I have been on a mission this summer to re-organize my home to make life easier during the school year. While I feel like I had decent organizational habits when we originally moved into our home, over the past two years some of those went by the wayside due to busy schedules and frankly, too much stuff.
I decided this week that it was time to tackle my linen closet. It didn’t look like as huge of a disaster as it actually was from the outside because the fabric bins that I originally used in an attempt to organize it hid some of the mess. However, behind those bins were a lot of piles of unorganized items.
I began by emptying everything out of the closet and going through each item. I sorted the items in piles out on the floor so I could see what I had. I also got rid of any empty boxes or expired items (make-up, ointments, or medications).
Once I had a general idea of what I had, I set off to the Dollar Tree to get some containers to organize my items with. I watched a lot of Tidying Up with Marie Kondo on Netflix, and I knew I wanted to go with storage methods that would allow me to be able to better see what I had.
I purchased these blue bins in a variety of different sizes and shapes. I planned to use the baskets with holes in them to hold different cosmetic and hygiene items and use the buckets for linens.
I put the baskets in place first so I knew how they would fit in the closet. I then took my piles that I had previously sorted, and organized the items into the bins. On the first shelf of bins, I have bins for shaving, body wash, and lotion. On the second shelf, the bins hold deodorant (my husband’s in the top basket and mine below), travel-size toiletries, sunscreen, and eye care. The third shelf has hair care items, nail care items (nail files and clippers in the top basket and nail polish below), and foot care items.
For my linens, I neatly folded all of my sets of sheets and stacked them on the shelf. I put the heavier flannel sheets on the bottom because I knew I wouldn’t be using them any time soon. For my pillowcases, I folded them in half width-wise and rolled them. This allowed me to put them in the bin as pictured so I could see all of my pillowcases at once rather than having to look through a stack to find what I am looking for.
I used the green rolling three-drawer organizer to organize our first aid supplies. The top drawer holds bandages, gauze, tape, and ointments. The second drawer holds heating pads and braces for aches and pains. I used the bottom drawer to hold extra bathroom items such as spare toothbrushes, cotton swabs, and Dixie cups.
I’m really happy with how the closet turned out. With unused items removed, more organization, and an easier way to see what we have, I have a feeling this organizational strategy will last much longer and be way easier to maintain. I highly suggest using bins like this to organize your closets!
The best part about this transformation is that it cost under $20 and only took a few hours! It was so nice to be able to see such an awesome transformation in such a short amount of time without having to go buy a bunch of expensive organizational supplies.
So, what do you think? I’d love to hear your feedback in the comments below!
If you decide to transform one of your closets, I’d love to see pictures! Tag me on Instagram or Facebook using @onecraftatatime.
Happy organizing!
~ Candace 🙂