Linen Closet

I am still working on my organization challenge from a bowl full of lemons. I had some free time this weekend so I thought it would be the perfect opportunity to tackle the linen closet. Its a closet that I hate, its such a mess! I'm warning you. I went into a lot of detail about how I organized this closet to help you do yours too. I'm a little detail oriented :)
BEFORE:

AFTER: Not completely done, but a good start. The first thing I did, take everything out of the closet. It was a mess. I couldn't believe how much stuff I had in there. Stuff I didn't even know I had. Mismatched sheets, incomplete sets, you name it, it was in there. Next I went through and pulled out things I no longer wanted to keep. Who needs 5 sets of sheets anyways? I even had a twin size sheets and I don't even have a twin size bed! So I added them to the donate box. (Tax write off and a clean closet! Score!)

The top shelf is now where I put pillows and comforters. I reused a clear comforter bag and stored all 5 of the comforters I have into one bag. The bag is see through so I can see exactly whats in each bag and it saves me so much space. Then I labeled the bag. I think I'll make bigger labels, but this will do for now.

The next shelf is where I keep these storage drawers that are awesome. I found them at walmart. I keep all sorts of items in the drawers.

• bandaids
• first aid
• dental
• medicine a-m
• medicine n-z
• sanitizer and soaps
• facial
• nail polish
• manicure

I still need to purchase one more set of drawers. I plan on labeling them Lily (for Lily's medicine, Vick's vapor rub, gas drops, those types of things), hair (for hair ties, combs, etc), hair cuts (for a cape, stuff for high lights, hair scissors, clippers). So this shelf is in the works (that's why things are still a mess), but you get the idea.

A closer look. I'll go into a little more detail so you can get an idea of how I organized each drawer. I put bandaids into a snack size Ziploc bag and labeled each bag. I have small bandaids, large bandaids, and kids bandaids which my niece and nephews love. I did the same with medicine. Put a slip of paper in each snack size Ziploc bag. Each slip of paper has the name of the medicine, dosage, date it was prescribed (you should only keep most medicines for 2 years), and directions. We had a million pill bottles and I was running out of space to put them all so I came up with this idea.

The next shelf I have washcloths, extra towels for guests since we keep towels in each bathroom, and another plastic storage bag labeled beach towels. The next shelf I put blankets that we use the most out front and put the ones that we don't use as much into storage bags.

The next shelf I have Halloween costumes in a storage bag, pedicure bath, paraffin dip for hands, facial steamer. Those types of things still in the box. They are put away and I can use them whenever I want to treat myself.

(This is what's behind our everyday blankets.) Here's the storage bags that I have saved forever. I never knew what to use them for but I knew I'd find a good way to use them. In these bags I have duvet covers, curtains, pillow cases, and sheet sets. With each sheet set I folded them together. For example. The main sheet is the outside layer, the fitted sheet is the middle, and the pillow cases inside. So when you grab sheets to change the bed, you no longer have to dig to find all of the matching items. Much easier.

So there's my linen closet. I now know where everything is. I can keep it clean and organized. I also created a lot more space using my recycled clear storage bags. Love it!