Organizing the Linen Closet...

Quote for the Day:
"There are two different kinds of people in this world:

 those who finish what they start, and....."
---Brad Ramsey 

Many moon ago I started this blog to ramble about many things, but also to keep myself accountable with some decluttering and organizing.  I haven't done any "projects" for a while now, but I knew that I HAD to do something with the linen closet because it's been "bugging" me for a while.  It's clutter that *I* knew was there even if it was contained behind a closed door.

I did a little research online for ideas how I could organize it and "pinned" some inspiration pictures on Pinterest to motivate me.

Yesterday, I pulled EVERYTHING out of the closet and started the process of sorting and organizing and today I finished the project...complete with pictures!  :)

Here is the "before" picture...

 

This closet it REALLY deep and stuff is just crammed in there!  :(

And here is the big reveal...the "after"...

I used rectangular laundry baskets for the sheets...organized according to size.  I tossed a LOT of old sheets and pillowcases...and could have downsized even more by getting rid of some more (I didn't realize how many sets we had for our bed).  However, because the sheets for our bed are fairly new, I decided to go ahead and save the newer ones and then just "downsize" by attrition when they wear out.  No more sheet buying for me for a LONG time!  LOL

The cardboard box on the very top shelf holds our beach towels and the basket above it holds the sheer and lace curtains that I pick up when thrifting.  :)  To the right of those are 2 space bags holding the mattress pads we use on the beds that we put up when company comes.  (Those beds do not stay up all the time because the extra bedrooms are where I sew and quilt.)  And on the left side of that shelf is a bag holding the couch covers that we used to cover the cushions when we had our dog.  Right now they aren't needed.

On the bottom shelf, I used a variety of baskets to hold pillowcases (embroidered in one, plain in another), cleaning cloths, and twin sheets.  Behind the baskets of pillowcases I lined up some of the smaller purses I wanted to keep.  (I only change my purse about twice a year, but I like to keep some small purses to take on vacation to carry just the essentials when shopping or sight-seeing.)  I felt safe in putting them towards the back since they don't get used much.

The bag on the floor towards the right holds a large roll of bubble-wrap.  The picnic basket in front of it holds those zippered plastic bags that linens come in.  I save those and use them for holding quilting projects, protecting quilts when mailing, etc., and a myriad of other uses.  The basket on the floor on the left is holding all my extra rugs.

Like I said, these shelves are VERY deep so I tried to avoid storing too much in the back because it just gets forgotten back there, which does us no good, anyway.  

Everything is labeled.  I could have gone all fancy-dancy making hand made labels, etc., like a lot of people do.  But I went the easy-peasy route...my trusty garage-sale-purchased label maker!  :)

Towels and washcloths are stored in the linen cabinet in the bathroom so that's why you don't see any here...just in case you were wondering!   :)

Loretta