apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

If you got ride of stuff, why does the before closet look more empty then the after closet

What if you had visitors?

What if your child or someone had an accident?

Taking it down to 2 sets of sheets is too tight for us.We currently have 4 sets of the bamboo sheets.

I like to entertain, so I take that into account. Our loft is fairly storage-lacking, so I account for my husband and myself regularly, as well as one-two people staying on any given weekend. This means 3 sets of sheets and 4 sets of towels. The same math applies to dinner parties - our families both live in town and if everyone showed up we'd have 12 for dinner so I have 12 place settings. We use linen napkins and placemats - 12 each of those -- everything else is superfluous as far as linens and dishware goes.

http://embritadesign.blogspot.com

the bottom shelf appears to has less in the after shot.... but all of the other shelves appear to have a significant amount more...

I almost got rid of all my old extra-long twin college sheets. But then I moved, and I was very glad I still had them to wrap furniture with. But now I should give them away; I'm staying put for a while.

It looks like you added stuff, not decreased. I'm not really sure how you decreased from 4 sets of sheets to 2, then bought 2 new sets of sheets. Are you only limited to 2 sets, really? You can work off two and switch out with the other two. I'm not saying you did, but your closet looked like you had more than enough storage space instead of too little that you're complaining about, and that you just made up an excuse to get 2 sets of sheets that you wanted instead of keeping 4 sets of sheets you already had.

this reminds me of that great 20%/80% discovery: 20% of your clothes is worn 80% of the time.

thanks for this post. i'm gathering things to donate and i was hemming and hawing over an extra sheet set. it's just me in this apartment. two is enough! i shall give the third away after all.

also, i've been weeding out my towel collection as well. i've switched to just having bright white towels so am slowly getting rid of the colored ones. again, this post is a motivator to slip another of the colored towels in the donation box. thank you!

This post confuses me. The before photo does indeed look to more empty than the after, and I don't understand what the price of sheets has to do with how much space you have for them.

I like to hold on to old sheets and towels for projects around the house. Most of our old sheets are prefect drop clothes for painting projects and old towel are used for spills, painting, polishing silver, cleaning up cat messes, etc.

Maybe the before picture is pre-laundry and the after includes the laundry and organization.

I need at least 3 sets of sheets mainly because of visitors who might stay and sleep on my bed while I am out of town. 1 set for me to use before they arrive, 1 set for them, and 1 more set for me when I return.

Plus the constant rotation of use/wash can wear out linens pretty. Getting rid of extra stuff you don't use very often makes sense, but paring down essentials isn't very wise. If you're holding on to dozens of old, stained towels, then sure, give 'em away. But having multiples of nice linens isn't a hardship, either.

I have 2 queen sets for my own bed and 4 double sets (from my previous bed) that are for my guest futon and Aero bed. I have a gazillion pillow covers though, as I like to swap them out between sheet washings. I also have 8 or so bath towels, 2 which I regularly use and the rest for guests or for me in case I dont get around to washing them every week.

There is definitely some additional blankets, hand towels and a spare individual sheet or two that I could probably gather up and ditch!

(The before pic definitely looks more sparse, not really sure if the images match up with the text too well on this, but oh well.)

this post is nonsensical.

I'd have more room if I could just learn to fold sheets corrently to maximize space.

I have a hard time getting rid of sheets, as a renter it's one way I change up my room. I did get inspired to go through my clothes and get rid of a few things.

Also, how do you "jones" for sheets and not elaborate how they're better than the ones you had? Did you before this budget yourself on the basis of 4 sets of sheets per year? I'm not sure how you had 4 sets of sheets without realizing you only needed 2 and deny yourself sheets that you wanted because you had to spread the cost to 4. This is confusing.

Anyways, I am only one person with 35 drinking glasses, and 8 (formerly 14) coasters. I recently replaced my drinking glasses because I hated the old ones I'd bought in a hurry, and she gave me some really nice crystal glasses I don't use, so I bought a set of inexpensive workable everyday drinking glasses.

I don't have a yearly sheet set allowance, but I have increased from 2 to 3 sets recently. It's not very exciting, the color's off. I still like the old ones better. However you may feel about "practicality," changing the sheets or bedding is a decorating lift of color variety. People should feel free to have as many sets of bedding as they like and are comfortable to them. It's one of the only things in the house to see that really changes frequently, so why not allow the varieties?

uh...what?

geez. such haters. AT readers are tough.

wow such snarkiness.. anyway, here is an article that talks about the two-by-two rule.

http://www.organizemag.com/articles/small-spaces/small-space-linen-closet

personally i have two sets of sheets for my bed but only use one. (one is 800-thread count, the other 200--that's why). so i just wash them weekly and put them back on.

i also have only two bath towels and four hand towels. i don't need much and it's never created a problem.

i wish i had as much linen closet space as you!

