Appropriate depth for linen closet?

16 years ago

We're working on finalizing the design of a renovation of our upstairs which includes the addition of a new bathroom. We're working in a tight space and only looking to get a shower (as large as possible), toilet, sink and storage area in the room. Right now there is a large linen storage area on the wall as you walk in. I envision this being floor to nearly ceiling with closed storage on the bottom (drawers or cupboards) and open shelves on top (this is all up for discussion, of course, just what I'm thinking right now).

However, this storage area is only one foot deep (by about 4 feet long), which to me doesn't seem deep enough to store towels. What do you think?

If I were to attempt to make this deeper I'd have to either reduce the width of the shower (from 3'6", length is 5') or reduce the width of the walkway between the shower and the storage area from 3' (that doesn't sound like a good idea).

Here's my quickie Illustrator version of the layout.

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Comments (5)

User
16 years ago
I guess if you use towels that are a smaller scale, fold them in a tri-fold and turn them side ways to store them, it might work, but if you use bath sheets or larger towels it will most likely not work very well. 12 inches just isn't very deep. I think the minimum is 18 inches and a lot of people prefer 20-24. Have you posted your design to see if there are suggestions for a better layout? Some people here in the forum really enjoy doing that and come up with some very creative ideas.
andreadeg
16 years ago
I think 12 inches could be just fine for depth. Will the linen closet be floor to ceiling? if so, that's alot of storage! It would be easy enough to find a way to fold towels so that they are no more than 12 inches deep.

Our new linen closet is 21 inches deep, which gives me about 18inches of usable space inside the drawers, and a little bit more space for the towel storage area.

for anything other than drawers, 21 inches is a little too deep. Who wants to reach back 21 inches above say 5 feet? I'm short so I can only reach so high and then so far back. I'm still trying to figure out what I want to store at the top of my linen cupboard becuase it won't be the easiest space to reach.
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User
16 years ago
Well, we have an 18 inch deep cabinet, and our towels BARELY fit. If you have any doubts, try making a dummy cabinet and try it. There's a big difference between 21 inches and 12, 21 may be to wide, but 12 is too short.
desertsteph
16 years ago
cut out a cardboard of say 2' by 1', fold a towel and see if it fits the 1' deep. i bet if you trifold it, it will. a 36" long towel folded in thirds = 12".

if you think you need an extra inch or 2, how about taking 2" off of the shower? that be 40" x 60". still a good size.
wi-sailorgirl
Original Author
16 years ago
desertsteph ... that's an excellent idea on the compromise. I'll have to check on the shower pan sizes ... we are trying to use standard sizes wherever possible to keep costs down.