets so I have to store them somewhere.

One thing I do is to put several thin blankets on our bed instead of one really thick blanket. Then, as the weather gets warmer in the spring, we take one of the thin blankets off. Then we take another one off in the summer months, etc. Plus, thin blankets are much easier to store than thick blankets.

I store our blankets in an extra dresser we have in our upstairs storage closet. It has 2 large drawers that provide more than enough space for all our extra blankets. Another idea would be to store them in an attractive armoire, an old trunk, or even hang them on rungs of a large ladder.

3. Comforters & Quilts:

We have one comforter for each bed… and they stay on the beds all year long. If it gets to hot for comforters in the summer, we just push them to the bottom of the bed when we are sleeping — mainly because they are just too big to store.

If you want to store your comforters, I would definitely suggest using Space Saver bags {these large Space Saver Cubes are my favorite for storing bulky items}. Once your items are sealed inside the Space Saver bags, you can store them in your closet, in a dresser drawer, in boxes in the basement, etc. They should stay protected from moisture, insects, dust, and anything else that could ruin them.

4. Pillows:

We have a large extra closet upstairs that I hang our extra pillows in. I simply clip them onto pants hangers, put a clean garbage bag over the top and then hang them from the bar. This method has worked well for me — but you could also use the Space Saver bags to eliminate some of the “bulkiness”.

5. Towels:

Towels are another thing that I don’t like to store because they always seem to take up SO much space. Every person in our house has 2 bath towels, 2 hand towels, and 2 wash cloths — that it!

We use them for a couple of days and then put them in the wash. At the end of the week, I do a load of towels and we start over again. So we really don’t need to have tons and tons of extra towels taking up valuable storage space.

However, we do have one basket of extra “guest towels” available if we need them — and that basket fits perfectly with the decor in our bathroom… so I don’t mind storing them there at all!

6. Tablecloths and Napkins:

We don’t use tablecloths that often, but I do have a few. I store them in the bottom of a buffet table we have in our dinning room. We store our cloth napkins in a basket on top of that buffet table… and simply rotate them out as we use them.

These are just a few of my ideas for storing extra linens. Some day, I’ll build a house with a huge walk-in linen closet and store everything in one place… but for now, these creative solutions are working just fine 🙂

How do you store and organize your extra linens?