Thursday’s Workwear Report: Fine-Rib Knit Cardigan
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Our daily workwear reports suggest one piece of work-appropriate attire in a range of prices.
J.Crew is really bringing back the twinsets that dominated my wardrobe from 2007 to 2011 and I’m not mad about it. This updated version is made from a fine-knit ribbed fabric that looks lightweight enough for spring and summer.
I’m loving this striped version, but it’s also available in four solid colors.
The sweater is $39.50-$69.50 at J.Crew and comes in sizes XXS-3X.
Looking for more cardigan options? Some of our favorite classic cardigans for the office as of 2025 include those below. Check Talbots and J.Crew Factory if you're looking for plus sizes, and Quince if you're on a budget. Veronica Beard and Brooks Brothers both keep a bunch of options in stock. Two other reader favorites: Anthropologie and Sézane.
Sales of note for 5/23/25:
- Nordstrom – The Half-Yearly Sale has begun! See our full roundup here. Lots of markdowns on AGL (50%!), Weitzman, Tumi, Frank & Eileen, Zella, Natori, Cole Haan, Boss, Theory, Reiss (coats), Vince, Eileen Fisher, Spanx, and Frame (denim and silk blouses)
- Nordstrom Rack – Extra 25% off all clearance (all sales final). Also — they have refurbished Dyson hairdryers down to $199-$240 (instead of $400+)
- Ann Taylor – 40% off + extra 15% off your purchase
- Banana Republic Factory – 50%-70% off everything + extra 25% off
- Boden – 25% off everything with code
- Eloquii – Steals starting at $19 + up to 50% off everything else
- J.Crew – Summer kickoff event, up to 50% off 1000s of styles — and extra 50% off sale styles
- J.Crew Factory – Up to 70% off everything + extra 25% off $125+
- M.M.LaFleur – Memorial Day Weekend Sale, 30-50% off! Try code CORPORETTE15 for 15% off.
- Rothy's – 30% off everything
- Spanx – Free shipping on everything
- Talbots – 40% off one item and 30% off your purchase
I love a good Jackie and just pulled out some of mine that I’ve had for 15-20 years now — my earliest from 2004-2005 really held up well with careful laundry, while the “last in” purchases of circa 2012-2013 didn’t. No surprise there, I think.
But I really do not like the fabric on this new version. The fine rib reads more casual and cheap to me, like an Aeropostale cami that I layered in high school, than the lovely smooth weave of the earlier version.
I feel like I came of age with Jackie + #2 Pencil skirt in wool (never cotton!) + maple sugar patent wedges and long side-part hair.
Ha, same. Still have the Jackies and pencil skirts (the patent wedges were not replaced).
Ugh, I loved this look and kind of miss it. I could never get into the huge bubble necklaces, though.
That was my work uniform, but I also had the #2 in cotton for summer.
When are wedges going to make a comeback! I still have a couple of pairs of Cole Haan ones for when I wanted to look polished but had a lot of walking to do.
Seriously, these were my go-to for about 10 years.
Can we talk for a minute about imposter syndrome? Is it all in our heads or is there a bit of something real at its core? Like you can be a nurse if you went to any community college or nursing program and passed the NCLEX exam. Ditto CPAs (but Big 4 don’t hire from all schools). But law schools? I was treated as such a village idiot in my BigLaw summer program (I was there for tax, which is my background, but I am solid State U and not a SCT clerk and my parents went to college but they are a teacher and a grocery chain middle manager). I just feel some days like maybe I’m not meant to be here. It’s the same degree but we aren’t the same. I just need to pay off law school (vs paying it off with my scotus clerkship bonus, if those people even had loans).
Huh? I worked in Big Law for years and never even met anyone with a SCOTUS clerkship. Those people are incredibly rare even in the most prestigious firms. Acting like it’s some sort of standard for big law associates is wild. I also knew plenty of attorneys with state school degrees, although that may be more region- and firm-dependent. Pretty much everyone, save for a few trust fund kids, is there to pay off loans. Nothing about your background is weird.
Come to DC, my friend. They not like us.
Yeah, and the elitism and myopic world view has really worked out well for DC!
I was in DC biglaw for 7 years, and only knew 2 associates (and a few partners) who were scotus clerks. Lots of people had appellate clerkships, since I was at a firm with a good appellate practice. But honestly, many of those people sucked at district court litigation. It’s a very different skill set
Yeah even in DC it’s not that common!
In flyover country, it’s not weird. I get how it feels weird though if you aren’t from a city. In big cities, people seem to go into the family business the way teachers, contractors, and hair stylists do, but in fancy zip codes it looks like Country Day -> SLAC -> Ivy -> BigLaw, Big Consulting, etc.
Yes, to the fancy zip codes, but they simultaneously go into the family business via a seat on the board of the bank that grandfather (or great- or great-great-) founded, with the move to chairing that board once they move to of counsel with the firm. Oh, and they bring in all the bank’s business, so of course they make partner.
A firm with an appellate litigation practice that has a SCT practice will have clerkship bonuses for SCT clerks that are maybe a year’s salary. There is a hot market for the clerks who roll off each year and when I was at a firm like that, the definitely didn’t break bread with me.
