How is it seriously Friday already!?  This week has escaped me.  My six year old has been out of school all week and home with me.  He’s at a different school than his sisters which = different schedules which = two weeks this year he is off without his sisters which = two weeks this year that mom gets nothing done.  Lovely. ;)  Actually.. I can’t say that I got nothing done.  I got nothing done on my blog that I was hoping to do (more posts up this week and work on my new header menu) but I was able to spend a lot of quality time with my little buddy.  And get a few spaces organized.  So I’ll call the week a win. :)  Today I’m sharing our organized blankets and towels.  A couple of linen closets that have been on my “to organize” list for quite a while now!
When we were designing the floor plan of our house I knew I wanted a closet upstairs by the kids’ rooms to hold blankets. Â I also needed a place to store our upstairs central vacuum so I decided to add this built-in closet at the end of our upstairs hallway to meet both needs.
It’s a great closet and I love having the extra shelving for blankets. Â The only problem is that it has looked like this since we moved in! Â The bigger problem? Â This was only half of our blankets. Â The other half were spread around in different rooms and I kept putting off organizing this closet for two reasons. Â One because I don’t see it every day (out of sight out of mind!) and two because I knew it would be a big chore to round all the blankets up throughout our house and somehow make them magically fit in this space.
I finally decided it was time to tackle this project head on. Â I pulled everything out of the closet.
Then I started rounding up extra blankets in bedrooms and tossing them all in the hallway too. Â (Btw.. just so you can get an idea of where this hall is located in my house.. if you look over that railing you are looking down into our entry.)
Which isn’t decorated at the moment but there you go anyway. :) Â (You can see how I decorated it last year for Easter here.) Â
I started sorting the blankets and deciding what to toss and what to keep and this is what the hallway looked like about half way through. Â (I just had that shiplap on the right wall added when I put shiplap in Kole’s bedroom and I love it! Â This hall will be a fun place to decorate at some point. Â The list never ends!) Â Anyway.. back to my blanket closet..
Kole was a huge help as always. Â ;) Â Finally after doing some serious purging and folding this is what I ended up with..
Oh my word. Â This closet! Â Who knew folded blankets could make me so happy!? Â Oh wait.. we all knew that. ;)
Larger blankets that get more use and the special quilts my grandma made are on the bottom shelves next to our central vac.
Blankets we use less often, a few other special family blankets, and baby blankets I just can’t part with are on the top shelves.
{BEFORE}
Let’s have one more good before and after shall we? Â Just so we can hear those angels sing. ;)
{AFTER}
While organizing this closet didn’t take that much time, it was a harder project for me. Â We had accumulated way too many blankets over the years so I needed to get rid of quite a few of them and parting with some of them wasn’t easy! Â I know this is a roadblock a lot of us face when organizing. Â In order to have an organized home we have to only keep what we use and/or love, but sometimes we get sentimentally attached to so many things we think we love them all! Â I had to keep reminding myself that certain blankets had served us well, but it was time to let them go. Â When letting go of some of my kids’ baby blankets made me sad I reminded myself that I have pictures of my kids with most of them and that I only really needed to keep the special few that brought back the most/best memories. Â Now that I’m through the rough part, it feels wonderful to have our blankets all in one place and so nicely organized!
The next time we are headed to a drive in movie with the kids finding the blankets we need will be a breeze. ;)
I was so happy with my blanket closet that it motivated me to quickly tackle another linen closet on my list. Â My girls’ bathroom towel closet was in need of some help! Â I forgot to take a “before” picture of this built-in, but imagine it looking just like the blanket closet originally did.. stuffed way too full of messy towels!
Finished organizing!  I got rid of so many old towels we didn’t need anymore.  They were much easier to part with.. ha! I just kept the newer, nicer towels.  They were the towels my girls were using the most anyway!  Nothing on the top two shelves because none of the females in our family are tall enough to reach them. :)
I also got rid of a lot of my girls’ old bath toys that they haven’t played with in years. Â I probably could have tossed them all – they have pretty much out grown playing with their mermaids in the tub.. {tear}. Â But these were their favorite bath toys and I didn’t dare toss them without permission. Â These two cute baskets I’ve had for years from Target were perfect to hold the few things I kept.
