Towels, Beach and Bathroom...

[kibba]

What is your towel situation? Matching? all one color? We have two bathrooms that use towels that are not the same color at all... One bathroom is natural colors, green mostly, the other bright teal and beachy looking.

I've tried doing just white but it seems so boring. I hate to have lots of extra towels. I'm thinking of getting matching towels for the bathrooms and just doing three towels for each bathroom. My one kiddo uses a bathrobe for showers, and we reuse, so I think three is a good number?

Do all your beach towels coordinate? Our beach towels are really old and I want to replace them. I found a towel I love, but it doesn't have any that coordinate with it. Should I just get two of the same towel? I want to keep the linen closet looking organized... all these colors makes me think it will make me dizzy... LOL

[JesKace]

None of my stuff really coordinates.  We only have one bathroom and I change out the decorations a few times a year.  For spring/summer I have all lighthouse decorations and a shower curtain that has different shades of blue stripes on it.  In the fall I have a fall shower curtain with reds,greens, and browns and fall like decorations.  In winter I have snowmen, and a winter shower curtain.  I tried to stay neutral with towels and things since I change the decor so often. I also picked a neutral color for the walls (country white).  I have all white/off white towels, they aren't all the same kind or even all look the same.  I usually buy them in pairs since when I need to replace one or two since buying a whole new set would be pricey.  I have light blue smaller towels that I use for my hair.  I was going to buy the whole set with bath towels and wash cloths but since I change out the decor for the seasons I figured the blue wouldn't match all the time.  I have tan hand towels, I got them cheap at Target and figured it was better than basic white, and they would hide stains a little better.  The kids use them to wipe their hands on after washing.  The kids have a bunch of random towels that they use after baths that are smaller for their size.

Our beach towels are all random, I pick a new one up if I need to and don't bother trying to match them.  I have a couple double size ones that have stripes on them and the kids have ones with characters on them (tinkerbell, spiderman) .  I pack them away at the end of summer with all our summer stuff, so I don't have to look at them all fall/winter/spring :)

[canadiangranola]

We have enough towels that we can go swimming (5) and shower (5) plus maybe 2 for guests. A couple of hand towels. Our kids are still young and we don't shower them every day. We reuse towels when we bathe until they need to be washed (a week or two?). Mostly blue, still from our wedding 11 yrs ago. I had a bunch more, but didn't want to store or move them. It only takes a couple hours to do a load in the laundry, so we are never more than 2 hours from clean towels...

Don't see the point in keeping extra around.

[stardogs]

I try to get towels that we can mix n match in each bath.  One bath we have solids in various shades of browns and two that are striped in matching browns (total of 4 body towels, 3 hand towels, and 2 washcloths) and are primarily for guest use. In our bath we use teal/yellow/orange solids and a few blue patterns that match the solids, all coordinating with the curtain (teal with surfing penguins lol).  We probably have 6 bath towels and an equal number of hand towels and have two of each at all times.  I like variety and that is plenty. ;)  Beach towels we have one for each person and they don't match (total of 2).

[*bejeweled*]

I buy towls that mix in each bathroom. They are all really bright (like yellows, oranges, and purples) and it's nice to rotate them to get different looks. I can't deal with finding matches.

Our curtain is a dark lavender and the rugs are white. It works somehow.

[pinksprklybarefoot]

We have one bathroom, and six people that use it. Currently we have a mish-mash of towels. Little does the family know *rubs hands together in a calculating way* but the Easter Bunny will be bringing each family member a set of towels in their color in their Easter baskets (Our family is color-coded - each person has a color. There is a basket in each color in the bathroom for each person to store toiletries. The towels will be a natural extension of that). So that will be the towel sitcho in the Wonderful house soon.

[Drummer's Wife]

We have a bunch of different towels.  That said, there are themes that match each bathroom/past bathroom sets, so when we have houseguests, I do leave them a stack of coordinating towels.  But, yeah - if you looked in the linen closet, you'd see a bunch of different colors.

Speaking of towels, why didn't anyone ever tell me about the goodness that is stretchy towels?  awwww.  I bought two the other day and love them so much.  I hope they stay soft and stretchy forever; didn't think I could find so much joy in a bath towel, but they really do make me happy. :)

[NikonMama]

All of the towels and mats in the master bathroom are white so I can bleach them (one of the two things I ever bleach...I get bad acne and need to get all of the bacteria out of the towels).  The towels and mats in my son's bathroom are navy blue or navy blue and white stripes.  Our beach/pool towels are a random mix and some are from when I was a little girl.  lol  We only have a few towels also.  One extra set for my husband and I (one body/hair towel each and a towel only for my face) and my son has a total of 2 towels.  We use towels for about a week or so before switching.  We have a TON of beach/pool towels, though. 