OTOH only plaintiffs PI attorneys with who knows what pedigree but clearly masters at the business side of their craft seem to do well enough to have their own jets, so there’s that.
Watch this. It’s a graduation speech from Smith College a few years ago, and it’s interesting and great (and about this topic, not a random speech!)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BoHDDgeQtlc
Thank you that was a fabulous speech! Really enjoyed listening.
Differences in ability, wealth, opportunities, family background, etc. are real and concrete. They are not in your head.
Your interpretation of those differences (“I don’t belong here”) is the part that’s in your head. You could very well interpret it differently: “Therefore, I”m extra valuable because I bring a perspective those people don’t have.” Or even, “This is my chance to find out what I’m made of and succeed in a whole different way, by being in a setting that’s so different from where I came from.”
Idk about the I don’t belong here -part. That could be in her head, but could also be because of how others treat her. In my experience, that’s what DEI is all about from the employer side. Better understanding when there are arbitrary norms that exclude people, and try to shape the environment for minimizing things like imposter feelings to maximize productivity (also called inclusion).
Especially when there are small teams, it is so important that you use your voice and not give in to imposter syndrome. If you don’t share your perspective, no one else will.
(I still remember the time I was a fairly junior analyst at my federal agency and had an argument with an attorney about how real-world company operations did not work the way the archaic regulations thought they would. I found out later that day that I had been arguing with a former SCOTUS clerk, ha. We each had a valuable perspective.)
I came from a lower-middle class, blue collar family. I have my bachelor’s from the local state U in an unrelated field to my very bougie PE career, and deal with imposter syndrome. For me, a lot of the feeling is due to my own self confidence issues and has gotten much better as I work on that. Another thing that helps is when I really get to know my colleagues and peers, especially the ones with ritzy backgrounds and advanced Ivy degrees. I realize much of their polished veneer is just that – a facade. They are happy to explain concepts when I ask about them, but they also struggle to describe in layman’s terms the alphabet soup acronyms they confidently use in daily parlance. I realize they really aren’t any smarter or better than me, just exposed to different things and often more comfortable not knowing all the nuance. The playing field is not as uneven as it seems.
Agree. The greatest thing I ever did for my imposter syndrome was, ironically, go to Harvard Law School. There are some real dum dums there. It made me realize that a ritzy background (including Ivy league education) is absolutely not synonymous with talent.
You need to separate intellectual chops from people from well-off backgrounds, because they’re different issues.
Yes, there is a “set” in Biglaw that speaks that posh language, having grown up in private schools and expensive vacations and golf lessons, and trying to pretend that you grew up like that is a fool’s errand. But there are also people who didn’t! If your goal is to work hard for a few years, pay off your loans, and go in-house, then just be friendly with everyone and don’t stress about it.
My advice if you wanted to make partner would be somewhat different, because that world (like knowing exactly which country club membership means what thing) would be more important for business development.
PS – if your goal is going in-house I would suggest looking for experience beyond tax work to bolster your resume. Not that many companies have such a volume of tax problems to need to actually hire a tax SME attorney – or many of them, even if they need one. A deal lawyer who comes with a bonus of tax expertise? Really marketable.
Agree on this. Nothing helped me last as long as moving from tax to tax-adjacent did.
You might also want to explore different firms—the culture can vary widely even between the big ones. It could also be regional, as someone else mentioned. My west coast based firm didn’t have that feel at all, whereas the firm I summered at (based on east coast) was a little more like you describe, although not nearly as extreme. I worked at both in the same west coast city. Totally anecdotal, but there you go!
When I was at a DC firm, there was a rumor that when they hired laterals, even as partners with their own book, they still wanted your LSAT score. I can’t recall if it was Latham (I think it was a California-headquartered firm) or somewhere else, but I had the impression that some firms cared about pedigree to a wild extreme. IDK if maybe they just know their clients well enough to know it matters to them. Maybe it’s because there are too many lawyers that you can sort in this manner and still have some quality people. I also recall from law school that there were some BigLaw firms founded by Jewish lawyers because they weren’t wanted as such at other firms. But I got the message: we want our kind, not your kind. The rest of the US has felt more open to hard workers who do good work. DC is a weird bubble in some ways.
The firms founded by Jews who couldn’t get jobs at other firms are now overwhelmingly non-Jewish. Blaming diversity and inclusion issues on a group that was themselves excluded is weird.
I don’t think it is the point here, more that BigLaw, at least in some places, has a history of being very insular. In my big high-growth city, the older partners still mention in recruiting evaluations if someone is from “a good local family.” So there is that. I’m a kid from nowhere special and at least I know I earned my seat.
I’m curious as to what 8:57am Anonymous means by this:
“But I got the message: we want our kind, not your kind. The rest of the US has felt more open to hard workers who do good work”
It’s Gibson Dunn
I knew Gibson was super picky about grades (even for laterals 10+ years out of law school!) but this is the first I’ve heard about asking for an lsat score. I got a lateral offer there as a fifth year associate and no one asked me for any test scores. That was quite a while ago though.
