During

Cleaning out a linen closet sounds like a deceptively easy task.

First, just grab out all the armloads of 

mismatched sheets, 

abandoned afghans, 

teddy bear pillow cases, 

and One Direction decorative throws,

and toss them somewhere to be sorted. 

Eventually.

Scrub down the interior walls and shelves with a good lick and a promise.

Then put back neatly folded, color-coordinated towels and bed linens in perfect stacks and call it an OCD day.

Easy, right?

Well, my friends, I'm here to burst a few bubbles. 

I'll be honest. Sorting through my piles of reorganization rejects has been a nightmare. Sure, it's easy to see what is no longer useful or attractive enough to make the cut to Linen Closet 2.0. But does that mean I'm emotionally prepared to throw away these treasured items of comfort and love that tell the story of my daughters' childhood? 

Ha.

Stocking the shelves with a meticulously curated set of back-up towels and bed linens is a jigsaw puzzle exercise in piecing together what we have with what we need. 

And since the list of what we need is lengthy, my financial limitations dictate that this linen closet is not going to get restocked overnight. I've had to sort out a multi-month budget for slowly buying what I need, and a few choice emergencies - like, oh, the broken display on my phone last weekend - have already necessitated some significant reworking of the financial plan.

Rome was not built in a day, people. 

 But already, I've come a long way from this ugly 'before' mess. Stay turned for further progress.