You Have Too Much Linen!
You Have Too Much
Linen!
By: Rebecca
Mezzino
That’s a very ambitious statement to make, isn’t it? But I’d bet my
eyelash curlers (that’s a big bet!) that I’m right!
If I were to tell you that you could use at least
half (if not all, yes ALL) of your linen closet for other storage, as
well as have your linen neatly folded and sorted instead of all jumbled
together, would you scoff at me or ask “Tell me more?”. Well, so that
this doesn’t end up a very short article I will assume none of you are
scoffing…
Firstly, you need to assess what you’ve got. Pull
out your towels, sheet sets, tablecloths, napkins, doilies, cushion
covers, tea-towels, hand-towels, face washers, bath mats…you get
the picture…and see what you really have (sanity note - if you
have hundreds, don’t try it all at once!).
Next, sort them into like groups so that you can see
how much of everything you have and your duplicates are obvious. Now
you can start to reduce what you have. Ask yourself the hard questions.
Do I use it? Do I adore it? Do I really truly need it? Note that I said
“use it” not “might use it one day”! Yes, I can read your mind!
Below I have outlined what you can really live with
(or without, really) if you want to do away with your linen closet altogether
or at least have space in it for other items. This is done by applying
the difference between need and want; a distinction we rarely make these
days:
- You need to get rid of excess towels. People
really only need 2 each - one can be in the bathroom and another either
in the laundry dirty or in their bedroom clean (on a hook, or in their
closet, or in a basket under their bed - wherever it suits them).
- Keep minimal handtowels, facewashers
and bathmats and store them in your wardrobe or in the bathroom
(those nice wire shelves look great and use that space up on the wall
that you would not use otherwise). Or if you have a whole matching
set per person, store them in their bedrooms as well.
- Tea-towels - get rid of all but 5-7 of them
and move them to the kitchen
- Sheet sets - cull them all. Keep 2 sets
per bed. One for on the bed, store the spare in the bedroom closets.
If you have a bed-wetter and no dryer, keep 3 for their bed.
- Tablecloths - try to relocate these to the
dining room or kitchen where you actually use them. And you don’t
need 8 of them - 1-3 will do you (honestly!)
- Napkins and other little things. Do you
use these? If not, either toss them or, if they have sentimental value,
store them with your other memorabilia. If you use them, keep them
with your tablecloths, but don’t keep too many!
- Decorative doilies etc - same as for napkins
- That leaves spare linen and spare blankets
for guests- these can go in the top shelf of your closet because a)
they won’t be used much, and b) they won’t knock you out if they fall
on your head! Oh, and beach towels (unless you live in a constantly
warm environment and use them frequently) can go there, too
- Finally, it’s a good idea to keep some old towels
for accidents (flooded kitchen, incontinent pets, gastro…you get
the picture!) and they can go in the laundry or even the shed or garage.
Just 2 or 3 will be enough.
Anything that you haven’t been able to store where
it’s used can go back in the linen closet, grouped and sorted by function
(or colour, whatever you like). If you managed to re-distribute it all
- celebrate! You now have a whole new storage solution for your other
well-used and loved gear to live.
BUT (yes, there is a ‘but’…sorry!) you do need
to keep on top of your laundry for this to work best. Your best bet
is to get into the habit of doing at least one load a day - we’re a
family of four and I do one each day (sometimes 2 loads on sheets and
towels days). One day for sheets, one day for towels, one day for delicates,
one for whites, two for colours and one for whatever you might need
extra for (usually colours in my house). Once you’re in the habit of
it, it’s easy to maintain, and it’s a real stress-reliever not to be
living out of the laundry basket!
So off you go and cull, cull, cull! You won’t miss
it, trust me!
Rebecca Mezzino specialises in household
and office decluttering and organising. Her company Clear Space
Organising Services provides hands-on organising and decluttering
for businesses and individuals, as well as Household Management
Coaching and customised Organising Workshops. Further information
on Rebecca and Clear Space can be obtained from www.clearspace.net.au.
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