You can always go to therapy
Therapy can be especially hit or miss when it comes to social mobility. Therapists who are themselves from more modest backgrounds or whose practices are accessible to people of more modest means may be more clued in.
It’s not about social mobility. It’s about confidence. And therapy can help
You reduce anxiety and build confidence.
Yeah, no, the world exists outside of our minds. Extremely privileged people are prone to forgetting this because the proportion of their problems that is all of their own making is higher. CBT is a great fit if someone is creating their own problems because of the way they think.
But it’s gaslighting to tell people who genuinely are from a different background that they’re encountering no real friction and they’re just imagining things. Therapy can be still helpful in deciding what to do about it, but if “it’s all in your head” is factually inaccurate, then spending a lot of time working on “anxiety” and “confidence” can be counterproductive. People can talk themselves into acting more confident, but if they’re pretending, they’re still going to feel insecure. A better understanding of reality and what we want is a more secure foundation for real confidence.
10:00 a.m. is spot-on. This extends to all situational challenges. Everyone here is so quick to jump to “get therapy and take meds” whenever a poster describes a situation that is objectively stressful and outside of her control. The solution is to fix the external problem, get out of the situation, or if neither of those is possible then to acknowledge that the situation is in fact unacceptable and come up with some reasonable non-pharmaceutical coping mechanisms, not to gaslight people into blaming themselves for their stress.
+1, I used to think all therapy was rich person BS based on the two therapists I had tried that did CBT. After Some Events, I ended up in the office of a ACT/DBT therapist that specializes in treating people with chronic illness. Still didn’t solve everything, but I realized that a lot of therapists are taught to convince people that their problems are all in their heads, which is great if that’s true but sucks if it’s not.
She’s describing being an insecure tax lawyer. She can pout about not being a Kennedy or she can try and get over it.
Problems being real does not mean a patient is incapable of meeting them head on, and therapy is great for learning those skills.
I promise you therapy is still really useful for cancer patients, for example.
There are different therapeutic modalities. A cancer patient may be getting some DBT or ACT, or some CBT for beliefs or behaviors surrounding treatment, but nobody’s saying “you just think you have cancer because of your anxiety.”
This poster won’t. There have been variations on this theme for YEARS from her now.
Or maybe generations of summer associates face similar issues year after year because law is a very slow-to-change profession?
You are thinking way too hard about this. The basic fact is that no summer associate at any firm, large or small, knows much of anything about how to practice law and the attorneys at the firm all know this from past experience. You, along with all the other summer associates, are still in the learning phase. Just learn, try to avoid mistakes, own mistakes when you do make them, and don’t worry about it.
The legal profession is obsessed with pedigree for two reasons:
1. Lazy hiring. Firms rely on the law school admissions process for pre-screening of candidates.
2. Firms want connections that will bring in business.
I attended a good but not top 10 public law school because it was within driving distance of my home and gave me a scholarship. My first semester, a professor told me in all seriousness that I really needed to transfer to Yale. I actually might have been able to get into Yale, but I couldn’t uproot my family or incur that kind of debt, so my career possibilities were forever limited.
Can you reframe it in your mind? You absolutely belong there – in fact, you took the stairs when others had an elevator.
When I was a teenager, my family moved from the town where I was born to a city because of my father’s job. I went to private school in the new city after a lifetime in (really good) public schools, and I was shocked at the wealth and privilege there. I sometimes felt very out of place, but I felt better when I framed it as a cultural anthropology study. It helped that I had strong ties to my old friends, which may be hard for you in big law.
Every summer is treated like the village idiot at many firms, because frankly, every summer is one.
Big Law (the top tier) is a lot of money disguised as merit. They’re snobby about pedigree because they have to be – it’s all they have. Don’t worry about it. It’s a small slice of the pie.
I feel like this is 1000% true.
You can let it get to you, or you can realize y’all have the same job now.
I mean this gently, but it’s just something that you have to ignore. I also suffer from it — I’m not from a fancy background, and I’m a woman and a POC. And I sympathize with the sense that there can be external forces that reinforce it. I’ve been in many, many situations where it’s been clear that someone isn’t really seeing me for who I am. But confidence is as much as a mindset as anything else, and it can be self-destructive to spend too much time worrying about others’ perception of you (and your own perception of yourself). You just kind of have to forge ahead.
Are you comfortable in a full-size bed with another person?
We have a guest bedroom with a full-size bed in it. I always thought that was standard for in-home guest rooms for two people, but recently a friend stayed over and her husband slept on the floor because they said the bed was too small. They sleep in a queen at home, which is not that much wider than a full and they are average size people. We’re not planning to change the bed, so this is just theorhetical for me, but if you spend the night at a friend’s house with your partner, would you be comfortable in a full or would you want a second option for one of you (twin mattress on the floor for example)?
As a guest bed it is fine and I would never dream of complaining
It’s what I have is my guest bed, but no, I would not be terribly comfortable with my partner in that size bed anymore. It’s even a little small for me. I’m not sure I would *tell* you if I slept on the floor, but if it was more than a couple of nights, I might be tempted to do that.
+1. It is totally fine if that is what you have room for in your guest room, but no, I am not comfortable sleeping with another person in a full size bed.
