In the Closet

We are long on closets, lucky with closets, lousy with closets. Not only are they numerous, plentiful and many, they are big. Cavernous, yawning, monumental. Two, here in the entry.

Another in the family room.

This one in the den. And they are all, perhaps, within five to ten giant steps of one another. Kissing cousins.

Our closet, too, to the left, is ample. It’s a complete and total disaster (they all are, which is why they are being so dodgy with the paparazzi) but I think it will suit us just fine.
So, my beef? My bitch? My befuddlement? No linen closet. Nothing. Nada. Nowhere.

And here is where you will think I am bizarro and not the house. This stackable washer/dryer hook-up to the right of the master closet? Yeah, I think I’ll skip that. Who needs that hovering nag there every day just as I get home from work-out and coffee? Why be confronted with constant guilt before I am out the door for lunch and a hc/hilite? How could I enjoy a pre-carpool cocktail haunted by the thought that I could so easily be doing laundry?
Shelves is the answer. A respectable linen closet to save these wayward sheets and tablecloths. Washer and dryer firmly knowing their place in the basement. Visitation on Sundays. As it should be.
rssrss      FacebooktwitterpinterestlinkedinmailFacebooktwitterpinterestlinkedinmail

16 thoughts on “In the Closet

  1. Glad to hear I'm not the only one with less than ideal closet situations. My closet is very long, but I can only access half of it due to the design of our house. Such wasted space. The only way to make use of it is to switch out clothes each season and push the out of season clothing to unreachable part. I would definitely make that laundry space a linen closet.

  2. I'm loving this annotated tour of the new place. Now there's an enviable problem – so many closets to choose from for your linen closet. I should put a cot (even though there's not enough room) in my laundry room – ever since the kids have been home, that's where I've been spending most of my time!

  3. Patricia, I think you'd love this closet for your w/d if you try it. We've done 1st floor since 1980 (2 houses) and would never go back to the basement. Those linens can go anywhere.

  4. Linen closets are a must. I don't have one either, so I know what I'm talking about. I'd definitely put shelves in that closet.

  5. I have never been in so much marital trouble as I was the time I rejiggered the master bath linen closet. I still cower thinking about it.

    You will come to love the laundry area though.

  6. Love the tour of closets…I have been chained to the W/D since children home for holidays..I am not complaining-but there are no windows in my laundry room-very dark. Go for the linen closet! xx peggybraswelldesign.com

  7. Patricia, I do think you would love the w/D on the ist floor!! So much easier.

    Could you make one of those dozens of other closets into a Linen Keeper!

    xoxo
    Karena
    Art by Karena

  8. with so many closets you could separate the items in each closet by season. the red table cloth the heavy winter clothes in the same closet much like the K-mart has seasonal aisles you could rotate the closet the access (prime) would also dictate the contents location based on the season. It is said we wear 20 per cent of our clothes 80 % of the time. no more oh it was burierd in the closet– the seasonal assesment will force you to deal with items that need to be donated, mended, recycled or USED use them how many times have we said oh i forgot I had that — oh this is where it is!!!

  9. Your "new home" posts have been so hilariously honest I feel as if I just moved into the Blandings' Dream House myself. Fortunately I don't have to do any unpacking.

    Looking forward to the after pics!

  10. funnily, i only have three closets in my entire house, but one is a linen closet. it's wonderful!

  11. Dear Ms. Blandings,

    Your prose takes the closet dilemma to a higher, more cerebral level.
    Visitation on Sundays indeed, she repeats, as a looming, hulking stack of laundry awaits her upstairs as we speak!
    Best of luck with the linen closet — such a civilized nod to closet culture.

  12. Mrs Blandings- I live in a typical mid 70's split level. We do not have a master bathroom. I want to make the community bathroom bigger but that means getting rid of the linen closet. Do you have nay words of wisdom for me?

    Also, are you familiar with Elmwood Reclaimed Timber in Smithville Mo? I am thinking of specifying some of their product on an upcoming project.

    Thanks!

  13. I have been waiting for 12 years to get my laundry out of the basement! It won't be long now as we are in paint and tile stage of a renovation/addition which has moved the laundry to the 2nd floor.

    As well, we have been working with miniscule linen closeet and included a larger one on the 2nd floor as well. I'm not sure which I will love more…new master suite, linen or 2nd floor laundry.

    I am thoroughly enjoying the tour of your new house!

  14. Largely because I love to read your musings, I probably visit your blog weekly, if not daily. I had missed this post until now, but something caught me short as I read about your "pre-carpool cocktail." You are being tongue-in-cheek, yes? Either you are not the one driving or is this a non-alcoholic cocktail? Forgive me, if I am being too sensitive on this issue.

  15. Anon – it is a joke, a little inside one. I do know mommies who do, but I do not.

  16. As I thought, Patricia (Mrs. Blandings).

    I recently viewed an HBO documentary "There's Something Wrong with Aunt Diane" about an incredibly tragic accident that could have been prevented.

    Thank you for responding. All the best!

Comments are closed.