I know my girls won’t keep the towels folded this perfectly, but this towel closet will stay organized regardless because it isn’t stuffed full of old towels they weren’t using! Â It’s nice for our things to have room to breathe isn’t it? Â The wonderful benefit of only keeping what we really use.
Because I organized my girls’ bathroom drawers in January I can completely check their bathroom off of my list!  Feeling pretty good about that. :)  I couldn’t be more happy about having organized blankets and towels!  Btw.. if you are short on space you can see how I organized our blankets and towels in my last house here.  I had one small oddly shaped hall closet that held all of our blankets, towels and some cleaning supplies.  Ignore the lousy photography in that post.  Yikes!  You could say I’ve learned a few things since then. ;)
Kole and I also managed to sort through a few messy drawers this week too. Â These sacks that are heading to Goodwill are the sign of a productive week! Â Despite having so much “help” from you know who. Â Who would have thought. ;)
Enjoy your weekend friends! Â And happy organizing.
:)
I’m a long time reader, really enjoy your blog and love your home! Your aerial photo of your entry got me thinking…how do you clean your chandelier and how do you change your bulbs? We have a similar double height ceiling and cannot access our chandelier. It badly needs to be cleaned and the bulbs are all blown at this point! 🙈We have an 18 foot ceiling and I reckon the chandelier hangs about 12 or 13 foot from the floor. I can always call out a professional but any tips would be greatly appreciated! Thanks
Thank you so much Aoife! So nice to “meet” you! :) We have two things that help us clean our high fixtures.. a really tall ladder and a really long dusting brush! Once a year my husband pulls them out and goes through the house dusting off those high light fixtures. Kind of a pain but that’s how we get it done! Although hiring a professional doesn’t sound like a bad idea either. ;) xo
Great job tackling the project Erin, and of course with your cute helper :) I LOVED seeing this new view of your house that you haven’t shared before! And the shiplap wall is Perfect! Have a great weekend!
Thank you Lisa! I’m excited to decorate that hallway (I need light fixtures too!). It just always seems to be pushed to the bottom of the priority list! :) Enjoy your weekend too sweet friend! xo
I’m REALLY jealous of all those bags heading out the door! So much purging needs done around here, all while trying to renovate. And our nearest Goodwill is an hour away so getting rid of stuff isn’t that easy. Someday it’ll be done!
There is a season for everything right? You’ll get there! Renovating is so much work! Get through that and then you will be able to focus on purging! Thanks Jess and enjoy your weekend! xo
who knew a hallway could look so good!! I really loved the hallway and just seeing different aspects of the house and real life. you give me so much inspiration for when the day comes when I can finally build my house!!
Thank you Aria! You are so kind. I have some fun plans for that hallway if I can ever find the time to prioritize them! :) Enjoy your weekend sweet friend! xo
Oh seeing those garbage bag at the end is so satisfying isn’t it lol
I love purge days. . My husband on the other hand I can hear him say ” if you didn’t buy so much crap you wouldn’t hsve to purge as much”.. dont tell him he’s right lol
Ha! There is a lot of truth to that I’m sure! But yes.. SO satisfying to be getting rid of things we don’t use/need! I’m heading to Goodwill soon and excited to lighten my load. :) Enjoy your weekend Heidi! xo
Looks great Erin!!! Reading this post made me realize that I seriously need to follow your lead. We have way too many blankets and emotional attachments to them and they do no good for anyone stuffed in a bin or closet. I already knew that I needed to tackle this project but seeing your neatly organized closet made me want to get it done!
Also – I would LOVE a week alone at home with my youngest! Oh that sounds wonderful! Enjoy
It really was a fun week Lynnsey! Nice to have him all to myself. :) And I know.. so nice to let go of things we don’t use/need! Good luck tackling yours and enjoy your weekend cutie! xo
I just love all the amazing storage in your house. You really planned it all so well. Hope you enjoy your weekend, sweetie!! xxoo
Thank you so much Pam! You too! :) xo
Erin, I love your organized closet!!! I hope to arrange the closet just next to our master bedroom in a similar way so thanks for the inspiration! Just got back from Magnolia Market and took a picture by the white pitchers for you! Check out my post here: http://www.buildinghousemakinghome.com/still-spinning-from-the-silos/ and here: http://www.buildinghousemakinghome.com/what-i-learned-in-waco/ to help you plan YOUR TRIP to Waco! I hope you can go soon – it is a BLAST!
