The next organizing project I’m taking on is my small linen closet.
I love this closet! I haven’t had a dedicated linen closet since 2010 so I’m extremely thankful that this little space lives in the hallway of the kid’s wing. Hahaha – kid’s wing – my house is 1400 square feet on a slab! But it actually does have a central kitchen, living room, dining room, with two bedrooms on the east side with a full bathroom. On the west end is the master bedroom with two-piece en-suite, a laundry room and the single car garage.
But back to the linen closet. So first things first, empty the linen closet and sort as you go. I’ll use my island as the sorting spot.
This is the first step in the SHOO™ system-Sort.
The categories roughly are sheets, cleaning supplies, lightbulbs, pet care and electrical. This is the closet before:
I sorted the contents like this:
Cleaning products on the left, electrical items – plugs, HDMI cables, extension cords and an ethernet cable. At the back are sheets and a mattress protector, lightbulbs and pet items.
The second step is Heave.
This means letting go of things that don’t need to be in your life. The first and most important way to heave is to donate. This is the pile of items that I no longer need and will be taking to Value Village.
The third step is organize.
I wiped down the shelves with my Mrs. Meyers spray cleaner. I found some of my free organizers, namely boxes, and used them to corral like with like. I have one shoebox holding the electrical items and another for the Christmas items. I used a smaller open top box I got at the grocery store to organize some of the small cleaning items such as the cleaner and scrubbers for the glass stovetop.
I put the items back in the following ways:
- electrical cords and cables go on the top shelf since I don’t need them regularly
- a shoebox with Christmas mugs and dishcloths also on the top shelf
- cleaning supplies are next – the paper towel, hair clippers and soap refill
- cleaning supplies on the next shelf
- cafe style curtain rods and a tension rod are on the bottom, corralled by a repurposed file holder
The fourth step is Optimize
This is the last step where I live with the way I’ve organized the linen closet to find what works best. As you can see in the video, there is lots of space in the linen closet now. As I’ve purged and tried to lean toward a more minimalist lifestyle, I’m finding that the open spaces actually bring me joy!
I’ve put the closet back together in what seems like a good way for me, and now I make note of anything that doesn’t work and I redo as I go along!
I hope this helps you work on your own linen closet to keep your space running well!
