Spring Decluttering Projects: Lean & Mean Linen Closet

This month I’m highlighting some decluttering projects for spring that will have a meaningful impact in your home but aren’t too intimidating. I’m starting with the linen closet! The linen closet is top of mind for me right now because I’ve had a recent crisis that cuts right to the heart of why it’s a good idea to refresh and declutter your linens once a year.

My ‘crisis’ was realizing I didn’t have an available white sheet set for our primary bedroom when my husband went to change our seasonal linens from flannel to cotton. I searched everywhere, certain there had to be one, but met with failure at every turn. Yes, crisis is maybe a strong word for what I went through but when your job is Professional Organizing it seems like you should know what sheets you have and where they are! I blame my midlife brain!In this post I’ll walk through why bed linens are such tricky buggers, how to declutter and contain them plus how to set up a system that aligns with your home.

Why linens are tricky

Bed linens are tricky to keep track of and organize for several reasons. Those f-ing fitted sheets are a pain to fold. Sheets come in sets with lots of separate pieces to keep tabs on. And perhaps most frustrating, beds come in different sizes so it’s easy to lose track of what you have. I’ve organized hundreds of homes and the linen closet is usually a Charlie Foxtrot as my friend Greg used to say!

I think we can all agree that changing linens on a bed is kind of a pain in the butt. Anything you can do to remove friction from the process makes the job less of a chore. Knowing what you have and keeping it organized with a system are effective ways to remove some of that pesky friction!

Declutter and Contain

When it comes to a spring refresh of your linen closet the essential first step is to know what you have. I realize that sounds obvious but as previously stated, sheets are tricky! You’ll need to pull everything out and begin to match sets together, noting where pieces are missing. (Back in the day, pillow cases would mysteriously disappear around Halloween but I never noticed until Thanksgiving rolled around and it was time to make neds for houseguests!) You’ll also want to categorize everything by King, Queen, Full, Twin, etc.

Have everything visible and categorized? Great – now it’s time to declutter. Out go the really old, musty sheets. Say goodbye to anything stained. Put the one-offs with no matches in the donation bin.

Now, next-level decluttering time. Do you have any sizes where you are over-stocked? For instance, you have just one King size bed in the house but you have 5 sets of white King sheets?  Maybe shed 2 or 3. Lingering Twin sheets when your kids’ rooms all house Queen sizebeds? You can let those go. Even if your grown child’s room still has a twin bed, you can still say goodbye to the Star Wars sheet set. Its season has passed!

Create a System

Now that you’ve slimmed down your bedding collection is time to design a linen closet system. I know that sounds fancy but it’s really just deciding where to store the linens and how to contain them.

Where to store your linens will depend on the size of your home, the number of bedrooms and available closet space. You can take one of 2 approaches. The first is a centralized approach where all of the linens live in one place when they aren’t on beds. The second is a de-centralized system where you store the linens for each bedroom in (or near) the bedroom itself. Each has its pros and cons – let your home guide your system. If the beds in your home are all different sizes and you have good storage space then you may find a de-centralized system works best. If your home is smaller with one closet that makes sense to contain your bedding, then centralized may be right for you. Either way you’ll want to contain the sheet sets – there are several good options for this.

I personally am not a fan of folded stacks because of the fitted sheet – it looks bad. If you are into folding there are lots of tutorials out there on how to neatly fold a fitted sheet but I’m way to lazy for that so here are my suggestions.

Felt Bins

I love felt bins for bedding because they feel like a textile and come in so many sizes. This is what I use in my home. My felt bins are extra large because I use duvet covers that take up a lot of room. If you use blankets or quilts for warmth you could use a smaller size. I also like these bins because they have handles and fold down flat when they aren’t in use. You can throw labels on them to align with how you’ve organized.

Sheet Set Organizers

If your available storage for linens is a tight squeeze these sheet set organizers work well for keeping the sets together. They work as a horizontal stack or vertical like books. They do require a little more effort to use but are great if your space is tight. And they come with labels you can fill out so you know what is in each organizer.

Bags that come with Sheet sets

Many sheet sets are sold inside a bag of the same fabric. This is a great (and free!) way to keep your sets together. Labeling them is slightly trickier, I recommend tying a labeled tag to each bag.

No matter which solution you choose, the labeling part is pretty important to maintain your system. Labels make it easy to put sheets back in the right place, and find them when guests come to town!

I haven’t covered towels in this post because they are way easier than sheets. You can fold them in stacks. The bath towels are easy to distinguish from the hand towels. They just aren’t as much of a pain. And the same guidance I gave for sheet systems applies for towels as well: let your home be your guide on whether to centralize or de-centralize.

I don’t know why Spring is associated with linen closets but March feels like the perfect time to get mine in order. If you’ll excuse me, I need to order a new White Queen sheet set!