So my husband has a lot of ball caps. A whole big pile of ball caps in fact. He wears most of them and then of course he has some he never wears but could never part with either.
He has a bin in our front hallway closet for his caps but soon they started to spill over to the space beside.
(Just for the record he also has another stash in our bedroom closet but that’s another story)
Anyhoo I could have put my foot down, pouted, whined, pleaded with him to get rid of some of them but I decided not to do any of those things. Instead I simply added another bin and hid them all away.
I could have perhaps gone ahead and tossed a few myself, I’m almost certain he would never have missed them but that would not be respectful. They are his things after all and so what if he has a completely unhealthy attachment to his caps. I’m pretty sure he would say the same thing about me and all my hair supplies. So we live in harmony. Me with perfectly coiffed hair and him with his hair all covered up.
It’s all good.
Don’t fight the small stuff, it’s just not worth it.
PS: As you can see I also added some fun labels to my bins. They are part of Martha’s new line at Staples. I pretty much went crazy for it all and bought up a whole pile of the stuff the other day. You know, in the name of “research”. They called out to me, I couldn’t resist 🙂 The blue part is elastic so they were so easy to attach. Read my blog post about where I got my bins here.
Related post:
Thin hangers can double your hanging space
Elizabeth@ReadySetSimplify says
Thanks, Laura! This is perfect for me. My husband also has a love for caps. And let’s talk about T-shirts! But hey, I’ve got messes everywhere – but I’m working on that!
Cate says
I love the labels – and bins! Where did your bins come from?
I am finding the same old look everywhere I go in terms of containers, and love the flex and see thru-ness of the ones in the pic! (Not to mention the fact that I now want to go to Staples for the labels!!!) Thank you!
Laura says
A post about my bins:
https://orgjunkie.com/2007/01/its-a-beautiful-morning.html
Elisabeth says
AH! It’s so nice to know I’m not the only one that went crazy for Martha’s new line at Staples. I took my 2yo with me the first time I went to look at them so didn’t get enough time, but oh wow! I love the options!
Jamie Price says
I love how simple this was for you to overcome the excess without causing strife in the home. That is one thing that my family and I struggle with. It seems as though its all “the small stuff”. Infact, our big project for the weekend is going to be purging and reducing laundry clutter! I have a feeling the battles are about to begin….any suggestions would be WONDERFUL!
Cathy says
Caps and t shirts oh my. Two things that come but don’t go in our house as well. I too use a large container in the closet to contain my guys lids. I use canvas ones that I got from bed bath and beyond. So happy they continued the line past one season. Because I had to go get more. ( I hate when I buy an organizing container, only to find out the style was discontinued, makes keeping things neat much more challenging.)
Firesparx says
Oooh…my husband is the same way…. I have been able to convince him to get rid of clothing he doesn’t wear with the one exception of baseball hats; he holds on fiercely. I too don’t push him because he is so good about getting rid of other things I’ve recommended (like a Bart Simpson T-shirt from high school. Seriously.) I did however get him to agree to putting the hats he doesn’t wear but wants to keep for sentimental reasons into a “Keepsakes” box in the basement. I also ask him to donate any freebie hats he gets through work right away so that we don’t acquire more.
Teri says
I was so happy that you didn’t throw out any of his things on the sly. I’ve had that done to me and when you find out, you feel violated. To me, it is the same as stealing. Someone takes something that is not theirs. Doesn’t matter what you’ve done with it or why. It’s gone.
stacey @ www.gettingthroughtheday.com says
This is good, Laura! Thank you! It’s one thing for me to manage my home and aim to simplify and organize and it’s another thing to try and force my family to value the same things in the same way. This is encouraging.
melissa says
I 100 percent agree with the give and take coming from both ways. It’s better to just handle it in a stress free way rather then lose it over nothing.
Melissa says
Love the bins! Where did you get those?
Laura says
Here’s a post I did on my bins:
https://orgjunkie.com/2007/01/its-a-beautiful-morning.html
Elaine Enlightening says
I really like this idea. I am a freak’n organizer, too! I have some of those cloth bins with a place to put a card label, but they aren’t as deep as the ones you are using, so I think i like yours better. Do you have any tips on organizing a garage, when you are renting? I know built in is the best, but obviously not interested in investing in that, even if it’s detachable, because the next place might be set up differently. i need the floor space to be freed up.