Things are getting real around here when it comes to organizing. I even had a dream about organizing the other night! Because of our purging over the last couple of weeks it truly feels like our house has lost 10 pounds. What a great feeling to open cabinets and closets and not get an overwhelming sense of dread.
Next on the list to tackle as part of my 20 Minute Organizing Series was my “Catch-All-Closet”. This series has truly helped me break down different areas of my house into manageable projects and I love ticking away 20 minutes at a time. I shared some before shots of this closet a few weeks back and even looking at these pictures now fills me with so much anxiety! This had officially become a dumpster fire of extra throw pillows, art we weren’t using, lamps, and housewares. I am SO thankful for this space, but I was grossly misusing it. We don’t have a basement so storage space like this is precious around here and now this space is a workhouse for storing pillows, housewares and even wrapping paper. (more on that later!)
As a reminder, here was the before:
The closet is actually quite large- here you can see how it extends back pretty far.
And here is another angle from the back corner.
All I can say is WOW. Just WOW.
I decided I needed to start completely over so over the course of a weekend, I removed every single thing and gave the closet a big cleaning. I find that it helps to take everything out to truly give it a complete overhaul and rethink the space. Once it was cleaned out, the first thing I started with was collecting all the pillows and putting them in one spot.
Throw Pillow Storage || How To Organize Throw Pillows
That is quite a mound of pillows. And sadly that was not even all of them. Yikes. I posted this picture to Instagram and it turns out lots of you also have a pillow hoarding problem.
Here is the process I used to get them organized:
- Collect all of the extra throw pillows in one spot.
- Once they are all together, evaluate and remove any that I no longer like.
- Once it’s down to the keep pile, take a look for anything that is duplicated or similar. Try to purge a few more.
- Now that you have your keep pile, sort them into similar sizes.
- Keep only one set of insert for each size. If there is a pillow cover and you have a similar insert- remove and stack.
Here you can see the stack of pillow covers I was able to create by eliminating extra inserts.
The plastic shelf that used to be on the left end of the closet fit perfectly on the right end and is now tucked away in the back of the closet.
Now for the really hard part moving forward- STOP BUYING THROW PILLOWS. 🙂 Ha ha, who am I kidding I can’t-stop-won’t-stop. But now I know that when I do buy more, they will need to either have removable covers or fit in this specific area for storage. If I run out of space- it’s time to purge a few!
The rest of the closet also really came together and I love that I can just walk in here and know exactly where everything is.
I even created a “dish pantry” using a cabinet that was a hodge podge of things to hold our Christmas dishes and my Blue Willow. This cabinet was my husbands grandmothers old double door pie cabinet which makes it the perfect size to store excess plates.
Are you organizing ALLLLLL the THINGS? Do you have a closet nook you can tuck all your pillows into? Let me know how you organize your pillows down in the comments!
Click HERE to catch up on all 20 Minute Organizing posts– or you can also see them below:
20 Spots in 2020/2021|| 20 MINUTE ORGANIZING
1 out of 20 & 2/20: Under Bathroom Cabinets
3 out of 20: Master Closet Winter Purge & Spring Spruce
4/20: Cleaning Locker
5/20: Spice Drawer
6/20: Family Travel Emergency Kit
7/20: Purse Organizer Insert
8/20: Athleisure Refresh
9/20: Nerf Storage
10/20: Wrapping Paper Drawer
11/20: Christmas Ornament Storage
12/20: Recipes & Cookbooks
13/20: Throw Pillow Storage
Happy organizing!
xoxo-
Heather
Looks great! I hear ya sista on the pillow thing. I have a ton but like you, I have started to just buy the pillow covers as I like to change them out seasonally. It does help with the space as pillows take up a lot of real estate. Thanks for all the ideas.
Yes, you know I have the same problem. I jut love switching out throw pillows all around the house. Fortunately I have a bonus room that has a large closet and I can store all my extra pillows in there. Of course, if you ask my husband, he stays I’m storing them all on the beds~ haha