Tina I absolutely LOVED reading about your trip to Waco! So much fun and it made me so happy and excited that you though of me while you were there! You looked darling and all of you pictures made me even more excited to see it someday. I’ll definitely reach out to you before I plan the trip and make sure I’m not missing anything! xo
Wow, what a great feeling that must have been to purge all of those garbage bags full of stuff! This has given me some inspiration to tackle our teeny tiny but a disaster of a linen closet sooner rather than later! It is tiny and we stuff the vacuum in there (I am drooling at your vacuum storage! lol!) and I’ve wanted to improve on the storage situation for a while! I think I’ll bump that project up to the top of the list after we do the kids’ bedrooms! We have TONS of blankets in our house as well and some baby blankets I just can’t part with just yet!
Hi Ann! It really is such a great feeling! I’m tackling a few more spaces next week because the black garbage sacks put me in such a good mood.. ha! Good luck with your linen closet! It’s so nice to have that space checked off the to-do list. xo
I’m a perfectionist, Erin.! And so are you! Your towels in your girls bathroom are exactly the way I fold mine in every hall closet. Don’t get mad at me, but do me a favor? Please arrange those blankets in the other closet just like the towels. Some of them are folded correctly, but others aren’t. I like to see them all folded in the same direction. I’m sorry, I have a pet peeve when it comes to organizing! But that’s me! This is your home, so you can organize anyway you want! Happy weekend sweet friend! xo
Nancy! This made me laugh because I had them all folded perfectly the same way and they just weren’t fitting right! It ended up working better to do some sideways and some front to back because of the different sizes of the blankets. I like to see them folded all the same direction too, but trust me.. this way worked (and looked) better! The two of us should really hang out.. ha! ;) xo
Erin,
I see that you have a central vac. Do you have any recommendations/did you do any research? We have all the duct work in place, but no system chosen. I’m most concerned about how loud it is. Thank you so much in advance if yo ahem any ideas to share.
Hi Wendy! I didn’t research much because my parents have always had one and I knew I loved them and wanted one. I don’t know the brand of ours (we ordered it through the company that put all of our TV speakers, etc. in) but I can tell you that the noise isn’t any louder than a regular vacuum. Personally they are my favorite!
This post is so inspiring! Thanks for sharing Erin!
Thank you Courtney! Enjoy your weekend! :)
After viewing your closet, am fearful of hoarding tendencies. Although my linens are in their designated closet, categorized into 7 laundry baskets, there is still too much. My problem area is tablecloths. Saving them from special occasions, such as showers, etc., in the event that someone else may need to borrow them. Help. Thanks for the inspiration. How blessed to have your cute helper all week.
Thank you Jane! Oh I know.. it’s so hard to part with things sometimes! Especially when we think we’ll use them (or someone else will) someday. I try to think about when I used things last. That always helps me! If it has been over a year or two, we’re pretty safe to say good-bye. :) xo
Oh Erin, the girls and their mermaids in the tub! Just thinking about it makes me sad, our kids have grown way too fast!
I am so with you on the organized blankets and towels! I feel the same way about just opening the closet and having it look nice, funny how such a small thing can make you feel good! I’ve been purging our blankets and towels too as I am working on my “life changing magic” work! Just wish I could move faster! But all the junk waits for me and Watson is growing way too fast right before my eyes! So I’m trying hard to not get frustrated about my messes, easier said than done!
Doesn’t that book just make you want to toss EVERYTHING you own Josie!? So inspiring! But you have to remember the stage you are in and definitely hanging out with your sweet baby boy takes top priority! They will all be grown up and out of our houses before we turn around and then you’ll be able to organize. And we’ll sob on the phone together. And then schedule a spa day. Ha! ;) Love you cutie! xo
I love your house! One quick question: Now that you have lived with your dark floors, do you have any regrets? My daughter’s new house is just about to the stage of staining the hardwoods. Originally, she wanted a dark stain. Now she is second-guessing that. Are your dark floors difficult to keep clean? (She has three small children) Thanks so much!!