+2. It’s fine if that’s what your space can fit. I always like to very explicitly discuss the guest sleeping arrangements, so that every guest can make an informed choice (guest bed or hotel).
I would feel cramped on a full bed too, so I’d probably opt for a hotel.
+1 my husband and I cannot share a full bed. A queen is the smallest bed we can comfortably share; a king is better. I wouldn’t complain to the host though. That’s so rude!!
It’s what my boyfriend and I sleep on at home, and it’s fine. Your friends should have kept their opinions to themselves.
A full-sized bed is not really large enough for two adults. A queen has a lot more space, and the extra length makes a big difference in comfort. But a full-sized bed is also pretty standard for a guest room, and guests normally just make it work and avoid complaining.
this is exactly my take as well
I spent a decade sharing a full bed with my husband, but we upgraded to a queen when it was time to replace the mattress. Going back to full-size is not comfortable, especially in guest rooms where the mattress is often not the best quality (so you can really feel your partner’s every twitch).
We’ll do it for 1-2 night stays but if longer than that we’d stay in a hotel rather than a guest room with a full.
My husband and I have a queen bed at home, and when we go to my family, we share a full bed. It is fine – the primary issue is that my family keeps the house very warm in the winter and don’t have A/C in the summer. So the fact that we sleep closer AND it is hot is a problem. I think if it was not so warm, we would be fine with the size of the bed.
I could have written this comment. The full is fine if it’s cold, but not at the temps my in laws keep the house at.
Oh that’s so rude they complained. If you want more space, go to a hotel. I’m pleasantly plump with long limbs, my husband is tall and skinny and we sleep in a double without any difficulty. However, we are cuddlers and often sleep spooned. We normally snuggle with our 7 year old first thing, and sometimes someone gets an elbow but it’s fine.
We did a house swap and the people had this truly enormous bed, and it was nice, but we only slept in half of it.
Did the friend complain? Or did Op ask how they slept and they told her. I wouldn’t take that as complaining.
“I slept fine, thanks” is the correct response to that question when you’re being hosted in someone’s house. Stay in a hotel next time for comfort if you prefer, but it’s rude to tell your host you slept poorly even if true.
That is absolutely complaining, lol.
Eh, I don’t think so. If someone is close enough to me to sleep in my house, it would take it as an honest answer and not a complaint. I’d also get a queen bed if I wanted guests in the future tho. Our guest room has a king.
My house wasn’t designed for these bed sizes; they’d have to climb into the room if I got a king sized lol.
Same! We have a single with a pop up… it’s not the most comfortable thing in the world but it’s all that will fit in the tiny bedroom/office.
You might be surprised, my house was built in the 1920s and we have a king in the master and queen in the guest room and they both fit just fine.
I’m in no way surprised that a surviving house from the 1920s can fit a giant bed.
A typical surviving house from the 1920s =/= a typical surviving house from the 1940s, even if they’re both old.
When we first moved in we had a king in the master and couldn’t fully open drawers and doors. The other rooms are smaller yet.
I’m comfortable in a full size guest bed with a romantic partner, but not sharing with a friend.
I think whether people in general would be able to sleep depends on their sleeping style, heat preference or snoring issues. It could also be about bed placement, if one partner needs to be able to get up during the night and the bed is placed along a wall, or about needing separate duvets. I prefer two twin duvets rather than one big one.
Yeah, I think the setup is just as important as the mattress size. Adults prefer a bed with space to exit and a nightstand on both sides, an outlet to charge their phone, extra blankets and pillows that will meet anyone’s preferences…. I could live with a full mattress if everything else is comfortable. But I wouldn’t be happy if this is a mattress shoved against a wall with minimal bedding like a 22 year old dude’s first apartment. And for the love of god make sure the bedroom has a mirror.
Oh, I never thought of this. Mirror on top of dresser? Or like a full-length or head-to-torso bigger size?
Ideally full length but any mirror is better than none. Something that lets you put in your contacts, see if you look like a mess in the morning, maybe apply a tiny bit of makeup before walking down the hall
Wouldn’t love it but it would be fine and I’d never complain. FWIW, that friend should see what passes as a two-person tent these days. It is smaller than a twin mattress it seems.
My SIL is like this except she even complains about having to share a queen size bed with her husband!!
I’m a very light sleeper and dislike sharing a bed of any size with anyone, even my cats, so they get shut out and my husband and I have separate bedrooms. But if I’m going to stay at someone else’s house, I certainly don’t expect them to have room for a queen bed. If I’m that picky, I should pay for a hotel. And for me, it’s less about the bed size than about the presence of anything that moves or makes noise. Mattress type does make a difference, though, in terms of how much motion there is.
I would not and I would stay in a hotel instead. That’s a bed for one not two.
Nope. We have a king and now even a queen seems too small.
Ditto
+1 – a king sized bed is a non-negotiable for me as my husband flails and thrashes in his sleep. Would I ever say this to a host though? Not in a million years – either pay for a hotel or thank your host for their hospitality.
Same
Yep. Early on in dating my 6’ husband I upgraded my bed from a full to a king. He felt a little weird about me doing it “for him”, but got over that the first night I had it. We haven’t looked back since.