It just looks neater but I don't see a huge difference.

I also have way too much sheet in my closet.

huh?

WE think this is totally not post worthy.

the photos are confusing and don't match the story. and i don't see what the big deal is in having (a whopping?) four sets of sheets, or a couple extra towels. you're just increasing your consumption by giving them away..only to buy more in the future when the others are ruined. besides, bedding is quite seasonal. cooler cottons and brighter colors in summer, warmer flannels and darker colors for winter. and towels...it's always good to have a few extra around, like when you have to wrap your cat up like a burritto to cut his claws, or when you leave the sunroof of the car open during a rain storm. :)

i guess the question really should be- do you use all 4 sets? if so, then keep them. if not, there is nothing wrong with donating them. i've realized that having spare sets of things you dont like as much is pointless- i only use the sheets i love the most, so i wash them and put them right back on the bed (having a washer in house helps). the rest never get used. so i'm donating them. and not buying others until my favorites wear out.
glasses and things used for parties are another matter- i have a ton of those.

before and after pix are confused? or just confusing?

This post was a good idea, but poorly executed. The big idea is that we all have too much crud. Decluttering can be achieved through elimination of redundancy. That's actually a good insight.

But this is just a start. I see beach towels and "everyday" towels in there. How about just one set of towels for beach and home? Elimination of specialization is another great way to rid the home of junk.

Maybe it takes a little reasoning, but she stated simply that if she cleared out stuff she didn't want or need in the closet, she could put in stuff she did want and need (to store there). The picture IMO shows exactly that. She organized and was able to put more into it. Isn't that what AT is all about?

Man, I just have one set of sheets and only two large bath towels. Although I also live alone.

I only clicked through to read this post because I was confused by the picture. Glad I'm not the only one :)

Three sets of sheets is minimal. In fact, three for anything which is in a rotation would be my bottom line because you can have one in use, one dirty and in the hamper, and then find there's an illness, accident or unexpected damage (from pets, for instance). If you only have two and one is dirty, you're in trouble if someone throws up on something in the middle of the night. And I say this because this is exactly what happened to me. I only had two of something I absolutely needed to have in use and my husband got very ill around 2:00 am and threw up on it while the other was in the laundry.

How much you need is dictated by your lifestyle and family construction. People with kids need more of everything. People like me who have to line dry everything (few people living in Japan have dryers) have to consider that rainy seasons keep them from doing laundry for a long time.

Generally, my rule is what I need 1 or 2 for clothing, linens, etc., but I won't toss out spare tea towels or washcloths (a plethora of which I'm given for free as gifts) just to prune my storage. The things which tend to get dirty or wear out through lots of use I keep around extras of and wait for attrition to prune them. Things like dishes, on the other hand, I keep what I need only considering I never have more than 2 guests at a time (and generally only have 1).

My bf is chronically ill and makes a lot of messes. We have multiple sheet sets for summer & winter (regular cotton vs. flannel), as well as a healthy supply of towels. Add in our dogs, and everything is in constant use.

I can't imagine doing laundry once a week. As a single working gal, time efficiency is more key than space. Since most of my linens come from thrift stores at a few bucks a pop, pick only the most fun and mix it up so I don't get bored of my bed. As others have said, you can repurpose worn sheets. I've seen cute rugs knit or sewn (even dresses) from worn sheets and towels. Maybe being a conscious consumer isn't getting rid of stuff so you can go out and buy more, but finding creative ways of reusing what you have.

I just wonder, do you buy new sheets every year? And what do you do with the old if you still only have 4 sets, or 2?

Less sheet sets means the same wear applied to less linen, which means your expensive sheet sets will wear out faster. Your act of closet space reclaimation could result in an episode of penny smart-pound foolish.

We have four sets of sheets - two lightweight for warm weather, two flannel for cold. That way, our bed is the appropriate level of cozyness for the weather, but we have extras in case of an accident (my dog has epilepsy and has peed on the bed twice during seizures).

What I'm confused by is if you replace your sheets every year, because that's what it sounds like. If so, that seems excessive to me, but I'm curious what the reasoning is.