After we finished with the beach towels, it only made sense for us to move on to decluttering the linen closet on Day 3 of the 30-Day Decluttering Challenge. While we did find ourselves with additional room thanks to the culling and hanging of the beach towels, things still felt cramped and disorganized. We needed to reorganize the linen closet and create a space that fits with how we use it.
Tip #1 Remove Old, Rarely Used Linens
My first step was to remove old towels and sheets, as well as sheets that fit beds that we no longer own. Rather than just tossing them, we set them aside for a local animal rescue that is always looking for clean towels and sheets.
Tip #2 Separate Linens by Bed-Type
Our sofa bed and main bed are queen-sized mattresses, but the mattress in the bedroom requires deep pockets to fit the memory foam mattress. Meanwhile, the sofa bed mattress is quite a bit thinner. So, as I was decluttering the linen closet, I decided to create separate bins for each room so that I’m never stuck sorting through sheets that won’t fit.
Tip #3 Create a Seasonal Space
As I mentioned in an earlier post, we adore our flannel sheets, but they really can only be used in Los Angeles for a couple of months. This is also true of our heavier blankets. I decided to create an under-the-bed, zipped container for winter-only bedding. Right now, it’s empty. But as the warmer temperatures arrive in February, we’ll store our clean flannel sheets there where they won’t clutter up the most-of-the-year linen closet.
Tip #4 Remove Unrelated Items
If you do not need your linen closet to be a multipurpose space, this is a great time to remove items that don’t belong there. When we are busy, it’s easy to shove things into a closet or onto a shelf and swear that we’ll find a more permanent place for them later. It’s one of “those someday goals.” Now is the time to declutter and find a home for the items that do not belong.
Tip #5 Add Containers While Decluttering the Linen Closet
Once we had created our piles of daily-use linens, I stored them in containers to keep dust from landed on the clean sheets. One bin was for the bedroom sheets, and the other was for the sofa bed. However, you don’t need to buy new containers just to do this.
I used to wrap my sheets and extra pillowcase inside a matching pillowcase to keep the sheet sets together. If you have the space, you can keep one side of the linen closet for one bedroom and the other for the second bed. If you are worried about piles falling over and are handy, you can divide your shelves into cubbies as a DIY project. If you like the idea, but don’t want to spend the time on a linen closet project, consider buying shelf dividers to container your linens.
And that’s all there is to decluttering the linen closet. This was a slightly longer project than Day 1 or Day 2, but since we had already started pulling things out on the beach day, it made sense to keep going. I’m happy that this is done for the year and that the unused items have found a new home.
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