Would you kvetch about it to a friend who was hosting you, though?
I sleep with my husband in a full bed at my brother’s house and it’s fine, if not optimal.
Your friend was super rude to complain. If they don’t like it, there are plenty of hotels available.
You’re correct that a double bed is standard for an in-home guest room. My mom only recently upgraded to queen beds in her guest rooms, and she has money to burn. Agree with the others that your friend is super rude.
But also, most Americans wouldn’t be thrilled about a double. It seems like double beds might be more standard in Europe. We’re so spoiled with big beds here. If DH and I get stuck with a hotel room with two doubles instead of a king, we’re sleeping in separate beds. I’m also a very active sleeper though and poor DH gets bopped with pillows even in our Cali King at home.
The cost difference between a double and a queen or even a king is not that significant. I’m guessing space is a bigger issue for most people than cost? We have a king bed in our guest room because I feel very strongly about sleeping in a king bed myself but it does kind of fill the whole room and we have a large-ish single family house.
It’s about space and also about the fact that most people are not purchasing a new bed for the guest room. You are using one that your parents gave you when they downsized or one that belonged to your kids.
lol, no, I’ve furnished my guest room without hand me downs. This isn’t standard.
Yeah I’m not buying a new bed for my guest room, at least not for a lot of years. My current guest room bed is my (queen) bed from before DH and I moved in together. It’s in good condition, though it is a very soft mattress and I know not everyone loves that. I’ll buy a new mattress when that one wears out… in ~10 years. The bed itself is a beautiful four post bed and I plan to buy a new one never.
I would find that smaller bed > floor for comfort. Maybe if you had plush carpet though?
My guest bed is a queen and I can tell some guests don’t love it and would perfer a king, but none have been outright rude enough to say that. I have an old house though so I physically could not fit a king in the room.
Your friend is a bad guest! You are not a bad host.
I’m always banging on about this topic, but this is lifestyle creep. Many people three generations ago sleep in double beds their whole life…my MIL and FIL still sleep in one! Just look at the size of bedrooms in 1920s-1950s houses. It’s amazing to me that guests can’t deal with less-than-ideal comfort for a night or two, for free. I guess they should be glad they aren’t staying at my house, where the choices are a full-size sleep sofa or an air mattress!
People are a lot larger – both taller and fatter – than they were back then.
And this isn’t what’s meant by “lifestyle creep” which is really focused on finances and spending at a level that requires a higher and higher income. The cost of a full bed and the cost of a queen bed are not significantly different and its not an ongoing expense. Nobody is staying at a job they hate because they need to finish paying off their queen bed.
People are saying they would pay for a hotel rather than sleep in a full bed (for free). Maybe if you’re a family of four, but if you are two people?! Recasting something as a need that’s really a want is lifestyle creep
Just give it a few years babe and you’ll understand how important a good night’s sleep is. There’s a reason twenty somethings crash on couches and adults don’t.
I’m nearly forty with four kids and will be sharing a double with two of them when we travel for Memorial Day…oh, and I haven’t slept through the night in a decade with all these kids!
Being this precious about your bed when you’re staying somewhere for free is absolutely lifestyle creep. If you are too tall and fat for a full, get a hotel!
yeah that’s what we’re all saying. Complaining about it like the OP’s guests did is the issue, not the desire to sleep in a bigger bed. Many of us thankfully have the means to choose to pay for a hotel to get a comfortable sleep.
Look at bedroom sizes. Even though master bedroom sizes can be huge, secondary bedrooms often don’t accommodate anything larger than a full bed easily. How often do I see rooms where there is a queen wedged against a wall. IDK how you change sheets then (or have to deal with a couple where the wall person might need to get up overnight or need a tissue, etc.). Houses think you need a scaled-to-the room bed, which often can’t be a queen or larger.
Our guest room only fits a full. If you tried to squeeze in a queen the door wouldn’t open.
I agree. My parents and grandparents (all Dutch – meaning unusually tall/large people) all sleep in double beds; it’s what was normal when they got married so they are used to it. Guen Bradbury has a great article about being a “picky sleeper” (https://guenbradbury.substack.com/p/sleeping-like-a-log). I look at picky sleepers the same way I look at picky (adult) eaters – like, I will accommodate you and be gracious about it but I will privately think of you as a little bit self-centered and high-maintenance.
Right? If a guest other than my elderly grandma were to complain about the free accommodations they have at my house, I would offer them my phone so they could call and book themselves a hotel for the next night.
Now if they were to tell me about an actual problem, like the bed frame broke or my kids stuffed legos under the sheets, I would apologize and fix the issue.
Bad guests. We’ve slept in a double (smaller than a full) as guests and never said anything to the host. Full size is more than fine for a night or two.
Double and full are different names for the same size. Are you thinking of the antique three-quarter size? It’s in between full/double and twin.
If you can afford to complain about the bedroom in a friend’s home (queen, full, or twin), you can afford to find a hotel!
Nope, but we can do it for a night. I’m 5’10 and my husband is 6’2. We had a queen and it was fine but we prefer our king. We have 3 kids. Two have doubles and one has a queen (DH and my old one). When we have couples as company we offer them my daughter’s room. They can also choose to stay in our basement suite which has a really comfy pull out queen and a full bathroom. Usually people choose the basement.
