DH & I are back to sharing a closet

[TVRodriguez]

Well, I say we're back to sharing one closet, but the truth is that we've never done it before. Our first apartment had two closets in the bedroom, and DH got the bigger one. When we moved to our house, which has only one smaller closet in each bedroom, I got the one in our room and he got the one in the other room. When the kids needed space, DH moved his clothes into an armoire in our room. I had expanded my wardrobe due to pregnancy and wasn't capable of downsizing until quite recently.

So I recently did a huge closet cleanout, and I realized that I only needed half my closet space. DH looked at his armoire and figured he could cut back also. So today he & I moved his remaining stuff into my, no, our closet. His armoire is completely empty. We will donate it somewhere. I'm psyched to free up the space in our bedroom!

Do you share a closet? Any issues with it?

[SteveinMN]

DW and I share one. No real issues; I expect her stuff to take more room than mine (it does but I have enough space for my pared-down wardrobe). We also share a highboy chest -- she has two drawers and I have three. That works out well, too.

[JenniferinFL]

We share a closet again. Until recently however, we had stuff in three different closets.. lol

We're working through "The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up". Got rid of so many clothes we neither liked or needed that there is plenty of room for it all in one closet. Our clothes, hung with airspace between them, fit in one third of the closet. So long as we keep discarding, it should be fine sharing a closet.

[ctg492]

I can't imagine 'sharing' closet, dresser or bathroom. Hubby loves clothes, organization and nothing on counters. I am the opposite.

[lessisbest]

The home we lived in for 23-years (where we raised our family), our shared closet was 4 ft. and 1/2 inch :0!. We still share a wall closet and we keep about 1/4-1/3 of it empty, but we have storage for off-season clothing in the basement. We did a good job designing the inside of the closet for our personal needs to maximize the space.

When we moved from a townhouse to our current home, we donated our valuable antique bedroom furniture to an organization for a fund raiser and purchased a small 5-drawer dresser tower and matching 3-drawer night stands from Aldi (the same furniture cost 4-times as much down the street at a retail furniture store). We were glad to have something that is lightweight and easy to move.

[goldensmom]

My husband and I share a closet. It is a 9 x 15 walk in closet. Lots of room with hanging and shelving units. Easy to see everything, room for the ironing board, full length mirror and sewing machine. We both have a dresser in the bedroom, mine is for lingerie and his is for memorabilia. I go through the closet twice a year to cull what we don't wear or need so it stays organized.

[catherine]

I've always shared a closet with DH. No big deal at all. I do store my off-season clothes in another closet that became empty when my kids left, but otherwise, I've never had my own closet, and that's not one of the things I particularly aspire to. When I watch HGTV, I'm also always surprised at how important double sinks are to people. I have one pedestal sink in our one full bath, and it has never caused any issues. We keep the sink area fairly neat--no proliferation of toiletries. We put in a nice, narrow tall cabinet in the bathroom when we took out the vanity, and I keep all toiletries in baskets in the cabinet, along with the towels. It works really well. I'm not a neat freak, but I really don't like bathroom counters cluttered with a lot of toiletries, which is why I opted for the small sink. You can't clutter up space that's not there.

[TxZen]

We don't because hubby's uniforms and gear take up about 2/3 of the walk in. I use the smaller closet up stairs now and it's only half full, maybe.

[ctg492]

We have had a few old and antique homes. A few mid century and a couple new. Very interesting the one built in 1869 and the one in 1890, no closets in an bedroom but the main. Which were built in to the attic wall. Both had small coat closets in the entrance. Mid century homes had small closets, but at least in all rooms. Then they seemed to progress into huge closets with dressing areas. Interesting on the amount of material possessions changed over a hundred plus years.

[sweetana3]

We have two 12 foot wide closets and still have no room. I have no idea why since we both seem to wear the same clothes all the time. Bad habit of just wearing what was last hung over the washing machine. I am waiting for the library to get that organizing book or audio tape but it still is not in.

[JaneV2.0]

I have tiny, dark, inaccessible closets. I use professional quality clothing racks. Not the best solution, but it works until I get reasonable accomodations. A rack would work for anyone.

[kib]

We have two 12 foot wide closets and still have no room. I have no idea why since we both seem to wear the same clothes all the time. Bad habit of just wearing what was last hung over the washing machine. I am waiting for the library to get that organizing book or audio tape but it still is not in.Lol. I can relate to this! I hang what I'm currently wearing on an over-the-door rack in my bathroom. My closet and dresser (in the guest room, DH's are in our bedroom) are both full, but 95% of the time I just take what's on the back of the door, throw it in the wash and put it back. So technically there are probably 500 items in my wardrobe, realistically about 25 - even though I swear I just purged. >8)

[Teacher Terry]

Attached to our bedroom was a very small bedroom (1950's home). So we turned that into a walk in closet so we have a ton of room for both of us. I also got rid of about 2/3 of my clothes after reading that book. My hubby is hanging onto his although he wears the same stuff. He just can't seem to part with stuff-ugh!

