Linen Closet Lessons

By JB Organizing

Always remember the 5 principles of organizing:  

  1.  Small Steps  2. Declutter   3. Condense  4.  Contain   5.  Label

Do things a little at a time.  Small steps.  Shelf by shelf, top to bottom.

As always — Declutter first. 

Throw away anything that is: broken, ripped, worn, nearly empty, hasn’t been used in the past year, is expired, or is easily replaceable if ever needed again (don’t hold on to things “just in case” without a really good reason).  

Look at what you have.  What categories of items do you have?   Think “centers” — towel center, wash cloths, hand towels, medicines, paper supplies, extra toiletries, travel toiletries etc.  

 

Condense the items into the categories.  Don’t have things in two places.  

All medicine in one area.

Beach Towels in one area.

Sheets separated by size and together in sets.

Paper goods all together.

Travel size items all together.

Contain items into bins, baskets or drawer units to keep like things together.

Tips for containing:

1. Washcloths in a nice basket, roll them and put them in vertically to hold more and make it easy to get them out.
2. Hand towels can also be put in a nice basket and stored rolled and vertical.
3. Towels can be rolled, making it easier to remove one without messing the other ones up.  
4. Extra pillowcases stored in a basket, folded and then stored vertically to make it easy to see them all and get one out.
5. Store sheet sets folded inside their matching pillowcase.  This technique makes it easy to keep matching sets together and easy for someone to grab a set of sheets.
6. Store sheets for each bed in an under the bed box in that room.  
7. Put medicines in a small drawer set, putting specific types of medicine into each drawer (Categories may be:  Pain meds, cough and cold, stomach, ointments and bandages.)
8. Put extra shampoos, conditioner, and hair products in a bin together.
9. Extra shaving supplies go together.  
10. Have a separate bin for all the travel size toiletries – so you know where to find them when you need them and are able to see clearly what you have so you don’t over buy.
11. Put weekly cleaning supplies for the areas around the closet together in a bin.

Label things specifically and clearly.

Label baskets.

Label drawers.

Label shelves.

Label bins.

Label everything.

Use your space wisely:  Up, Down, Corners, Backs of doors

1. Use an over the door shoe organizer to hold items.  You can designate a row for each type of item.  (i.e. rolled washcloths, extra toiletries etc.)
2. Use a tension rod in a corner above the top shelf to hang cleaning supplies.
3. Put rarely used items on a top shelf.  Clearly labeled so you know at a glance what it is without getting it down.
4. Use the space near the floor for paper goods or other frequently used large items.  
5. Use all the corners and niches wisely, making sure you can get items out easily.

 

Good Organization means more delegation, independence and responsibility for everyone involved, not just more work for Mom.

Make sure that kids’ items are stored on the lower shelves, so the kids can easily access them and put them away.  (i.e. sheets, towels, bath toys etc.)