Everyone in my house has slept on the basement pull out and it’s the go to bed of choice for sleepovers.
Depends — is he very hot? And not in the “does he sleep hot?” sense.
Nope. We have a king, and so when we travel and stay in a queen even that feels small, but doable. We definitely could not both fit comfortably in a full. But I would never complain about it as a guest, that’s just rude.
Most people are comfortable with whatever they are used to at home. That is usually larger than a full sized bed.
That being said, I also have a full size bed in my guest room, and that is definitely common.
I also have a “nicer” inflatable mattress, as sometimes relatives with a child come to visit. But I have that available for others, just in case.
You did just find. Your friends were a tiny bit lame for making you feel bad. Do NOT buy a new Queen sized bed just for guests.
Sort of shocked by the responses. My husband and I sleep on a full every night and I’m average US woman sized and he’s a bit taller than average for US men. I had no idea we were so out of the norm. We’ve shared a twin at times and that’s definitely not comfortable, but I definitely thought a full was still the standard for most middle class or UMC couples.
Also shocked. I’m short and my husband was a giant – we slept in a full when we visited my parents with no issue. That full had been my parents’ bed until they got a queen when they’d been married about 35 years.
My boyfriend has a double bed and we sleep just fine. I was concerned at first but now I sleep great at his place and I kind of like the closeness. He is a small person and I am short but overweight. If we were both larger, it might be more of an issue. But for us, even with a dog or two, it is fine. I can’t imagine telling a host my partner slept on the floor because of a double bed.
I don’t keep a permanent guest bed in my home. Guests can sleep on the air mattress available or stay in a hotel. I just wouldn’t choose to stay in someone else’s home and have opinions about their sleeping arrangements. That’s what a hotel is for.
My DH and I can sleep fine in a full. I actually think it’s kinda tacky to require oversized furniture.
Today some granola fell on my counter and I swept it up and ate it and thought of this group. I do think its makes a difference that it was dry and not wet/sticky like jam.
I was one who thought re-jarring the jam was gross, but am 100% on board with this move!
Co-sign. Wet vs dry matters.
Yeah this is completely different. And you didn’t rebox it and serve it back to guests!
OP of the jam post never stated that it was served/offered to her. Probably went back to the same toddler that spilled it.
After handing off the bowl, I noticed a stray Cheerio on the counter and dropped it back into the box this morning.
Haha I thought about yall this morning too when I dropped my vitamin on the floor! I wiped it off extra well, thinking of that post, before popping it in my mouth!
Something dry is different! Plus, putting it back into the jar is just freaking gross.
I wouldn’t sweep up granola and put it back in the box in the pantry, but I would put in my mouth. The point is that bacteria grows over time and contaminates the whole jar or box, not that you will instantly become sick if you eat it right away.
Ha! But did it taste of your twelve-step surface sterilization products or was there actual dust present on that counter? Do you store your outdoor shoes there and when did you last perform surgery on the island?
The 22.5″ length is killing me. This is every cardigan I can find right now. It just looks like someone decided to shrink my sweater in the wash. It’s not cute. We long-torso girls are on the struggle bus even for fashion basics.
It’s the circle of life. All of us short-torso girls are super happy right now.
At least we don’t have to deal with cropped tops and low-rise pants at the same time the way we did back in the aughts. That strip of exposed skin…
I saw more visible thongs (back in the day that seemed so prevalent) than any person rightfully should.
I used to get so mad when school dress coded us – but now thinking back they had a point! It was just hard with how low jeans were
Yes. I’m 5’8 and although I’m very fit, I’m a 40-something mom and no one wants to see my stomach.
I looked at the photo of the twinset and said, oh, this will be too long on me if it hits a 5’10–5’11” model where this hits. We are not all the same.
Someone asked about veneers late yesterday and I wanted to chime in. I agree with the other commenters on that post that replacing the filling seems like an obvious next step, but if you’re thinking about veneers for other reasons, I’ll share my experience.
I have fluorosis from too much fluoride as a kid. It’s structural to my teeth so it can’t be whitened or shaved off. I had braces as a kid and my top teeth at least have stayed in place. I know some people use veneers as a quick orthodontic fix but mine was purely for the color.
I talked to my normal dentist first. He took molds and showed me how much tooth material I would use. It was a lot. If one fell off or broke, I wouldnt be able to just live with it for a few weeks, it would be an emergency. My teeth don’t hold dental cement well because of the fluorosis. When I had braces, the orthodontist accused me of eating candy (I didn’t) because the brackets were always falling off. I ended up with all bands. The dentist assured me they wouldn’t fall off but that’s what the ortho said about braces. The prospect of doing something permanent and irreversible that might create unnecessary emergencies for the rest of my life was just not something I wanted to deal with.
I’d heard about lumineers or no-prep veneers, but he didn’t do those. Lucky for me, another dentist close to me does them. She did the same mold etc and I felt much more comfortable with the very very minimal prep. One did fall off not long after I got them on — dentist couldn’t believe it — but my real tooth looked perfectly normal.
