Linen close shelf depth

17 years ago

I need to figure out how deep to make the shelves in the hall and master bath linen closets. I built a house. It took 7 years but we finally moved in last September. I've been doing finish work ever since. I am to the linen closets now. They are 24 inches wide and 19 inches deep. The walls are 8 foot high so that is the height of the closet but the header comes down 14 inches from the ceiling. I am putting raised panel solid core doors on them. So how deep should I make the shelves? It seems like the standard 12 inches that I put in the other closets and pantry just aren't wide enough for bulky sheets and blankets. I don't think I want to bring the shelves all the way out to the door jambs becasue that will make it hard to put the trim on the inside and will interfere with access to the top shelf because of the header. What do yo think?

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Comments (5)

talley_sue_nyc
17 years ago
so bring the shelves *most* of the way out (and put the trim on the inside BEFORE you install the shelves--shelves are usually the "afterthought")

The access to the top shelf is a problem, true.

What if you made the bottom half of the closet 16 inches or so, and the top half 12 inches?

It would mean that you couldn't STAND that close to the upper shelf, and that your step ladder wouldn't be that close, but you would *probably* be close enough.

And don't plan on keeping too much up there on that top shelf. At least, not anything you want often.

Oh--one other "top shelf of the closet behind the header" idea--I found that SHORTER boxes are easier to use up there. I put my DH's out-of-season clothes in two under-bed boxes, and stacked them. before that, I had really struggled to get a full-height box in and out of that closet, but once I switched to a short box, I found it would slide between the shelf (and its contents) and the header much more easily (of course, I needed some EXTRA room above the box so I can tip the box...)
tre3
17 years ago
The inside of the door would be a great place for one of those multi pouched shoe holders that you can stash shampoo etc in. On the back of our linen closet we have a towel bar. We use it to hang a couple of extra blankets. It would also be a great place to hang a tablecloth(not in my life!)
The person who built this house also left enough space between the floor and the first shelf to fit a large plastic bin which could also be used to store out of season items.
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What you store is totally personal. I have three IKEA Pax 36" wardrobes (in the white, raised panel design) and love them. I have 2 deep ones for my clothes (there's only one closet in the master bd, and it's 4' wide) and one shallow one for linens. Few halls will be able to take a deep cabinet. Ours is 6' wide, and because of the door layout, a 2' deep closet would be claustrophobic. We do not have many linens, but our shallow cabinet is FULL with just linens for our family of four, plus some dirty clothes space at the bottom. The nice thing about the depth, though, is that everything is very accessible. We keep our meds, tp, etc. in the bathroom. Triage everything BEFORE investing in more storage. How many towels do you really need? How many meds are old? How many are duplicates? Lots of people have Nyquil AND Mucinex AND Sudafed without realizing that there is only ONE effective OTC decongestant, ONE effective OTC expectorant, and ONE effective OTC cough suppressant. Have a small bottle of decongestant/expectorant for the day (cough suppressant optional), one expectorant only for night plus Afrin for night use in emergencies, and that's it. With a bottle of pain killers and a swig of the alcohol of your choice, and you can recreate whatever branded blend you desire with a lot less total space. The basic rule is to learn to check ingredients before buying and make sure you don't duplicate products.
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Forgive me if I lecture - its what I do all day. Let's say every other shelf is 24" deep and your ceiling height is 96". A door is 80" tall; every place there is a 24" deep shelf, it will touch the inside of the door frame. First shelf is 24" deep and about 16" off the floor - let's you slide big stuff underneath at the bottom. Next 24" deep shelf is at 36", with an intervening 12" shelf at 10" above the one at 16" and 10" below the one at 36". So far, so good because the shelves are low and the stuff on the floor can be fished out by kneeling. The next 24" shelf is at about 54" with a 12" deep one at about 12" up at 66", The next 24" shelf is at about 78" and your pantry is done but you likely won't be able to use the last 24" deep shelf because it will be less than 2" tall. That is the distance between the top of the shelf and the top of the door. You just won't be able to fit anything up there. If you move it lower - so it's at 66" tall instead of the 12" shelf, it's still the last shelf because you can't worm your body and stuff into the 12"ish gap between the shelf and ceiling because of the top of the door - even with a ladder. You can sit stuff on the shelf, but you'll need to be aware of the height restriction and the fact that you'll need the ladder and a rolling pin to search the corners for lost stuff. The other thing it does is stop the light, so you might NEED undershelf lights on the 24" ones.
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What does it look like if you pull further back? Would it be worth having a carpenter propose a normal door frame and closet-type doors, w/ the frame and door flush w/ the wall, instead of inset? you could certainly aim for simply using new cabinet doors. Or, new doors, but slabs so they look more like simply an extension of the wall. (You might want to install a new frame in the space to hold those doors level w/ the surrounding wall. You could also simply paint the doors you've got to match the wall. Also: terminology. I only bring this up because you will soon be speaking with people who use these terms to mean very specific things. Fascia = Fascia (/ˈfeɪʃə/) is an architectural term for a vertical frieze or band under a roof edge, or which forms the outer surface of a cornice, visible to an observer. b : a horizontal piece (as a board) covering the joint between the top of a wall and the projecting eaves —called also fascia board Wikipedia points out: The word fascia derives from Latin "fascia" meaning "band, bandage, ribbon, swathe". The term is also used, although less commonly, for other such band-like surfaces like a wide, flat trim strip around a doorway, different and separate from the wall surface. I'm assuming you're using it to mean the bolded part (but it wouldn't include the doors), but I've never heard anyone use it for that before. I'd describe that part as the cabinet frame (or the door frame), and skip the term "fascia" altogether. I think it will confuse the cabinet/carpentry folks you contact. (unless you're in a different country) And actually, It looks like it's just a kitchen cabinet that's been set into the alcove. And not a closet at all. If you wanted to continue in that vein, you might consider looking into cabinets with pullouts, so you can more easily access the depth of that space.
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THOR, Son of ODIN
17 years ago
Just for inspiration, this is my dream linen closet. (I forget where the jpg is from, thank you to whomever!)

-Lena
Frankie_in_zone_7
17 years ago
Deeper is better. My contracter put in a small linen closet about 16" deep, but could have made it a bit deeper, and I wish he had, because most large bath towels, the typical way I fold them, don't fit well even on a 16" shelf, if the shelf comes all the way to the door--so the edges of towels and sheets kind of drip over. Then, if you fold or roll things tighter, they take up more vertical space, so take that into account when planning shelves. Since towels stack pretty well, it can be more convenient to have fewer shelves, otherwise it takes acrobatics to insert them into closely spaced shelves. Blankets really need 24 " or so. I would take some of the linens you plan to put there, fold them just the way you usually do, and take some measurements, adding an inch or 2 to that.
sue36
15 years ago
I thought I resurect this old thread rather than start a new one. I'm planning the linen closet in our newish house. The insides measure approximately 37x37, so I can make the shelves pretty deep. If you have that much space, how deep would you make the shelves? I was thinking a few at the bottom at 24" and then the rest at 16". I'm thinking of using the extra depth (that isn't taken up in shelves) on one side with one of those clip things that holds a mop or broom and maybe on the other side come up with some hose management for the built-in vac (what a PITA that thing is, it's huge). What do you think?

Linen close shelf depth

Comments (5)

talley_sue_nyc

tre3

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