Comments on: The Minimalist Linen Closet

By: White_Butterfly

White_Butterfly — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 01:59:16 +0000

We have a fitted sheet for every bed (5 beds) and one Extra SB fitted sheet. And we all have a warm quilt with a quilt cover each and a spare one (one not one each). We also each have a wool blanket for winter because it is so cold. We have a pillowcase each and 2 spares in the linen closet. As for towels we have about 10. I do wash towels often. It’s a little quirk of mine. I get freaked out by the thought of drying my face where someone else has dried the backside… Eeewww.,. ANYWay… That’s about it. Oh and it’s all white. It matches everything and looks so nice when clean
I love love love your site and everything you write. I always thought I was strange being this way but it’s so nice to see others living this way too

By: Lynnie Ha

Lynnie Ha — Sun, 08 May 2011 01:07:28 +0000

i love flannel and jersey sheets for cooler weather, and 100% cotton percale sheets for summer, so i have a set of each for my bed (the only bed in the house). i have two lightweight 100% cotton quilts, and one cotton thermal blanket.

for bathroom linens i vastly prefer to have many washcloths and a limited number of hand towels and NO large towels (aside from a few beach towels for trips, mop ups, chair covers etc.) i use washcloths almost exclusively for washing AND drying. to me, large towels are the wasteful things… a huge square of fabric to wash over and over again? or a bunch of little squares i use fresh each time, then throw them all in the wash once i run out? i think the latter is the more economical, simple option for me.

By: Kris

Kris — Thu, 21 Apr 2011 15:16:37 +0000

Whoa. Last night when I couldn’t sleep I read your blog for the first time. I’m always feeling cluttered in my house and struggle between my inner minimalist and super sentimental sides. I am even sentimental over linens! I was inspired after reading your blog last night though. I just kept telling myself how much someone else will enjoy my wonderful towels. I accidentally woke my partner up while I was decluttering with fierce vivacity, afraid I would start reminiscing about the day I got that hand towel as a gift or when I got this rag when I was a kid. I know, it sounds crazy, but now that I woke up this morning with an enormous pile of linens by the front door, ready for charity, I feel great. Today I’m off work so I’m going through my closet. Those pink docs I wore in high school and that shirt that says 2000 that I haven’t worn since 2000 are going to be hard to give up. I can only dream about owning 10 pieces of clothing, but I know I don’t need 2 full drawers of socks. I’ve caught the bug at last!

By: miss minimalist

miss minimalist — Tue, 08 Mar 2011 22:52:54 +0000

So glad you were inspired by my book!

By: Melissa @ The Simple Spirit

Melissa @ The Simple Spirit — Thu, 24 Feb 2011 17:58:06 +0000

Still moving through these. Not as good as some, for sure – and I could definitely get rid of more!
Bath towels – one for each person (4), plus one extra.
Hand towels for the bath – 4.
Dish towels – a LOT. But I refuse to use paper towels, so we go through several a day with small children.
Sheets – 2 sets for our queen-size bed. but I have a ton of crib sheets (both kids still sleep in cribs). Trying to figure that one out. I know I started out wanting extra in case of accidents at 2am, so I could just change the sheets and be done. But the reality… we really don’t use them. Time to pass them on!

By: ashlye

ashlye — Wed, 23 Feb 2011 13:05:28 +0000

You are such an inspiration. After reading your book cover to cover, I have begun a whole house transformation and I am LOVING IT!!! One of the first places I tackled was my linen closet. I have one set of sheets and a backup for guests, four towels (two for use, two for guests) and the kids each have two sets of sheets and two towels because most of the time when the kids get sick it is in the middle of the night and sheets are involved. This works great and has done wonders to limit the amount of excess in my teeny tiny linen closet. In a closet that began with nothing but sheets and towels, now contains our first aid kit, locked tackle box of cough/cold/prescription medications, my personal toiletries (toothbrush, shampoo, excess soap bars, deodorant, toothpaste, coconut oil moisturizer, shaving supplies), a shelf of towels, a shelf of sheets, and our emergency flashlight on the bottom of the closet floor. I am so pleased each time I open the door to remove an item because things are stacked neatly and well organized. I was able to donate my superfluous linens to Purple Heart and felt really good about giving my extra items to someone who needs them more than I need the excess. Thanks so much for your inspirational book and blog. The book gave me a kick start, but your blog keeps me motivated and going. De-cluttering, minimalizing, organization – here I come!!!

By: Deborah Rolston

Deborah Rolston — Wed, 23 Feb 2011 07:38:16 +0000

I read this post at 5pm, and by 6pm I had a big black plastic sack of unwanted sheets. I’d meant to get round to it for ages and reading your post reminded me to do it!

I believe that minimalism is all about learning to let go of attachments. I find its a journey, not a destination. I see my stuff in a whole new way and I really understand something I read in a book called “freedom from clutter’ years ago that everything you have costs you something – storage, cleaning, moving it from place to place and headspace (the most important). Thanks for the blog – its like a spiritual teaching every day. I love it!

By: Ruth

Ruth — Wed, 23 Feb 2011 05:23:27 +0000

You can always give towels and sheets that are in good condition to charity shops. We sometimes have charities post bags in the letterbox. One of these had a list of useful items including towels and blankets. I was so glad because I had a pile of NEW towels that had been gifts but we had never used. So I was able to give them to a good cause.

By: Joie

Joie — Tue, 22 Feb 2011 21:28:31 +0000

I have a three-shelf linen closet that must also serve as my medicine cabinet, bath supplies holder, laundry supplies holder, nail care, and other various sundry. This “closet” is about four feet high by two feet deep. It doesn’t hold much at all.

In the linens department I have:

-6 towels (I have a dog to bathe, so it’s nice to have extra, plus they double as pool towels. They’re all different colors too, so not bent on bathroom color design)
-10 washcloths (I use them as part of my basic face care. Soap, washcloth, moisturizer)
-2 sets of sheets (I never use a dryer when laundering my clothes, but doing sheets requires it as I don’t have the room to air dry sheets inside my apartment. I can use both sets of sheets before doing my next “sheets” trip the laundromat, thus having two is useful. Plus it can double as a set for guests (which I don’t have frequently, people find my apartment uncomfortably small)

Suddenly I feel a little minimalist!

By: ElizMcK

ElizMcK — Tue, 22 Feb 2011 16:23:03 +0000

I too found out recently that I had too many towels. I was “taking inventory” in order to provide some to an adult child that was moving away. He received four giant bath towels and eight wash clothes, plus two hand towels. All were blue or grey and came from his childhood bathroom, but were still in really good condition. I knew I did not have to shop to replenish these towels. I just took half the towels from the other bathroom. Part of my minimalism has been passing things off to my children as they move out and on with their lives.

I have one set of sheets for each our two guest bedrooms, (with children in their 20′s, we still have to maintain two guest bedrooms) and two sets of sheets for our master bedroom.

My linin closet is quite large and is half empty and I have to desire to fill it, so I’m fairly contented with that.