It’s been almost 5 years and I’m happy with them. None have fallen off since that first one. I’ve been relatively careful but I’ll bite into crusty bread and haven’t broken a veneer yet (knock on wood). It makes a big difference in my smile and more importantly my willingness to smile. I look much happier in pictures. Only downside if you can call it that, it forces me to be really diligent about flossing. The veneers trap yuck between teeth more easily and my floss will smell bad if I forget to floss for a day or two. I haven’t noticed a difference in my breath, but I probably would if I didn’t floss regularly! I’ll check here periodically today if anyone has questions.
Hi Kat, there is no post on the Moms page.
I think that page is having major tech issues. Comments have been appearing and disappearing (yesterday evening, a whole bunch of comments from the daytime were gone) and then I also have had some issues loading the page.
Thursday’s post is now up and I think the tech guys are done with the maintenance we mentioned yesterday… thank you for your patience!
“Courage is contagious.” I agree. I hope Harris’ speech inspires Democratic leadership to get out out their uselessness and start fighting.
I have an unexpected bonus from closing a big transaction, which is $3500 after taxes. Our savings are great, and my annual bonus went fully to investments and taxes, so I’d like to splurge and spend the whole darn thing. We love travel and good food, recently adopted a dog, and my style is preppy/feminine. What would you buy or spend on?
Always jewelry.
Travel with a splurge meal or two if vacation timing allowed. Otherwise, a very nice (tasting course style) meal in my home city.
Landscaping.
+1 or other outdoor stuff. A top-tier umbrella for a patio would cost all of your bonus and then some.
FWIW, I’ve splurged on the good umbrella and it’s not worth it at all. Still gets dirty and still only does the same job as way less expensive ones.
Upgrade to business or first class for your next international trip. Or hire a private guide to do a specialized tour (food, wine, etc.).
Alternatively – a piece of art for your home?
I may art shop on my next vacation!
This is a good one! I splurged on a painting on vacation almost a decade ago that still brings a giant smile to my face when I walk by it in the hallway.
A 4 day weekend in Paris (airfare dependent) or jewelry.
Looking to refresh some heeled sandals for summer 2025 to wear with dresses for Friday and Saturday night dinners out. Social, not work. What’s current? I’d like them in a shade of brown/tan/nude. Thanks!
Are you dressing up for these dinners, or are they casual?
I like a platform sandal. These are cute:
https://www.nordstrom.com/s/tiffany-platform-wedge-sandal-women/8101161?origin=coordinating-8101161-0-1-FTR-recbot-recently_viewed_snowplow_mvp&recs_placement=FTR&recs_strategy=recently_viewed_snowplow_mvp&recs_source=recbot&recs_page_type=category&recs_seed=0&color=BLACK
I think jellys are current, but I just cannot.
I recently posted in one of the “Coffee Break” threads about wanting to upgrade my jeans to something more stylish. Thanks to the posters who suggested American Eagle jeans. I just got the most perfect-fitting pair from them! Hoping they’ll add more washes but for now the light wash just feels so of the moment and the cut is great! Highly recommend to others!
Could you describe your body shape or your fit challenges, and the jeans you found that were a good fit? If you happen to have the same fit needs as I do, I’d love to know more!
I am 5’4″ so need a shorter inseam. I am slim and favored skinny jeans. Made the switch to slim-straight Old Navy which were perfect but they don’t make that style anymore. All my jeans are dark wash. Just feelin’ old and in need of an upgrade. Got the high rise straight leg something or other from AE in light wash and love them! Not too flappy but loose/wide while still fitted at waist and hip.
Oh that was me! Glad they worked for you! Yea, I really wish they would add a darker wash in the same style. They had one in stock for a bit, but it came pre-ripped by the pocket. I wasn’t paying for pre-ripped jeans in the 90s/2000s, I’m not paying for them in 2025.
Might have also been me. Their Skinny Kick bootcut is the holy grail. Curvy but leg-lenthening and tight on my skinny legs, in a good way.
AE jeans are surprisingly great!
Another sandals question. Looking for really comfortable flat preferably slip on sandals. I’m heavily pregnant heading into summer. My current favorites are a pair of silver Paul Green sandals with a velcro closure. It’s like walking on a cloud. I’ve been in crocs otherwise. My other sandals don’t have the padding or arch support I need rn. Looking for something in between silver leather and crocs. Taos have been following me around social media. Are they any good? Maybe I just need to bite the bullet and shell out for another pair of Paul greens?
Birkenstock EVA Arizonas
Agree.
I’ve found my feet get way too hot and sweaty in those, sadly.
I bought the Rockport Zovas and the Rockport Zoras recently and feel like they both have decent support for easy slip ons. My Zovas are blue suede, and Zoras are basic brown.
Birkenstocks of some sort – I like Gizeh but you might prefer Arizona
I don’t know if these would feel too sporty, but I absolutely love my Teva Hurricane XLT2 sandals. They come in a million color options and I can literally hike in them–so supportive and comfy. I got a multi-color sandal in lighter neutrals and wear them with almost anything, though I live in the PNW, which is admittedly casual even for nights out. They do have lower-profile (less sporty in the sole) versions, which might do the trick as well.
