Organized Linen Closet?

I take one of the pillow cases from the sheet set and put everything in the pillow case -- fitted sheet, top sheet and pillow cases for all pillows. This keeps them together and then I don't have to hunt through stacks to find the right stuff.

I'm trying to organize too so thanks for asking the question. Good Luck.

I always fold the flat sheet into the shape of a rectangle. Then, fold the pillow cases and fitted sheet and place them inside the fitted sheet, folding the fitted sheet over them. Kind of like a book cover. Then, the fat edge of the sheet is what shows when you open the door. They are kind of stacked like books but laying down instead of standing up. I hope that makes sense. When I wash the sheets, the clean ones go on the top of the stack, then, I pull out the bottom set. I can lift all but the bottom one just enough to pull it out and lower it back down. That way they don't all get unfolded. I have a shelf for our sheets and one for the kids' sheets. Then, there is a shelf for the towels - towels for our bathroom are on one side and towels for the other bathroom are on the other side of the shelf. Then, blankets are stacked up on the top shelf. Our top shelf goes way up high, but only a little of it is showing through the top of the door frame, so I can shove them way up high. Not really nice looking, but no one can see it. As for washcloths, my boys have tons of these that are very hard to keep folded. I have all of those in their old diaper stacker from the crib set, and have that hanging on the inside of the door.

Another idea for sheets I saw on a home show once was to put all the sheets for the set inside a pillow case and smooth it out. They didn't even fold them, so I don't do that, but if you have trouble folding fitted sheets, that might be an option. My mom taught me how to fold fitted sheets when I was a teenager, so I've gotten really good at it (I can make them as thin and smooth as a flat sheet), but I will admit those are the trickiest!

C.,
I agree with the other moms - the trick is in folding the fitted sheet with its corners all fitted neatly inside the first corner, then put it on the bed, smooth it out, tweak the fitted corners to flatten them further, then fold up the rest of the sheet.

Then fold the other stuff and either fit all other stuff inside the final fold of the fitted sheet or stick it inside one of the pillow cases and tidy up the bundle.

Hints from my Grandmother: write on the sheet at the bottom where the writing won't show: the size of the set (for future when the kids are doing the folding and putting away) and on the bottom ends of the sheets write "end" so you know quickly which way to put the sheet on the bed.

Another hint from my Gm: label the shelves. what goes where! And all big/final folds face your face! Every where I move, I work out the best way to fold things so the items look nice on the shelf.

Actually, the best hint my Grandmother ever gave me had to do with the refrigerator. When you get your lettuce home, wash the head completely, then let it drain top down in the dish drainer for a while. When you put it in the refrigerator, cut a thin slice off the bottom stem area, put it in a bowl that will hold it upright in the frig, put a plastic (grocery or produce) bag under it and draw it closed and either clothes pin it or tie it very loosely at the top. The lettuce will stay fresh for quite a while. When you use some, use the outer leaves and cut another thin slice off the bottom. It will last even longer if you replace the water and bowl. Always close the bag up when you put it back in the frig. You can do this with cauliflower, brocc, celery, etc. Haven't tried it with carrots because they keep so well anyway!

I usually label every container I put in the frig or freezer with freezer tape (contents and often the date) because I'm so forgetful. This helps a lot.

Way too much info!

Good luck!

Sheets can really make a Linen closet look a mess. If my mother taught me anything, it was how to fold a fitted sheet.

If the tag is on the top left corner -
consider that corner number 1,
the other top corner is number 2,
the bottom corner on the same side is number 3
the other bottom corner is number 4

Place the corner #1 of the fitted sheet OVER your left hand. Fit corner #2 UNDER your left hand. Fit corner #3 UNDER your left hand and finish up with corner #4 UNDER your left hand. All of the corners are fit together with the top and left side folded in. Lay that on the bed, and miter the corner so the sheet is virtually flat. Then, depending on the size of the sheet, fold longways three times and fold that long piece up three times. If it is a king size bed, fold each long side to the middle and then fold that in half. Then fold each short end to the middle and fold that in the middle. You come out with about a one foot square. Fold the flat sheets to match the size of the square. When placing the sheets in the closet, place the rounded ends out. Everyone marvels at the way I fold sheets but it was the way I was taught and my closet always looks nice. When someone new starts at work, my coworkers always tell them to ask me how to fold sheets!

