But before the lesson, here’s another idea to consider. It’s called “No-Linen-Closetology”, from the book  It’s Here…Somewhere by Alice Fulton and Pauline Hatch. This mind-bending idea is to have just two sets of sheets for any bed in your house. One set is on the bed, the other is stored flat in between the mattress and box springs. The plan is, you wash your sheets and then put them right back on your bed. The stored set is for emergencies. Thus, you need no linen closet. Extra blankets and pillows will need a home somewhere else, in storage boxes under the bed or another likely place.

Before you start hatin’ on this, think about what a whole extra closet could do for your home organization. It’s just an idea…give it some thought.

Now then. Folding those pesky fitted sheets.

The Damsel enlisted a sprog to help with these pictures because there was just no way.

Hold the sheet lengthwise with a hand in each fitted corner.

Slip one fitted corner over the other.

Lay this down carefully, and do the same with the other two corners.

Now pick them up, two nested corners in each hand, looking to see that the sheet hanging between isn’t twisted. Slip one hand over the other, so that now all four corners are nested inside each other.

Lay the sheet on a flat surface, the four corners at the upper left. The corners will make the top and left edges lap over the main part of the sheet. Slide your left hand up into the four corners to make it square, and flatten and straighten the whole thing into a rectangle.

Now fold the top edge down a third, and then a third again,

Making a nice flat rectangle.

Fold one more time.

And you’re done! This sweet little bundle will take up a lot less space than the rolled-up-in-a-ball way.

Extra credit: Some people like to put both the top and fitted sheets inside one of the pillowcases for that bed, making a neat little packet that keeps everything together. (Put any other pillowcases for that bed inside too.)

Bonus points: There are a couple of good YouTube videos showing this method if the still pictures aren’t clear for you. Here’s one: [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Z5k9nWcuFc]