[TVRodriguez]

Our closet is 4 ft deep and 7 ft wide, with a rod on each side going 4 ft front to back, so we each have 4 ft of space and we can walk into the middle, just barely. We are using dressers as bedside tables since we got rid of the bedside tables we had. We have no coat closet bc Miami only gets cold enough for jackets a few times per year, but we each keep a fall and winter coat in our shared closet.

I like having fewer clothes than I once did. I am by no means a minimalist, but the more I give away, the more comfortable I am becoming.

Probably the thing that I most don't look forward to is DH'S dirt getting on the floor. He is a devoted shoe-in -the -house wearer, and I prefer clean floors. One of our ongoing disagreements. I manage by wearing slippers most of the time, but I will miss the clean floor in the closet.

[goldensmom]

He is a devoted shoe-in -the -house wearer, and I prefer clean floors. One of our ongoing disagreements. I manage by wearing slippers most of the time, but I will miss the clean floor in the closet.

My husband is also an staunch 'in-the-house-shoe-wearer' and I always take my shoes off when I come into the house. I either wear slippers or socks in the house and I cannot get it into my head why he has to wear shoes in the house. Okay, so he can wear shoes in the house but not in the newly carpeted living room but he does it anyhow. The floors are clean and warm so I don't get it other than he is not the one who cleans the floor so he doesn't care??

[kib]

I love it when other people ask me to remove my shoes in their house. It makes me feel at home. Something about someone wearing shoes in the house seems like they're not really staying; it's like wearing your coat.

[TVRodriguez]

My husband is also an staunch 'in-the-house-shoe-wearer' and I always take my shoes off when I come into the house. I either wear slippers or socks in the house and I cannot get it into my head why he has to wear shoes in the house. Okay, so he can wear shoes in the house but not in the newly carpeted living room but he does it anyhow. The floors are clean and warm so I don't get it other than he is not the one who cleans the floor so he doesn't care??

I grew up being told it was rude to remove your shoes in the house. My dad insisted that we all have our shoes on always. He wanted us to be ready for anything, especially work. He had heard too many times one of us kids saying that we "couldn't" do something (eg, take out garbage, mow lawn, shovel, whatever) bc we had to get our shoes on first. My dad grew up in a third world country where i)not everyone had shoes, so if you had them you wore them, ii) not every home had floors, it might only be packed dirt, and iii) even good homes had roofless courtyards inside the home, so you would want to wear shoes to the bathroom.

As for DH, he's also from the third world, but now it's that he spends much of his free time out in the yard. He likes to be able to come and go without stopping for shoe removal and replacement.

[Ultralight]

Well, I say we're back to sharing one closet, but the truth is that we've never done it before. Our first apartment had two closets in the bedroom, and DH got the bigger one. When we moved to our house, which has only one smaller closet in each bedroom, I got the one in our room and he got the one in the other room. When the kids needed space, DH moved his clothes into an armoire in our room. I had expanded my wardrobe due to pregnancy and wasn't capable of downsizing until quite recently.

So I recently did a huge closet cleanout, and I realized that I only needed half my closet space. DH looked at his armoire and figured he could cut back also. So today he & I moved his remaining stuff into my, no, our closet. His armoire is completely empty. We will donate it somewhere. I'm psyched to free up the space in our bedroom!

Do you share a closet? Any issues with it?

I used to share a closet with my ex when we were married and living in tiny apartments. We rarely had any issues. It was a good-sized closet. I think it can be done without trouble if you keep your wardrobe simple and don't get the idea you can use it as a mini-storage shed for everything and its brother. :)

Just as important: Congrats on the huge closet clean-out! :)

[TVRodriguez]

I used to share a closet with my ex when we were married and living in tiny apartments. We rarely had any issues. It was a good-sized closet. I think it can be done without trouble if you keep your wardrobe simple and don't get the idea you can use it as a mini-storage shed for everything and its brother. :)

Just as important: Congrats on the huge closet clean-out! :)

I agree--it's easier if you don't try to use it as storage for extra stuff. That's one reason why I choose not to move to a larger house--I would get more stuff just to fill it.

And thanks for the congrats. It does feel better to have less. I still have a lot, frankly.

[TVRodriguez]

DW and I share one. No real issues; I expect her stuff to take more room than mine (it does but I have enough space for my pared-down wardrobe). We also share a highboy chest -- she has two drawers and I have three. That works out well, too.

