Looking Through the Linens

I started Assignment #9 after a conversation with my daughter about her sheets. A year and a half ago, she switched from a twin bed to a double. We discussed whether she would sleep with a bottom sheet, top sheet and duvet (like I do) or whether she would sleep "European" and forgo the top sheet. She prefers the European way.

So guess what I found in the linen closet? (other than a mess)

Two bottom sheets and three top sheets. Why?

I didn't get rid of them though, as she is not sure what she's going to want to do in the summer. Plus, my son is still in his twin bed----and I wondered if perhaps he might prefer to have a larger top sheet. He is, after all, a very big boy in a very small bed. I wish they still made 3/4 beds and mattresses and bed linens. It would be the perfect size for his smallish room.

Plus, I didn't find any top sheets for a twin bed. There is one on his bed--maybe the other is in the wash?

I do believe in the old rule "one for the bed, one for the wash" for keeping bed linens, but I have a noted weakness for textiles. I've mentioned it before. I have four duvet covers--just for my own bed! I have four sets of sheets to play along. And then there are the uncounted number of pillowcases to further mix and match.

Meh. Small pleasures.

And I don't get out much.

I will get rid of a few washcloths and a bucket with markers in it--(oh that bucket! Back when the kids shared a room, we set up this bucket so they could lower it over the railing and anything they'd "forgotten" to take to bed, like a stuffie or their slippers would be put in the bucket and hauled up. The rope was still inside.) I used it to store the chandelier bulbs I needed for Emma's room. But she she doesn't have that chandy anymore.

I also found a sheer curtain, still in the package from Ikea. Not sure what is going to happen to that.

There are more linens elsewhere in the house, but that was enough for tonight. It took me about 45 minutes.

Day 18: Letting Go of the Linens

Read the previous entry in this series:  Day 17: Clear Out the Coats or start at the beginning with the Introduction: 5 Ways Clutter Costs.


Like my mother, I love fabric.

I especially love fabric when it comes in the form of a blanket, or a duvet cover. Even sheets and pillowcases pile up because I can always, always use them.

Like my couch, I like to have a seasonal bed.

Summer:

Hmmm, I had to reach all the way back to 2013 to find a shot of the bed with the yellow duvet cover. Is that a clue to let it go?

Fall:

Winter:

Spring:

My kids are different. My daughter just wants one set of sheets and a duvet cover. My son wants two sets of sheets (one for winter, one for summer), one comforter cover and a favourite blanket for winter which I think I've tossed, unfortunately.

Like anyone in a small home, I have storage challenges.

This is the linen closet. This is on the second floor between the bedrooms.

This is also a linen "closet." It's in the basement between the pantry and the freezer.

When someone says to me: I can't declutter because I don't know what I need, I don't know what I want--I look at my blankets and throws and pillowcases and know exactly what they mean.  It's overwhelming and there's no criteria to make a decision.

Except: how much is enough?

Do I really need four duvet covers with coordinating pillowcases and throws for the bottom of the bed?

Maybe I do. Maybe you don't. Maybe you need room for 16 towels but I don't.

The only other question is then: do we have the room?


Read the next entry in this series Day 19: Declutter the Desk Drawers or Surface, Your Choice.

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The Linen Closet

I have been wanting to get to this dratted closet for a while, now. It is upstairs in the hallway between our bedroom and my daughter's. It holds our bed linens, stuff for the powder room (also on this floor) and travel bags.

The problem with the closet is not the closet.

The problem with the closet is that the light in the hallway does not work. We keep the bathroom light on in order to make our way up the stairs, but as you can imagine, trying to access the closet after 5pm can be pretty hit or miss. (We need to call an electrician but we're being ostriches about it as we know the house is not up to code and we're afraid of what the bogeyman might say.)

So it's a mess.

I've also been wanting to tackle this as part of my homework in the decluttering module with Joshua Becker, as part of Courtney Carver's year long course called "A Simple Year."

My first step was to determine just what all I wanted to keep in here. I won't bore you with the details, especially as nothing really changed.

The next thing I did was to figure out the number and kind of linens I wanted to keep.

Here's the breakdown:

In this family of four, my husband and I share a queen sized bed, the kids each have a twin.

For pillows we have:
Ben --1 queen, 1 standard
Emma --1 standard
Chris and I: 1 pair of Euro pillows, 1 pair of queen, 1 pair of standard pillows. (Well, that's the goal. Currently, we have one queen and on standard in addition to our Euros.)

So, if each bed is supposed to have (at least) two sets of everything, though Cheryl Mendelson wisely advises three, here's what we should keep:

Pillow Protectors:
6 queen
8 standard

Pillow Cases:
2 pairs Euro (4)
2 pairs Queen (4)
2 non-matched Queen (for a total of 6 Queen)
2 pairs standard (4)
4 unmatched standard

Sheet Sets (Top flat and fitted bottom):
2 sets Queen
4 sets Twin
PLUS 1 set of flannel sheets for each twin bed.

