The Well-Managed Home: The Linen Closet

Let's be honest here, closets are kind of our personal space. That space we can hide our junk in so that no one outside the family unit will suspect us of being unorganized or even a hoarder collector of things we don't really have a place for in our house. You know what I'm talking about? Closets in my house are the place that 'things' get shoved when company is coming over and I don't have time or energy to put it in its place. I admit it, I'm THAT person. I want to be the person that has a place for every single thing and believe me, I'm totally working toward that goal, but it's not easy when there are 5 individuals in our household that all like their stuff.
So, in an effort to get myself inspired to tackle that problem in my house, I decided to head straight to the source of all great ideas that get pinned and hardly ever followed through - Pinterest! And boy, do I have linen closet envy now! I feel like running straight to the dollar store and hoarding baskets of all shapes and sizes. Then, going and buying all the same color of towels and sheets. But I won't. Not until I finish this post anyway.
This is the current state of my linen closet.

Yes, it is unorganized and embarrassing in its sad condition, but I'm being real with you. I don't have it all together. I'm not writing this post {or any posts} because I think I am an expert. I'm just like everyone else trying to create order out of the chaos in my everyday life.

This is what I hope my linen closet looks like when I'm finished with it.

Laura @ I'm an Organizing Junkie has a great post about organizing the linen closet. Click here.

Home Idea Maker's closet is drool worthy. I love this!

But before we can organize and make it all look super cute and magazine worthy, we have to do a few tasks that will enable organization to take place.

1. Get 3 garbage bags. One for trash {broken things, moth eaten things, etc.}, one for donating {things that still look good and are not broken}, one for selling {things you don't want, but could make money from - you'd be surprised how much money you can make off of things you don't want/need anymore - check ebay or craigslist to see how much similar things are going for}.
2. Make another pile for the things you want to keep.
3. Now, get to work separating all this junk.

Once you've accomplished that, the fun part begins. Decide where you want everything to go back to in that closet. Towels, sheets, blankets, Christmas decor, etc. Come up with a game plan. Make a trip to the dollar store for baskets and other helpful organizational items. Then, get to work putting it all back.
The goal here is to make it work for you. Not so it looks beautiful, although that never hurts, but make it the most functional for you and your family.

Example: I put the washcloth basket where my kids can reach it. Also, the dishcloths - because I can send them to get one for me when needed. The other things in the closet they don't need access to, so I can put them anywhere else that works for me. Just think, "How will this make my life easier?"

What are your secrets to keeping a tidy linen closet? Or any other closet, for that matter? Is yours a mess or is it always organized?

This is part of my 31 Days of Home Economics series. You can find the whole series at the tab above labeled {Home Economics}.

Thanks for stopping by today! I'm sharing this with a few of these friends.