Today, we are focusing on our sheets a.k.a bed linens and the steps needed to learn how to declutter your sheets as well as organize them. This is not a hard category to declutter, but many people tend to look over that and just "straighten them" and put them right back where they were and then end up in the same state they were in before they started. I want to teach you how to see each set of sheets for what they are and to develop a system that enables you to unemotionally tackle them and prevent you from randomly adding to your collection.
The first thing you want to do when evaluating your sheets is to determine your house capacity rules. House capacity rules are the list of rules/requirements that your family sets based on factors that are unique to the household and how it functions. This is why your house capacity rules will be different from your neighbors or even family that lives outside the home. There are five steps that I use to help Clients determine their house capacity rules. You can always add to this list, but I find that these are usually all you need.
Now that you have obtained the answers to the five questions above, you have the guideline needed to determine your sheet capacity. You want to determine the bare minimum that you want to have you in your home and the absolute maximum. This again is subjective because all house capacity rules are different. If I told you that my maximum capacity based on my house rules was 15 you may be shocked...but then what if I told you my house has 1 King bed, 2 Queen beds (one is a blow-up) and 2 Twin beds (one is a trundle). Then what if I told you that we keep a minimum of two sets of sheets per bed and I allow for one additional set of flannel sheets per bed. Now does it make more sense? Now just because your rules allow for a maximum of 15 doesn't mean you HAVE to have 15 sets of sheets. In my situation, we actually only have 10 sets of sheets and that includes two sets of flannel sheets. I just made sure I adhered to our house rules on a per-bed basis. So, hopefully, you see now how your house capacity rules help you determine your minimum and maximum capacity.
Okay, you have your minimum and maximum capacity counts now, but I want to give you a personal recommendation. You can take it or leave it, but I recommend this to all of my clients. I believe that you should always have two sets of sheets for every bed. I know initially that may seem excessive, but let me explain by giving you a scenario. Let's say you or a guest has an accident in the middle of the night (nosebleed, sick, bodily fluid seepage). The bed must be stripped and the sheets washed. What do you do if you only have one set of sheets? Ultimately, you should always have a backup set of sheets for each bed. Now, if you have a guest bed, but rarely have guests you might rethink this and only have a backup for the main bed and just risk it. This is your choice.
Once you determine your minimum and maximum capacity you can begin going through your sheets and purposely determining which sets stay and which go. In some cases, you may figure out that you don't have excess sheets and you may even find that you don't even have your preferred minimum. That's okay, don't go run out and purchase them...if that has been working for you great. You can put it on your want list and when you find the sheets you want on sale you can get them...or you can add them to your Christmas list. The key is you know how much space capacity you now need based on your defined minimum and maximum capacity. You will know what your goal is and can adjust accordingly when redefining your sheet storage space(s).
Now, we have gone through all your sheets and determined which ones are going to stay. It's time we talk a little about how to organize and also where to store your sheets. My perspective on this is a little different, but I promise it makes sense...well it does to me lol.
"Store sheets in the room in which they are used."
I know this is baffling to some, but let me put it into perspective. If we use our previous scenario of a guest or your child getting sick in the middle of the night. Wouldn't it be more convenient if your guests or you could just replace the sheets quickly without having to go somewhere else to retrieve them? What if they are too embarrassed to wake you up to get fresh sheets. The key is convenience...you remove the sheets in the room, you make the bed in the room why not store the supplies in the room? I know, I know it makes a lot of sense, doesn't it!!!
The last thing I want to cover is the beautification of sheets LOLLLLLLLLL. Yes, I'm laughing because this is a thing. Many of my Clients ask how to store their sheets and my response is however you want lol. Seriously, this is personal...are you a visual person or do you just want to be able to find the sheets and don't care what they look like? Either way, there are a number of ways you can do it. You can place them in the pillowcase; you can stack them like a pretty present having the fitted then flat sheets and then the pillowcase; you can even wrap it all with a ribbon or you can choose to store them a basket or a drawer. Like I said, it is a personal choice and I encourage you to go to our Pinterest board to see which way you like the best. The only thing I will say is you should make sure you are properly folding the fitted sheet LOL. Yes, I said it...no more balling it up or half folding it. I promise you it is not hard, in fact here is a video How To Fold A Fitted Sheet -Living On A Dime. (Note: I said I wasn't going to do a video, but if I get enough requests I may do it because as I watched the videos I fold mine a little differently and I think it is easier). Now you should be well on your way to decluttering and organizing your sheets. Please share with me how your decluttering goes, I'd love to hear about it. If you haven't already, please join our Facebook Page. I am also on a number of social media sites (see links below), so definitely stay in touch. I hope you found this information helpful.
Why it's Important to Get Others Involved in the Process of Decluttering
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