[IsaFrench]

one bathroom only and am moving towards color coding & each person gets two towels in their color + if it's Wednesday and I cannot remember when I last washed them, then I wash them on a Wednesday (but I try to wash them every 5 to 6 days usually)

for beach towels, currently we are using towels that someone no longer wanted and gave us; I like them because they are rather thin so it's not so heavy to carry

for swimming pool use 4 of us have home made towelling robes ... these corridors are draughty so I was very motivated to work out something for those of us who go most frequently !

[Alyantavid]

The upstairs bathroom has coordinating towels, they're all brown or tan.  And they match the room.  The downstairs bathroom (that only the boys use) has plain white towels.  We have 2 beach towels, one orange/yellow striped and one green striped.  The kids picked them out.  They "match" since they're the same towel, just different colors.

[RooRooDog]

My towels are white, so I can mix and match sets, and bleach them if they get too dirty.  I have maybe 8 bath towels, 8 hand towels, 4 washcloths, and 2 bathmats.  All white.  DH thinks this is SO boring... but we've lived in 4 houses in the past 7 years, and if I had bought towels to match the then-current bathroom, I would have a bunch of different unmatching towels.  So, that worked out well!  For pool towels, we have a couple of second-hand ones that don't match at all.  But we only swim in my mom's pool, so no one sees me in my cheetah towel and DH in a care bears one :)

[kibba]

Most of our towels now are actually currently white. I just think it looks so Blah hanging up on the towel rack to dry hands. lol

[justmeandmybrood]

We have 3 sets of hand towels/wash cloths/towels all in a nice tan (from Sam's)...each kiddo has a white towel with their names embroidered on them for their white/black/red Mickey Mouse bathroom...and we have a couple extra random sets for guests that we need to replace soon.  I think I will end up having the same color for DH and me to match our master bathroom, and then different colors for company so they do not get their towels confused with each other. 

Beach towels - kiddos have $5 Disney Store towels (one each) which will be replaced by nicer, embroidered towels for their b-days at some point.  Hubby and I have embroidered, thick towels we gave each other for our first  year of parenting (they say "Mom" and "Dad")  :)

[ChristyMarie]

My towels are all white.  I have two styles and have to put all the same style per bath.  I simply cannot mix them in the same room.  But that is my own issue.

I also have a bunch of older colored and beach towels I keep in my extra linens closet.  We use those outside, to clean up spills, etc.  I could not put them in with the regular towels.

ETA: In no way do I think this is the only *right* way to do it.  It is just my obsessive way. 

I actually like colored towels but love doing bathrooms where white is the accent color instead of the main color.  If that makes sense.

Edited by ChristyMarie - 2/15/11 at 4:00pm

[nola79]

Our bathroom has all white towels in the linen closet. White towels with green accent stripe hanging up.

Kids/guest bathroom has all colored towels. We have red, beige, and brown. The brown towels hang up on the rack.

No, our beach towels do not match. I have one striped, two I got in Hawaii, and two ds picked out.

[Vanessa]

We have colored towels that match our bathroom. We tried all white  a few years ago, but it didn't really work for me. I like colored towels since we have white walls (military housing and I don't want to paint). My kids each have an assigned color. They actually each have a special hooded towel which hangs on the wall that they use most of the time, too.

For beach towels, ours don't match each other. To  free up space, I actually keep them in a bin in our garage by the rest of our beach stuff. I wash them at the beginning of the season, and then as we use them. This works because our garage is right off the laundry room, and we just toss that bin in the car when we head to the beach or pool. The other time we use them is when playing with water toys in the yard, so it's convenient to keep them in the garage then, too.

[goinggreengirl]

Ours don't coordinate- we have one bathroom. We have four deep red towels that we had registered for when we got married. Then we have about 4 each of off white and light green that we bought on sale because we needed light colored towels for the home birth. And a very odd assortment of hand towels and wash clothes. Someday they may all match. But I'm not too worried about.

[LeighPF]

We have one bathroom and three sets of bathroom towels. Two (one green, one tan, both with white hair towels) alternate every week and the third is for guests, all from the same line. I stack a full set (two big, one hair, one hand) in the linen closet and it looks good. Half of our beach towels coordinate. I like the different colours to see that they got changed this week. We need new towels soonish and I am thinking of going for all the same (blue & white?) except for guests. We will need more too as our family gets bigger.

[BetsyS]

We have mostly white towels, and a few dark brown chocolate towels that are beautiful, but I'm struggling to *love* in our new house (that we've been in since October..LOL).  So, mostly, we use white.  It's what we got when we got married, and the white has proven very practical over the years. 

Our beach/pool towels don't match.  One from dh's childhood, one from a shower present at our wedding, one I picked up at Target.  They are all colorful and fun.

[mkksmom]

I really want to buy 2 towels in a certain color per person now that I have 2 kids. I have white, sage green or a light blue, and I used to have a set of decorative towels to hang in each bathroom to match the decor. Now, we just hang our bath towels and I use hand towels inthe powder room, which is used for hand-washing a lot. It's easier to switch them out and keep them clean.