Mattress Pads:
2 Queen
3 or 4 Twin. (I can get away with three if I don't change the kids' mattress pads on the same day.)

Whew. Got all that?

You notice I left out comforters, duvets, duvet covers, and blankets. That's because I'm just not ready to deal with all of that just yet.  Some of them are on the top shelf.

Professional organizers recommend that you have everything--from all over the house--before you start. So, I folded some sheets waiting in the laundry room, started a load of laundry, and collected a few things I had in storage down in the laundry room.

Later, I found another sheet set in my son's room--clean but covered in dust. I must have given them to him and told him to change his bed a while back.

The pillowcases and protectors.

Here are all the grocery bags I fished out of all the hidey holes in the closet.

 Isn't that ridiculous? There are only two garbage baskets which take them. I decided that I would toss half of them and then sew up a grocery bag holder and put it on the door of the closet to hold the rest.

Several hours later, we have....

Ta Da!

The Donation pile.

I can take them to women's shelters, Ronald MacDonald House, Homeless shelters, Compassion Houses, basically, any charity which has beds. Severely used or torn sheets are better suited to animal shelters for bedding.

And so, here we are, all loaded up again. I was just racing against the light at this point.

I decided to put Queen sized stuff on the top and the twin stuff on the bottom. The stuff in the middle is all bathroom related, since there's no closed storage in there.

(Yep, I kept waaaay more than my allotted 6 queen pillow cases! They're vital to surviving the zombie apocalypse. I'm just sayin')


Ironically, I have a shopping list. In spite of having a ton of bed linens, I am actually short in a few categories. I'm ready for a white sale.

Linen Closet Organization

One night last week, I tried to put some sheets away in the upstairs hall closet.

(Now I have a shiny, bright, new laundry room, I finally washed all the sheets that had been waiting to be done.)

I couldn't do it. It was just full.

So, while I should have been putting my daughter to bed, I emptied the linen closet and sorted things in her room while she read our bed-time book to me.

I've known for some time that I needed to weed things out--so without even running for the camera to take a before picture--I started with the sheets and pillow cases.

Here's a photo from the last time I cleaned out the closet.

May 2010. Sixteen months ago.

See all those pillow cases and pillow case covers on that bottom shelf? See the swiffer hanging off the door to the left? Well, I bought and hung up a broom there some time ago--and the dust from the broom would rub off on the pillow cases and pillow protectors.

eeeeww.

I know.

The solution was dead simple, but I only thought of it the other night.

Move the pillow protectors and pillow cases!

Talk about a duh moment.

So, while my eleven year old read me Harry Potter, I got rid of a few sheets and pillowcases. (I still have too many!) I also got rid of two rag rugs--one shredded--why on Earth did I still have that?

I've been looking for pretty containers for my pillowcases and stuff, but I'm finding myself reluctant to shell out cold hard cash for them.

So, this will have to do.


Not very pretty. Not full of cleverness.

But I can get the sheets put away, now!
And I'm back to reading Harry to her.

Organizing Project: Linen closet

Martha's people are geniuses.

Excluding the bedroom closets, this house has three. Three. A Coat closet (which also holds tote bags, the picnic basket, games and the mop, broom, dusters and vaccuum. The cleaning closet which holds cleaning supplies, household stuff, and serves as bathroom storage. It's a nightmare.

The third closet is upstairs.

This closet has to store a fair bit. We've two bedrooms and a powder room up here: the bedrooms have closets, but the powder room does not (it is 5 1/2 feet x 5 1/2 feet). So, this closet has to hold three categories of items: linens for the bedrooms (there's a third on the main floor), bathroom stuff and cleaning supplies.

We have two twin beds and a queen. I like to have three sets for each. Somehow, with the twin sheets (there should have been a total of four bottom sheets and four top sheets in the closet as all the laundry is done) I've lost control--there were six fitted bottom sheets and seven top sheets in the closet! So., I will weed out a few!

Also in that closet I like to keep

* cleaning supplies for the upstairs (we've a powder room up there with zero storage),
* light bulbs for the fixtures upstairs,
* a humidifier, (cool for summer, warm for winter, I keep the other in the basement and switch them out when I do clothing),
* travel totes,
* hair dryer,
* scatter rugs,
* pillow cases (two sizes, standard and Queen)
* pillow protectors (standard and queen. I haven't yet set a limit on the number of standard pillow cases and protectors I should have: any ideas?)



I have spent a total of 45 minutes on the closet so far.

Before: (Wednesday)



After 45 Minutes: (Friday)


I'd like to find room for

* towels and washcloths for the bathroom,
* toilet paper
* overflow supplies like soap and toothpaste
* blankets (though they're probably too bulky!)

Here's an idea, from Aby:




Of course, Apartment therapy featured it in an article, "The Many Uses of...". There were a lot of interesting ideas in the comments.

And here it is interpreted into a home sewn version by the folks at MSL, again.



And so, I shall have to see what I can do, now that I've some ideas!