3 Organizing Solutions for the Linen Closet {and how to fold a fitted sheet!}

You guys, I have a question. How is your linen closet looking? 

Was your immediate response "ugh, don't ask"? Or, "I have no idea, I'm quite confident I will be buried in towels and sheets toppling from shelves if I actually open the doors, so they stay closed"? Have you stopped even attempting to fold things because the infamous fitted sheet has ruined folding for you forever? 

Don’t worry, you’re not alone. I consider myself to be an organized person but our linen closet has been an issue for me for entirely too long. I even made it a New Year’s resolution to attack this linen monster in 2014. Well it’s November, and I’m finally dealing with the reality that little leprechauns aren't going to appear and clean out the closet for me. It’s time to get to work.

So, I’m going to share some pictures of our before. This is a judgment free zone. I’m closing my eyes and wincing as this picture loads.

It’s bad. I know. I promise it gets better. Actually, it got better, and then worse again. But this time it's different. I swear... I hope. 

What you can't see in this picture is that the closet door is actually preventing those blankets and pillows on the top shelf from tumbling down on my head. It became a bit of a personal challenge to see how many jump-and-throws it would take to get the blankets to balance perfectly, or at least long enough for me to close the door. 

So I dedicated a bit of time one day. 

I came up with this. But then it led to that. 

Like I said, it got better, but then it got worse again. So I did a huge overhaul, pulling everything out and starting fresh. This is always the best way for me to organize, but I guess for some reason the last time I addressed this closet I didn't think it was bad enough to need a fresh start.  Hindsight 20-20. 

I cleaned the entire closet, dusting, vacuuming, wiping down shelves. I even toyed with the idea of adding a fresh coat of paint in there. But I was too motivated to wait for paint to dry. Once everything was cleaned out, I turned around and kinda panicked a bit.

{gorgeous view behind me}

{after I climbed out}

In order to address this chaos, I focused on a few key things that have helped keep me organized in other areas of our home, and applied them to probably one of the most difficult closets to keep organized. 

Organizer Baskets

Did you see those awesome organizing baskets? Guess what, just because you throw things in them doesn't mean they magically become organized {who knew?} They are relatively new to our closet and when I added them I literally took the stacks of sheets/towels/covers and threw them in. Not helpful. 

But baskets definitely can help keep things contained, you just have to fill them properly. So I refolded our linens into thirds so that they would fit nicely in each basket and be easily accessible when needed. 

Adding the baskets has made a tremendous difference for us and contains us in more ways than one. First, they keep our stacks of towels, sheets, covers, etc. in a nice and tidy order. Second, they prevent us from living beyond what is necessary. I can't buy new towels unless I get rid of current ones because there's just no room. 

I used smaller baskets to organize our travel gear {toiletries, bags, hot water bottles, the usual stuff}. This is also where we go to grab our laundry caddy, which is still one of my favorite and most useful organizing projects for our apartment. 

The bins on the bottom shelf hold our Costco stock of toiletries and our dish/gym/rag towels. While I would love for all the bins and baskets in the closet to match perfectly and be something Martha Stewart would give a big thumbs up to. This isn't the Rockefeller closet. This is the Realistic closet. 

To address the tumbling tower of blankets and pillows, I put our extra blankets into one bag and stacked our pillows flat. With the extra space the baskets created, I was able to have room for our go-to guest blanket on the second shelf. Unfortunately, our narrow closet doesn't allow for a great picture on that top shelf, but you can get the idea here. 

Labels

Just in case you didn't notice, I labeled ev-e-ry-thing in that closet. Labels have really proven to work in our home. Yes, it may seem silly. Surely, the two dwellers know exactly where everything is in their own home. But don't underestimate the dynamic mind of an organizer {and don't call me Shirley}. 

The labels make it so easy for us to know where everything goes, and reduces the amount of times I hear "honey, do you know where the...?" Actually, I haven't seen a significant drop in this question, however I have noticed that if I pause and count to three, it will be followed by "oh, never mind, found it!"

I always ask Brit how he wants to label things so that they make sense for both of us. In the case of our kitchen/gym/rag towels, he decided "Old Towels" would fit perfectly. Although I explained to him that the kitchen towels are not old we just don't have enough space in the kitchen to store them, he was still perfectly content with the new label. Needless to say, Brit went to the gym with a Vin de Fromage tea towel last night. Totally normal, he says, totally normal. 

Accessibility

I can come up with just about any excuse in the book not to exercise. But one excuse that just makes me feel down right pathetic is that I couldn't get to my equipment. I mean, come on Stef, get it together. So with this fresh organization, I made sure to keep items like weights and our tension cord in a location that would ensure I can't use the "well, my weights are alllll the way under that stack of towels, looks like I'm not doing arms today". 

{dr. scholls foot spa, a necessity for any NYC walker}

I keep my yoga mat hanging on the wall inside to save space. 

To make the contents of the baskets easily accessible, I added some felt pads to the bottom. This allows them to easily slide on the shelf and prevents damage and scratches to the baskets and the shelves. 

Along the same lines with accessibility, I like my sheet sets to be easy to grab without having to hunt for a fitted and flat sheet, and matching pillow cases. I tuck our fitted and flat sheet sets, along with one of the pillow cases, into the second case. I don't display them all gorgeous and pretty like the ones seen here, I tuck them nicely into our basket. 

{via}

Now, I know folding a fitted sheet can be worse than a sharp stick in the eye for some, but I promise, promise, promise, it's possible to fold it. For proof, I had Brit do it while I only used words {no gestures, no help, just words} to describe how to fold the fitted sheet. And he was successful! 

So, let's try it together, with Brit's model shots to lead the way! {for a really short and helpful video on folding fitted sheets, click here}. 

Did I mention he was able to do this while continuing to watch The Avengers? I mean, my man is awesome and thank goodness he puts up with me. 

Now, let's break these 5 easy steps down into a little more detail. 

• Step 1: Take two corners of the fitted sheet, with one corner turned inside-out. Tuck the inside-out corner {1} into the opposite corner {2}. This is the hardest part. If you understand this step, you've got it! 
• Step 2: Do the same with the other two corners. This may involve setting the sheet down for your first few tries so that you can use both hands. Brit does it here while continuing to hold the corners from step 1 together, so it is possible!
• Step 3: Take the two corners from steps 1 and 2, flip one inside-out, and tuck the inside-out corner into the opposite corner. This is the same thing you've done for the other steps. You will now have all four corners tucked into one. 
• Step 4: In one hand, hold the 4 tucked corners and pull it tight. You may have to slide your hand up and down the sheet a bit to make the sheet straight. 
• Step 5: Fold the sheet across into thirds, and then fold it into thirds again. 

I know it's not the easiest thing to do, but if you try it, you will be amazed how much space it saves in your closet and how much time is saved by not searching around for that balled up fitted sheet. Before you know it, you'll be able to fold the fitted sheet while sitting down watching RHNJ, without missing a beat {not that I would know anything about that}. 

So that's it. I know, it's quite bold to end such a winded post with "that's it". However, in 40 minutes, I was able to organize this bane of my existence linen closet using three organizing solutions, baskets, labels, and keeping things accessible. 

How do you keep your linen closet tidy? Do you fold fitted sheets like a boss, or ball them up and get on with your life?