Hi Joy! Thank you! The dark floors do show a lot more! But for me it was worth it because I love that look so much and I felt like I needed the dark wood contrast with all of the light and white in my house. So I don’t regret that decision and would do the same thing if I were doing it again! But yes.. lighter floors will look cleaner so your daughter just has to decide what she cares the most about and how badly the floors will bother her when they look dirty. I’ve found that with 3 kids my floors always look dirty regardless so I might as well get the wood I want.. ha! ;)
This makes me so happy, Erin!! Love you to the moon and I just love your approach to getting rid of things…I need to do this in so many areas;) Love you my friend!!!
Thank you so much cute Bree! It always makes me so happy to hear from you! Seriously counting down to this weekend! xo
Erin, I love your blog. I’m a San Diego mommy too and have followed you for years. After purging my towels this weekend I donated mine to my local animal shelter, they were so happy to get the donation! Just a thought if you havent driven those bags to Goodwill your local animal shelter would love the towels!! Great job in all you do.
Thank you Nydia! Oh my word.. what an amazing idea! I love that! I’ll have to look into that too and mention it in case others don’t know about it either. I never would have thought of that but of course they could use the towels! Thanks so much cutie! Your kind words about my blog made my day. :) xo
Hi Erin- Love your blog! Quick question. Sometimes I’m catching up on three or four of your post at once.. I usually read the most recent and then move to the “older” post. I don’t see a button for older” or “previous.” Am I missing that? Or it the only way for me to go back and read the next oldest post to return to the main page and scroll down and click?
I hope that makes sense!?!?
Hi Heather! That does make sense! I don’t have the “older” and “previous” buttons in this blog layout like I used to but I’ll double check that there isn’t another way to quickly get to different posts (I’m still figuring the new layout out myself.. ha!). I’ll let you know if there is! I usually just click the HOME button in the new header and then pick a new post when I’m looking over several of them at a time. Thanks for your sweet words about my blog! So happy you like it. :) xo
Just this last weekend, I myself cleaned out our linen cupboards. It is a more daunting task than it seems. Especially when you have sheets tangling up! I organized my sheets and blankets by placing the sheet set inside of a pillow case and the matching throw blanket on top of that. I wish I got as much purging done as you did. I am constantly purchasing new blankets and can never seem to part from any of them. What can I say, I love being snug and warm!
Yea for a clean linen closet Charlotte! Such a good feeling isn’t it!? I’ve organized my sheets that way before too and it’s a great space saver! Blankets are hard to get rid of aren’t they!? I love a good throw too. :) xo
My children also have separate vacations, which means from February – to the end of April I have 4 weeks when I have a child out of school. It’s hard to keep on schedule and not feel guilty about not entertaining “vacationing” kids. This year we are taking our family vacation during my daughter’s break(she is older), but it definitely poses a challenge having kids on different school calendars. Your post has definitely inspired me to go through my linen closets! I come from a long line of “hoarders”, I am trying to break the cycle;) but the linen closet that I never use is definitely out of sight and out of mind. Who knows what I will find in there! Thanks for the inspiration.
You are so welcome Brooke! And I know.. having kids on different schedules really is tricky when it comes to planning vacations! And keeping everyone entertained when they are home. It’s too bad all schools don’t just follow the same schedule, but then that would be too easy right? :) Thanks cutie! Good luck with your linen closet! xo
I can’t tell you how happy it makes me to see such an array of blankets and quilts!
I feel like so often all women show are beautiful new matching ones in a specific color scheme.
So great to see a “real” linen closet! And…. Using ones that your family loves and have meaning to you. Thank you!
Lisa! What a thoughtful comment. Thank you! We do “real” around here pretty well. ;) I’m so happy you like it! xo
Hi Erin. I have been following you for a few months now and love your decor and organization posts. Just curious if you have read the Kon Marie method book? I just learned recently learned of it and thought of you. – Celine
I have Celine! Oh my word.. it’s one of my favorite books! :) I’ve mentioned it on the blog a few times in the past. It really opens your eyes to how much we can/should get rid of doesn’t it!? Thank you for your kind words about my posts. So sweet of you to think of me! :)