Moving? How to Declutter and Reorganize Your Linen Closet

We’d all love to throw open our linen closet doors when we need an item to find neatly stacked and organized shelves. Perhaps not unlike what you’d see in an MLS listing or a home design magazine.

The reality is though, for most people, linen closets are packed with blankets, sheets, towels, and miscellaneous items. Yet, most people only use 20% of what they own, 80% of the time. If this sounds familiar, it might be time to declutter and reorganize your linen space. 

Now that you’re getting ready to sell your home and move, people will be checking out the closets — including your linen closet. It’s the ideal time to get a handle on this unruly space. Not only do clean linen closets show better to potential buyers, but the packing will be a breeze, and it’s an excellent way to start fresh in a new home — with a clean, pre-organized linen closet.

Here are some tips to get started before your move.

Remove All Items From Your Closet and Sort

First, remove everything from your linen closet to get a full idea of what you have, what you need, and what you can eliminate. Chances are you’ll find several items you rarely, if ever, use. An empty closet can give you inspiration for organizing. You essentially have an open canvass to arrange belongings practically and conveniently. 

As you empty your closet shelves, set the items in one of four piles: Keep, discard, donate, and repurpose.

• Keep pile — Place items you actively use (or newfound ones you’d like to use) into this pile so you can prioritize them when they’re put back away.
• Discard pile — This pile is for items that are no longer usable or worn beyond repair.
• Donate pile — Compile items you no longer need or want that are acceptable for donation or consignment.
• Repurpose pile — Make a pile for old linens to use for other purposes. (For example, worn-out towels are great for cleaning, and old sheets as drop cloths.)

Separating items into piles for easy viewing makes it easier to determine what to do with them. Use the Marie Kondo philosophy for any items you’re unsure about – ask yourself – does it spark joy? If not, don’t put it back into your closet.

Give Your Closet Some Flair

Once you’ve got an empty closet, if you want to jazz it up for resale, now is the time. Drab paint? Give it a fresh coat of paint. Want to brighten up your shelving? Add a new shelving liner or contact paper.

Assess Your Space and Arrange Items

Look at your “keep” pile and assess the best way to store these items. Decide if you want to categorize items by type or by room. For instance, do you want to keep all sheets together? Or do you want to put blankets, pillowcases, and sheets together for each room? It doesn’t matter what system you choose, as long as you find one that makes sense to you and keeps things in their proper place. If it helps family members remember, add labels designating where items go.

Fold Items Neatly

To maximize your space, fold items properly. Good Housekeeping offers a video for how to fold sheets properly. Put items you don’t regularly use into vacuum-sealed bags and place on a high or low shelf, or better yet, begin your packing process by packing those items in moving boxes now.

Consider Hanging Organizers

If you keep miscellaneous items in your linen closet (soaps, lotions, etc.) or simply want to store smaller linens in an easy-access space, add hanging basket shelves to one or two of your shelves. This works best if you have sufficient space between each shelf because you can still store larger items under the baskets. If your shelves are too narrow, try putting smaller items in baskets or small cube bins to store smaller things on a shelf.

Moving Made Easy

As a moving company, we’ve seen closets of all shapes and sizes. A good declutter and organization system goes a long way towards spiffing things up and helping with your home’s sale.

Need help getting packed and moved? Contact us for a free quote. We can help simplify your move.