Admit it: almost everyone has a linen closet they would rather not show anyone. Catherine Elaine has one too, and she calls it her “non-aesthetic and actually kind of embarrassing” linen closet. She is a pregnant mom of two young kids who just finished major renovations, and she set out to turn this chaotic closet in her boys’ bathroom into a Pinterest dream, all for under $100 on shelves, towels and organizers.
She never organized the closet after moving in, so it was complete chaos. Her plan was to show two approaches: first, organize with what she already owned, then do a fuller transformation for those with a bit of a budget.
Step One: Empty It and Sort
She took everything out and sorted it into categories. She compares decluttering to a muscle: at first it was tough, and she was slow to make decisions, but with practice it became her lifestyle. As a mom, she says, it is easy to get overwhelmed by mess, and the key to a clean home is having less stuff in it. She accepts that toys come with little ones, but she does not want to accept clutter everywhere else.
Her pile included cleaning products, face cloths and baby cloths, a steam iron, adult first aid and medicines, towels, kid and baby towels, beach towels, a shower curtain, a bath rug, kids’ medicine and thermometers, her husband’s items, and humidifiers. She also had a set of clear drawers, which she emptied, and removed the vinyl labels from so that, if she donates them, the new owner will not be stuck with pre-labeled drawers.
One of her cleverest moves: she did not force everything back into the closet. In the kids’ bathroom, she noticed that most of the drawers were empty, and the vanity had room. She moved cleaning supplies under the bathroom sink, which freed lots of space in the closet. She also used the clear drawers temporarily for adult medicine on one side and kids’ medicine on the other.
A Reminder That Imperfect Homes Count
She says she adores her home, but it needs updating. The bathroom is dated, with a blue color she calls an interesting choice, and a full remodel is not in the budget now. Her message was that you do not need a brand new house to take pride in your space. If you scroll Pinterest and think your home could never look like that, try anyway, because little changes go a long way.
She also confessed to an all-or-nothing mindset: why bother until the bathroom is gutted? She chose not to wait, and she is glad.
Day Two: The Under-$100 Upgrade
At the end of the first day, the closet was already decluttered, organized and functional. But she wanted the dream version, so she spent an evening brainstorming and went shopping. Luck was on her side: Target had towels at 40 percent off, the very thing she went in for. She paid about $5 each for bath towels, and the sets of facecloths were each under $5. She says the total for shelves, organization and linens was under $100.
The biggest change was the shelving. The old shelves were two feet deep, which she says makes it hard to see what is in there and invites clutter to be shoved into dead space. She bought plain white shelves, which her husband cut to size and installed in the same spots. Some people may disagree with going shallower, she acknowledged, but she thinks it turned out much better.
Then came the bins. She used stackable bins from Target, which were affordable. One holds adult medicines and another holds children’s, and they stack to fit the space. A larger bin holds her husband’s items and first aid supplies. The bins have handles so you can lift one out, take what you need and put it back easily.
For towels, she did not do anything fancy. She has folded them the same way for 15 years and says she cannot be bothered to change, a habit that goes back to working at Target at 18, where she fixed up the bedding and towel aisles. Crisp white matching towels, she figured, would do the most for the overall look.
Finally, she made labels with her Cricut. It did not go smoothly, since the transfer tape would not pick up the vinyl letters and then they would not stick to the bins. She has had the machine for at least six years and still struggles at times, but the labels came out looking clean. The finished closet is minimal, clean and organized, and she calls it a dream.
How to Copy Her Closet
- Empty everything out first, so you can see how much you have of each thing.
- Declutter before you buy anything. Her shopping list was short because she had already trimmed.
- Move items out that do not belong. Cleaning supplies under the sink and a few things in empty drawers freed the closet.
- Choose shallower shelves if deep ones hide things. If you cannot see it, you will not use it.
- Use bins with handles and group by person or purpose, such as adult medicines, kids’ medicines and first aid.
- Check for sales before you shop. She found towels at 40 percent off, and plain bins and shelves keep costs down.
- Label everything, even if it is by hand. A label tells everyone in the family where to put things back.
- Do not wait for the perfect house. Start with the space you have.
Her video is part of a larger marathon of decluttering projects, including an office and more. But the linen closet is the one that shows you do not need a big budget. A weekend, a few shelves and a good sale can be enough to make a space you actually want to open.
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