31 Days to a Minimalist Lifestyle Day 13

I am writing every day in October--taking on the challenge set forth by The Nester for bloggers to write a "31 Days to..." blog series. I'm tackling Minimalist Living and you can click here to read Day 12's post.

So, yesterday I tackled our linen closet. Well, part of the linen closet. It's a huge space and there was so much stuff in it that just didn't belong that I decided it needed to be broken down into two days' worth of work. Yesterday I pulled out the stuff that didn't belong, pulled out the trash, and moved the kids' towels into the kids' bathroom.

Day 2 of the linen closet, we tackle the rest!

Here's a look at the high-up shelf of various cleaning products. They are a mess. They are ugly. And why is my iron mixed in with them???

I'm eliminating virtually all of the toxic cleaners and opting for vinegar/water combos, so most of them went the way of the DoDo. Also found on that shelf is a box of lightbulbs, some candles, and a flashlight.

Here's the shelf of beach towels, swim suits and my party silverware. Don't judge, it fit there nicely!

 We have a pool, so we do use all the beach towels, but it's coming into fall and then winter here, so the pool is closed. I removed the swim suits, restacked the beach towels and basically, tidied things up a bit:

 And then I put the roaster on a easily reached shelf and added the party silverware for good measure:

Here's a picture of that side of the closet:

I really got into eliminating stuff, so much so that I have no good photos of a lot of the "befores."  The basket holds new school supplies which were previously in a diaper box and up too high. The 2 gift bags hold my gift bags and tissue-those had previously been in a HUGE under-the-bed wrapping paper storage box and it just never functioned well for me. Beyond that are the cruddy towels. Ok-who am I kidding, they are the puke towels. You all have them, so don't get grossed out. Additionally, I stored the extra toilet paper and one of my sewing machines under this shelf.

A nice view of the entire left side of the closet:

It looks so nice I can LEAVE THE DOOR OPEN!!!! I forgot to mention that I have TWO completely EMPTY shelves up top. WOOT!!!

Go tackle your linen closet. Cut yourself some slack and take a day or two or more to reduce what's in it. Make a commitment to NOT returning that closet to it's previous stage of dishevelment. (ok, that was mostly for me. I let this closet get waaaaaay out of control.)  Go minimize!!!!

Day 1 email

Day 2 magazines

Day 3 kitchen tools 

Day 4 junk drawer

Day 5 bathroom counter

Day 6 first aid & medicines

Day 7 kitchen sink

Day 8 plastic containers

Day 10 spices

Day 11 mail

Day 12 linen closet part 1