For bath towels, fold short end to short end, then, fold that in half again. Fold that three times. If the towels have to be stacked long ways in the closet, have the rounded and tucked end showing, not the straight ends. If the towels are stacked sideways, always make sure the rounded end shows and the straight end faces the wall.

For hand towels, fold short end to short end but fold that in half long ways, then fold that in half with short end to short end. When you place in your closet, have the straight edges face the walls and the rounded edges face towards the middle of the closet. It makes a very neat appearance.

And, yes, I have a life, it is just a very neat one!

I fold the sheets and one of the pillow slips, I take the other pillow slip and put it all inside and fold the edge over. It makes a nice smooth rectangular package. I then have shelf baskets that I put the sheets in by size. 1 basket for twin, 1 for full, 1 for queen. I use a bottom shelf to fold blankets in longer folds and lay them across that shelf. Air mattress & sleeping bags are stacked in their cases on the floor below the bottom shelf. I use labels on the baskets & shelves to help the kids keep the kids keep things in their place. With that said....there are still times mom has to come along & do a little tweeking. :)

I have my extra sheets/blankets in the space bags. They stack neatly in my closet and when i need an extra blanket, I just open it up and get one out. You don't even have to actually take all the air out unless they are ones you don't use very often. Hope this helps.

I use the linen storage boxes to keep my sheets, pillow cases, purses and hat in the linen closet. This way when you open the closet you see the boxes and not an unorganized mess (even though you've folded the sheets they still look messy) for my blankets I just fold them neatly the same way and put those on the floor of the closet and I also have a leather bench with storage in my living room that I keep a few blankets in especially in the winter. Easy access rather than having to go upstairs to the linen closet.

Good luck and happy organizing!
B.
www.belleserelle.com

I learned this trick from Martha Stewart. Before folding the flat sheet into it's final fold, lay the folded fitted sheet and pillowcases inside. Then fold the flat sheet over the top. That way you have a nice bundle all ready to go when you need to change your sheets. No more searching for pillowcases!

Bins bins and more bins! I use clear bins with labels. I put sheets and pillow cases in wider flatter bin, I also use the deeper square bins from the dollar store and seperate things like; all the body washes in one, razors and shaving creams in one, bubble baths, barred soap, hair ties and brushes and combs, first aid items, wash cloths, and so on. I label each things so as soon as I open the door any one particular I can find at a glance, and everything has a home and not mixing in with other items I may need to find quickly like the first aid things. I also a smaller rectangluar bin to put on the floor of the closet under the shelves for clean towells to free the shelf space, and another one next to it for massagers, foot baths, anything to big or awkward to fit and take up valuable space on the shelves.
I also encourage you to take a before and after picture to motivate you to keep things like that. It looks so nice when its done. May take an hour or two but when it's done you won't know why you did it any other way.
Good luck! I hope this helps you out! I have faith in you, if I can do it, I know you can too! :-)

Check out marthastewart.com for ideas on organizing linen closets. She has a good idea to store each sheet set inside one of the pillow cases. It looks neat and then the set is together and easy to find. She also has a good way to fold a fitted sheet which seems to be the hardest thing for me to fold neatly. I've seen a product that is a shelf divider, maybe that would keep blankets from falling over. Maybe keeping the blankets in baskets or space saving bags would keep them neat. Good luck! :)

Do you have enough shelves? If not put in more yourself or call California Closet Company. The trick is to have enough shelves so things are stacked too high and you can get to them without tumbling the whole stack down. Then it is easy. Just put arrange in a way that makes sense to YOU.

Baskets. I went to Michaels and got various size of baskets when they were 50% off. This way my husbands stuff is in 1 basket, sheets in another, etc. To create shelves without spending too too much, visit Home Depot. They have shelving solutions like CA closets yet cheaper. I will admit they are still not cheap, but it is worth it in the long run to create shelves and you'll love how all you need to do is find the basket since items are not falling over anymore. Good luck.

C.,

Thanks for asking this question and thanks, Mamas for all the good advice! I am on a serious de-clutter campaign this year and need all the help I can get. One other tip I got from the mamas here was the fly lady website: www.flylady.net This also has helped tremendously!

Have a wonderful week!

M.