It has been a little while since I last did a declutter with me post and to be honest, this is in part due to the fact that I have been very satisfied by my belongings and what I did have. In the past year and a half of embracing minimalism I have really been able to figure out what I is needed in my life and are able to quickly donate or give away the things that I find don’t serve my life.There is one area that seems a little cluttered to me however and that is my combined linen and cleaning closet. It is the place in my house where I keep everything to do with laundry, cleaning, and household linens and is located in my bedroom beside the closet that holds my washer and dryer.
The bottom holds our laundry baskets as well as spare dish soap, the vacuum, and a swiffer (which I use with reusable cloths). The next shelf up holds laundry detergent, cleaning supplies, my essential oils, a bin for the monthly sanitize cycle I do (cleaning cloths and reusable pads), and spare dishcloths and potholders. Next is the linen from left to right; cleaning, spare bed linen, and then spare towels (which usually has more except those are at camp for the summer). The final shelf is the most full and has spare toilet paper and kleenex, as well as various other random items.I decided to work from the bottom up, mostly because I knew it was going to become harder as I got higher up. All I did in the bottom was take everything out and give it a quick sweep as everything here is important.
The next shelf just needed a bit of rearranging. I was able to move all the iron from the top of the cabinet down to this shelf where it fits better alongside the other cleaning supplies, my sanitary wash bucket, and my essential oils.
The linen shelf was mostly okay, but I was able to put a few pillowcases into storage. I am not sure why they were on this shelf in the first place as they are only used as packing supplies, but I finally put them away.
The last shelf was the most intense. The one side only has extra toilet paper, kleenex, and paper towel (the last one which I am sure is going to be there forever since it is never used anymore), but the other side is a mess. I took everything down and was able to get rid of some trash, organize the battery storage bin, and as I mentioned earlier move the iron out of the way which freed up a lot of space.
Here are all the things that were being removed from the cabinet. All of the lighters were bought because I thought I needed them and they were on sale at Costco but then I realized that I never use candles anymore and don’t have any other use for lighters so I am just keeping one just in case. The rest of the stuff is either going to other storage areas of the house or is trash.
Here are some tips for keeping a tidy cleaning/linen cabinet:
The bottom holds our laundry baskets as well as spare dish soap, the vacuum, and a swiffer (which I use with reusable cloths). The next shelf up holds laundry detergent, cleaning supplies, my essential oils, a bin for the monthly sanitize cycle I do (cleaning cloths and reusable pads), and spare dishcloths and potholders. Next is the linen from left to right; cleaning, spare bed linen, and then spare towels (which usually has more except those are at camp for the summer). The final shelf is the most full and has spare toilet paper and kleenex, as well as various other random items.I decided to work from the bottom up, mostly because I knew it was going to become harder as I got higher up. All I did in the bottom was take everything out and give it a quick sweep as everything here is important.The next shelf just needed a bit of rearranging. I was able to move all the iron from the top of the cabinet down to this shelf where it fits better alongside the other cleaning supplies, my sanitary wash bucket, and my essential oils.The linen shelf was mostly okay, but I was able to put a few pillowcases into storage. I am not sure why they were on this shelf in the first place as they are only used as packing supplies, but I finally put them away.The last shelf was the most intense. The one side only has extra toilet paper, kleenex, and paper towel (the last one which I am sure is going to be there forever since it is never used anymore), but the other side is a mess. I took everything down and was able to get rid of some trash, organize the battery storage bin, and as I mentioned earlier move the iron out of the way which freed up a lot of space.Here are all the things that were being removed from the cabinet. All of the lighters were bought because I thought I needed them and they were on sale at Costco but then I realized that I never use candles anymore and don’t have any other use for lighters so I am just keeping one just in case. The rest of the stuff is either going to other storage areas of the house or is trash.Here are some tips for keeping a tidy cleaning/linen cabinet:
- Don’t keep linens you aren’t using. Are they colours that you hate or sizes that you don’t own beds for? Then there is no use in keeping it. Either get rid of it (animal shelters will usually take old towels and linens that you don’t want to donate) or save it for packing supplies and the like.
- Reduce your cleaning supplies. There are separate cleaning supplies sold for every little thing in your house and you really don’t need them. I have three different things, and even those I am planning on replacing with vinegar and water once they run out.
- Don’t buy more than you need. You don’t need to store years worth of excess in your home at all. Note when you are running low on something and then you can replace it.
- Use bins if you need to, but don’t feel the need. I personally don’t have any bins in my cabinet, except for the small one for the essential oils. I have so little that everything looks tidy when displayed, but corraling things in bins can help to keep things looking tidy
- Replace disposable cleaning supplies with reusable ones. I have a nice pile of rags that I use for cleaning and they get washed once a month in hot water. This means that I very rarely ever throw anything out when I am cleaning such as swiffer pads, paper towels, or disinfectant wipes
fivestarredlife.ca 
Wow, very tidy looking cupboards, impressive!
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