The luxury of linens in a place all their own

Sheets and towels need to be surveyed once in a while.
By Liz Seymour
Washington Post
The linen closets sold me on my house. I ignored three layers of linoleum spread across the kitchen floor and cobalt blue paint slathered on the moldings, and fixed my gaze on the lovely pair (yes, two!) of slim doors at the top of the stairs.
This, I decided, was a good place to park my sheets and towels.
It quickly became a good place to park binoculars, freebie toothbrushes from the endodontist, the hot water bottle, hair rollers and irons, never-used napkin rings, bars of soap, tablecloths, candles and 12-packs of toilet tissue.
It should be the easiest closet to keep uncluttered. After all, the closet's name tells you what you should keep on its shelves -- and that is the first step to getting a linen closet in shape, says Ann Sullivan, the owner of Abrielle, an upscale linens shop in Washington. Ideally, take everything out and find other homes (the garbage?) for anything that's not a sheet or a towel.
Wait -- don't start filling up the shelves again yet. Sullivan recommends lining them with scented paper once a year. Then, survey your sheets and towels. Almost everyone has some they haven't used in a while, whether it be sheets without pillowcases or towels without plush. Put those aside and give them to your vet, as Sullivan does annually, or the local Humane Society, both of which have a constant need for washable bedding. A women's shelter might also be an option.
Store sheets by size: king on one shelf, queen on another, twin on a third. Group flat and fitted sheets and matching pillowcases together.
It's sometimes easier to match towels by color, Sullivan says, but she usually stacks bath and hand towels in separate piles, washcloths in a third. (A cleaning tip: Avoid dryer sheets or fabric softener on towels, despite advertisers' urging. For fluffiest results, Sullivan says, shake sheets and towels vigorously after they've been washed and before they're thrown into the dryer.)
Freshly laundered sheets and towels should be placed on the bottom of the pile so linens are rotated and used evenly.