Wow, only one chest of drawers between you? We each still have one dresser, doubling as bedsides, plus a small one in the closet for DH's shorts and some other stuff. I could learn from you.

[TVRodriguez]

We share a closet again. Until recently however, we had stuff in three different closets.. lol

We're working through "The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up". Got rid of so many clothes we neither liked or needed that there is plenty of room for it all in one closet. Our clothes, hung with airspace between them, fit in one third of the closet. So long as we keep discarding, it should be fine sharing a closet.

That is impressive. I can't say that there is much airspace between clothes, although they're not jampacked.



I can't imagine 'sharing' closet, dresser or bathroom. Hubby loves clothes, organization and nothing on counters. I am the opposite.

Sounds like having your own space is best, then. Even though we share the closet, DH has made the back bathroom his own. All his toiletries are in there, while mine (and the kids' stuff) is in the front bathroom (no master bath here). And it's good, b/c his bathroom drives me nuts with all the crap he piles into the baskets I helpfully provided. Luckily he's better with clothes.


The home we lived in for 23-years (where we raised our family), our shared closet was 4 ft. and 1/2 inch :0!. We still share a wall closet and we keep about 1/4-1/3 of it empty, but we have storage for off-season clothing in the basement. We did a good job designing the inside of the closet for our personal needs to maximize the space.

When we moved from a townhouse to our current home, we donated our valuable antique bedroom furniture to an organization for a fund raiser and purchased a small 5-drawer dresser tower and matching 3-drawer night stands from Aldi (the same furniture cost 4-times as much down the street at a retail furniture store). We were glad to have something that is lightweight and easy to move.

Designing the space to fit your needs is important. And I had no idea that Aldi has furniture!


My husband and I share a closet. It is a 9 x 15 walk in closet. Lots of room with hanging and shelving units. Easy to see everything, room for the ironing board, full length mirror and sewing machine. We both have a dresser in the bedroom, mine is for lingerie and his is for memorabilia. I go through the closet twice a year to cull what we don't wear or need so it stays organized.

That sounds like a very comfortable space. Wow, 9x15. That is nearly the size of my office. I'm sitting in my office imagining hanging and shelving units. Hahaha.


I've always shared a closet with DH. No big deal at all. I do store my off-season clothes in another closet that became empty when my kids left, but otherwise, I've never had my own closet, and that's not one of the things I particularly aspire to. When I watch HGTV, I'm also always surprised at how important double sinks are to people. I have one pedestal sink in our one full bath, and it has never caused any issues. We keep the sink area fairly neat--no proliferation of toiletries. We put in a nice, narrow tall cabinet in the bathroom when we took out the vanity, and I keep all toiletries in baskets in the cabinet, along with the towels. It works really well. I'm not a neat freak, but I really don't like bathroom counters cluttered with a lot of toiletries, which is why I opted for the small sink. You can't clutter up space that's not there.

Again, another reason we have a smaller-ish home. I figure if we can manage in 1250 sq ft, there's no need for more space. This drives me to keep crap out. But on the sinks, well, I did the opposite--I love having a counter to rest my makeup bag or toothpaste on while using it. I do like to put away stuff so it remains clear of all but the kids' toothbrushes/paste/floss/stuff so they can reach that easily. All my stuff is in the cabinets.


We don't because hubby's uniforms and gear take up about 2/3 of the walk in. I use the smaller closet up stairs now and it's only half full, maybe.

Gear and uniforms sound like space-hogs. You are kind--I'd be saying that that stuff needs to be in the upstairs closet if at all possible! ;)


We have had a few old and antique homes. A few mid century and a couple new. Very interesting the one built in 1869 and the one in 1890, no closets in an bedroom but the main. Which were built in to the attic wall. Both had small coat closets in the entrance. Mid century homes had small closets, but at least in all rooms. Then they seemed to progress into huge closets with dressing areas. Interesting on the amount of material possessions changed over a hundred plus years.

Apt observation! I grew up in a 1930 home, sharing a room and closet with my sister. It had one rod, about 5 feet long left to right. Our 1952 home has larger closets (4x7), though not nearly as large as the closets in our former apartment, built in the 1970s. And friends with newer homes have closets that are truly impressive.


We have two 12 foot wide closets and still have no room. I have no idea why since we both seem to wear the same clothes all the time. Bad habit of just wearing what was last hung over the washing machine. I am waiting for the library to get that organizing book or audio tape but it still is not in.

If you are interested, don't wait! There is plenty of info on her method available immediately and free online. From youtube videos with summaries to interviews with her (text and video, with translations) to Amazon reviews and media reviews, I never even read the book!