Search:

Amber’s Home and Office Organizing Blog index

How much is enough?

Drawing the Line: when enough IS enough

A client this week asked me, so Amber, how many dinner plates are enough? How many coats in the coat closet is enough? She had heard of the theory that if only two coats fit on the coat hook in the hallway, just own two coats. If you have a five person family, just have five dinner plates and five glasses. I could see where she was going with this. Where’s the balance with the amount of stuff we own? How much is enough? If you are at a point where you have excessive amount of linens in your linen closet or excessive amounts of shoes, I could see why someone would try to simplify by just keeping five towels for five family members and just one pair of brown shoes, black shoes, and sandals.

I don’t think it’s that simple though. It’s more unrealistic than anything. I would assume a small portion of people do live like that, and if they do, then that’s just right for that family.  I would rather make decisions based on how much space one has and how often items are used.

1. How much space do you have? This varies greatly from apartment to condo or large six bedroom homes. Even if you have a six bedroom home, I’m not saying you should then be allowed fifteen coats in your large front closet. There’s a balance. If you’re in an apartment and hang your coats on a coat tree because you have no coat closet, then 2-3 coats are probably realistic and functional in that space. If you’re blessed with a large home, it doesn’t mean you should go wild. Don’t abuse the space. Keep it functional and simple to maintain. So perhaps two coats per season (if you’re in the Midwest) would suffice. Even so, eight coats might sound like a lot. And it will be if you have five family members in one closet. So again, it’s a balance. Think it through. 

2. How often are items used? I know I’m stuck on coats, but let’s go back to that example. You can only wear one coat at a time. If you have fifteen coats, that means you could go two weeks without wearing the same coat twice. Who does that? I think it’s a funny concept and I often smile to myself when I’m going through my things and clients things. I try to look at it logically and do the math. As a personal example, I cut down on bed sheets recently. I can only use one set at a time and I don’t change my bed sheets every day. So do I really need more than two sets per bed? No. So that’s what I’ve chosen to keep. Now in the kitchen I have four measuring cups. That sounds excessive but I cook almost every night and I don’t do dishes every single day. So I love that I have four measuring cups. It makes sense to me. 

I hope you’re seeing that it doesn’t have to be all or nothing. It doesn’t have to be one extreme or another. There’s always a balance and if you think about it enough, you’ll be able to answer the question: how much is enough? Only you can answer that. 

 

*Screen Name:
Question or comment:
This is a private message or question
	* denotes required field