Airing Cupboards & Linen Closets

Earlier this week Organized Home shared a detailed look at home organization ideas in the home of Matthew Axe and his partner Peyton Hays. I'd seen photos of this gorgeous apartment before (and even linked out to it from this blog), but the behind-the-scenes look at the organizing was new to me. 

One idea shared was to use slatted shelves instead of solid ones in a linen closet. I had never seen this shelf construction, but it makes so much sense. If you have ever lived in a humid climate or an older house, you know that clean linens can get musty if left on a shelf or inside a closet too long. Allowing air to circulate would likely alleviate some of this. 

A quick search on Pinterest found a few examples of other closets with slatted shelves, like this one from Charles Yorke above. My linen closet could easily be retrofitted with slatted shelves (and if I was handier, I could probably just slice the existing boards into slats). I am definitely adding this idea to my someday to-do list of home improvements.

My search also revealed that there is type of a closet an "airing cupboard," which is a heated cupboard where clothes and linens that have been washed and are almost dry are put so that they can become completely dry. For example, this luxe, modern airing cupboard by Humphrey Munson is outfitted with heating/dehumidifiers so that the linens dry in the cabinet—wow!

But in the past, an airing cabinet was taking advantage of existing heat. Here's what Wikipedia says:

An airing cupboard is a built-in storage space, sometimes of walk-in dimensions, containing a water heater, either an immersion heater for hot running water or a boiler for central heating water (hence, also "boiler cupboard"), or a hot water storage tank. Shelves, usually slatted to allow for circulation of heat, are positioned above or around the heater to provide room for clothing. The purpose is to allow air to circulate around the stored fabrics to prevent damp forming.

Some variants of airing cupboards also serve as the linen cupboard, the storing area of the household's clean sheets and towels.


In another version, the airing cupboard serves as a temporary drying space, either for laundry or for wet outdoor clothes and shoes. Its shelves can be used to fully remove traces of damp from dried clothing before the items are put away elsewhere in drawers and wardrobes. A moveable electrical version of this is a drying cabinet.

Tank-style hot water heaters (or boilers) give off heat, so this is a clever way to use it. Seems like an energy-saving solution to me!

Creative Ways to Declutter Your Home

I love a good decluttering. Getting rid of unwanted and unloved things gives me such a feeling of satisfaction and accomplishment. And the funny thing is, no matter how vigilant you are about keeping clutter out of your life, it has a sneaky way of returning: magazines pile up,  party favors creep in, socks go missing and their mates hang around, pens migrate home from the office, your collection of glass jars and tupperware containers gets out of control. If like me, you are craving a good spring clean out. Here are a few creative ways to start the decluttering process:
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• Timer Method Set a timer for a period of time in which you go through a room looking for items to throw away/recycle/donate, as well as items to be returned to their proper homes. Set it for 25 minutes, and it's officially the Pomodoro Technique.

 • One-Item-A-Day Commit to getting rid of an item a day for a month (or longer!).

 • Gone Box  Place a box in every room that needs decluttering and every time you find something you’re ready to part with, place it in the box. At the end of the month, take them all to the Goodwill or other charity.

 • The 20-20-20 Challenge Locate 20 items to throw away, 20 items to donate, and 20 items to be returned to their proper homes.

 • Photographic Evidence  Take photos of your home to gain a fresh perspective on where clutter lurks. This is a tip that Celerie Kemble shared with me long ago in an interview about decorating. But I found it surprisingly effective for decluttering! Don't believe me? Take a look at what this room above (our old living room) and what it looked like in a photo before we staged it for sale, as it is shown above. At the time, I didn't realize how cluttered our place had gotten!

 • Snowball Method  Get rid of one thing on Day 1, two things on Day 2, and so on until you are getting rid of 30 things on Day 30. This sounds like a lot, but it is possible. I've gotten into the 20s and quit, but one day, I'm going to make it to 30.

 •  Buddy System One of the most effective ways to declutter, choose one of the methods above and agree on a plan with a friend. Then text each other pictures of what you’re throwing away/donating each day. My friend and I have done this with the Snowball Method and it is a magic bullet of motivation.

Pegboard Inspiration

I'm thinking about a future kitchen project (more about that to come), which has had me saving images of pegboard wall organizers. Yes, pegboards have been trending for the last couple of years, but I think they're more than just a passing trend. Case in point: Julia Child's famed pegboard pot rack in her Cambridge kitchen. Plus, the original architectural plans for the kitchen I'm scheming about indicate that a pegboard was to be included in the kitchen (though no signs of one remain today).

Here are a few DIY pegboard ideas that have caught my eye:

Inspired by both Julia Child and the Eames Hang-It-All, Food52's tutorial for this pegboard uses off-the-shelf pegboard and peg hooks that have been dressed up with wood balls to give it the Eames look.

Featured in Est Magazine, an Australian publication, this entryway designed by the architectural firm Heartly is paneled in floor-to-ceiling pegboard that has been painted black.

In this kitchen, a panel of pegboard covers the side of a refrigerator, making clever use of the vertical space. Remodelista notes that the "pegboard hides the gap behind the fridge, which wasn’t deep enough to meet the wall."

Remodelista is also using a shot of a desk organizer pegboard to promote its new site The Organized Home and their new book of the same title.

Read on for even more do-it-yourself pegboard projects: