CLUTTER SPOTLIGHT:
Bed Sheets
Q: How many sheets do we really need?
It’s a simple question, really. How many sheets does a person need to own? A bit subjective, perhaps, depending on how many beds are in your house and your access to a washing machine.
So let’s get more specific: How many sheets do YOU own for YOUR bed? Does it feel like too many? Too little? Surely you’re wondering how I could write a blog post about such a trivial question, but it’s time I address this subject! For an aspiring minimalist who has limited closet space, (raises a stiff hand), sheets are one of those linens that just seem to take up a lot of room.
Now I own a motel – so you can bet I know how to fold sheets for optimal storage and crispness! But despite my first-rate sheet-folding abilities, the sheets in my closet eventually become disheveled and dusty. Why? It’s the same reason anything else does…. I have a favorite set or two and I rotate those as often as possible. As for the others sets? They basically just sit there collecting closet dust, waiting for the day I get so behind on laundry that I must reach for my ‘backup sets’.
There it is. The real reason I’ve kept so many extra sets of sheets. They were my backup plan. My “maybe-this-decluttering-and-minimizing-thing-won’t-work-out” plan. My failsafe for my inner messy, inner lazy, inner hoarder self.
My stockpile of sheets was my excuse. We all have them: excuses for why we’re not making more progress with our own decluttering journeys. Earlier this year, I got rid of a good handful of sheets and last night I “minimized” five more sets, leaving myself with a total of two sets of sheets.
It took an entire year for me to do this. To me, having only two sets of sheets means freedom from a needless decision of “which to swap out” on wash day. It means room to breathe in my linen closet, and motivation to keep up on the laundry.
Yes, two sets of sheets, as trivial as it is, is just the right number for me. How about you?