Once upon a time I used to have a jam packed linen closet that was
so full I used the top shelf of my daughter's bedroom closet to store the rest
of our pillows, blankets and what have you.
Ridiculous, if you ask me. No one
in their right mind needed that much bedding.
Certainly not for a family of three.
You might say I've radically gone the other way now. Before we moved I sold nearly everything in a
yard sale and what didn't sell, amazingly that was very little, was hauled off
to the animal rescue thrift store. I
haven't regretted it at all.
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| See the lump? Every time I change my sheets my daughter's cat crawls inside my bed, stretches out and takes a nice long nap. Only time she does it. She just loves clean sheets. |
Living small in our RV for a little over a year taught me well
what I can live with and live without.
Best downsizing experience ever!
When it comes to bedding we all pretty much have the same thing:
A comforter. I have matching pillow shams.
A blanket
A good quality quilted mattress
cover
A set of coordinating
sheets
2 pillows. I also have the ones inside the shams.
An afghan
A throw
2 decorative pillows
On laundry day we strip our beds, wash our sheets and put them
right back on the bed. I also have a
spare set of bedding for company or emergencies, like the night my cat got sick
on my bed. If we have company I use the
pillows in my shams for our guests or the girls use one of their two.
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| Our linen closet stores very little linen now. |
In the two bathrooms I keep it pretty simple as well:
8 bath towels
8 wash clothes (split
between both rooms)
8 hand towels (split
between both rooms
A bath mat
I keep it pretty simple in the kitchen too:
6 dish towels
3 hanging dish towels (for
drying washed hands and as décor - usable art)
6 dish cloths
2 sets of potholders
8 place mats
16 cloth napkins
2 table cloths
Small assortment of cleaning rags
For a family of three it is plenty and we don't miss all those
extras. I certainly don't miss trying to
wash, keep up and organize all that stuff we used to have. Digging through the mountain to try and find
what you need is no fun, especially when it all comes crashing down on you.
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| My sweet enamelware bowl filled with cleaning rags. |
The nicest part about deciding to keep it simple is that I can
afford to spend a little extra and buy better quality. And get what I want instead of making due
with something cheaper. I love, love,
love my Egyptian cotton sheets.
How about you? Too much or
just the right amount?
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| We love our cloth napkins. |
My cats would always do that too :-) But they didn't nap, it was a game for them. I think I have about the right amount of towels/washclothes for us. Bedding we have 3 sheet sets. One flannel for when it's cold and two regular thin sets for the rest of the time. I just got a new set for Mother's Day to replace one which is completely falling apart at a corner, but I'll keep it put up as emergency back up. My 8 month old sleeps in the bed with us and drinks his morning and night bottle there too, so overflowing diapers, spit up, etc I'm glad to have extra to pop on instead of worrying about getting it washed and dried that second. My kitchen is where I need work done. Most of my stuff in there just needs replaced at this point.
ReplyDeleteIf my kids were babies or bed wetting age I'd want extra too. Middle of the night laundry is not my idea of a good time. :)
DeleteI guess I go a little over board when it comes to bed linens. Little One has 3 sets of twin size sheets, one is flannel the other two are regular. I have two sets of double size sheets for my bed one being flannel. Zero blankets but I do have approximately 8 quilts. A couple I got at an estate sale, the others were passed down to me from my Grandma. In the winter I like to "pile on" the quilts to keep us warm and we wrap up in them while on the sofa watching TV. I also use the more "well loved" quilts on the sofa to protect it from spots and cat hair.
ReplyDeleteWe're not excessive on towels, 4 hand and 4 bath towels, 10 wash clothes (a thrifty package deal) all my bath linens are white. Six kitchen towels and 4 pot holders, all are light colors. With only three closets in my house, I have limited storage space.
When I do laundry, I wash the kitchen linens with the light colored clothes and the bath linens with the white clothes. Doing this saves me time and money.
Thanks again for sharing your ideas. Have a great weekend.
Vanessa B
Sounds to me like you have a rather nice and practical inventory. :) My linens are all on the dark side, my preference. I prefer dark colors. Have yourself a great weekend as well Vanessa!
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