Bzees are so comfy
I am Paul Green 4ever.
inspired by the conversation above, what constitutes complaining as a guest in your opinion? I’m not asking about overly critical or whiny house guest who constantly complain, of course.
If the host asks how you slept, would you say ‘great’ no matter what? If you are the host, are you looking for feedback to improve your guest arrangements? If it’s more subtle, where do you draw the line of what to drop vs. what to mention?
If it’s something they could fix immediately it’s okay to mention it? Like if you just want an extra pillow / blanket, snack, slight change in temperature etc
I wouldn’t bring up snack (assuming you mean a midnight snack here) or change in temp. For snack, you’re an adult; pack a granola bar or ask for one right after dinner if you’re still hungry. For change in temp, it’s their house; if they like to sleep like the arctic or the Sahara, it is what it is.
Totally fair game on extra blanket or pillow! I’d also think it’s okay to ask if they have a fan if it’s crazy hot or stuffy.
Otherwise, yes, this is a white lie situation unless they’re your sibling or best friend.
I wouldn’t wake up my host to ask for a snack, but I’m only staying with people who I’m close to, so I wouldn’t hesitate to ask during the day if I could get a granola bar or whatever if I wake up hungry.
Tangent, but do people really wake up in the middle of the night and eat? I have never done that, not even when I was pregnant, despite being 50 lbs overweight my whole life. Like is this really a thing? Do you wake up often and eat?
for me it happens sometimes with big time differences.
I also wondered about that. Never once in my life….. I would definitely not be asking my host to provide a midnight snack.
If you are waking up hungry in the night, there seems to be an issue at play.
@12:19 – my husband does, but I had literally never seen it until I met him.
This is where I land. I would never complain about bed size or comfort unless it was something that could be fixed with very little effort. Or I will mention something if it seems broken. Like if I’m in the guest bathroom that they clearly don’t use much and there is a problem. This is also the line I’d like with my guests. I always try to provide a few things I know they like to eat and make the guest room as comfortable as possible. If they said the bed was too small, I’d be kind of offended because what am I supposed to do to help that situation?
Depends how close you are. I’d give honest, constructive criticism to my immediate family or best friend. Or if something is egregious or can easily be rectified for the following night (an alarm clock was going off in the closet all night and we couldn’t locate it, do they have a fan for a bit of circulation, etc), mention it. But if it’s something I can deal with, I’d err on the side of being gracious rather than complaining
Depends on how much I want the guest to stay.
Relative I often invite who is super fun and helpful with my kids? I would gladly go buy stuff for their comfort and wouldn’t consider suggestions complain-y.
Relative who invites themself and likes to give me feedback or makes extra work for me? Pretty much anything negative is complain-y.
Yep, I was dreading my husband’s nephew coming but he was great! Effusive compliments about the food, helped wash up, taught my son some new songs on the piano. He goes to a uni with 5 week breaks and I told him he can come any time.
My parents intentionally make their summer home’s guest room unwelcoming as a way to limit overnight visitors. So many people invite themselves to stay over, it’s shocking how pushy they can be. My parents realized if they have a rock hard mattress, limited pillows and blankets, and spartan furniture people magically don’t invite themselves again. They add a mattress topper and extra bedding for the gracious guests they actually invite.
I love this.
Wow, I don’t get this at all. We have a summer house and make sure our rooms are comfortable, but we’re also fine with using our words and only inviting good guests.
To the 2:35 anon- Some friends and extended family are incredibly pushy. People feel weirdly entitled to stay at someone else’s vacation house and don’t understand why it’s harder than hosting at your primary residence. Guests will complain that you don’t keep three varieties of mustard on hand or have a selection of various sunscreen forms and SPF levels. No matter how many times my parents push back some people won’t lay off the years-long guilt trip. The room thing is a creative way to permanently shut those people up. Again, they make the room nice for friends who are polite house guests.
I don’t take an honest answer to a question I asked as complaining at all. In that situation as the OP, I’d probably try to get an air mattress from a friend if they were there for more than one night. But I think providing comfortable accommodations matters because we love hosting and having friends stay with us. Our guest room set up is as nice as our own.
Ask for something they can give you, not something they can’t change. A second blanket or pillow? Sure. Turn off the cuckoo clock right above my head? No problem! Need a hair dryer or another towel? Oops, forgot I moved it, here you go!
If someone asked me directly for feedback, I’d be honest. And I’d feel comfortable asking for a blanket or for lower air conditioning, something on that level.
But other than that, nope. It’s a privilege to stay in someone’s home. And as an adult, you’re responsible for your own comfort. If you’ve decided not to stay in a hotel, I think you should be comfortable dealing with whatever minor inconveniences might come from staying with someone else.
I think this is where I land as well. If a friend asked for honest feedback, ex. “We’ve just set up the guest room and are curious if it’s comfortable. Is there anything missing or suggestions you have to make it nicer?” I would feel comfortable providing constructive feedback such as “I love when hosts stock an extra pillow and blanket so I don’t have to ask for one the next morning.” or “A basket of travel toiletries is helpful when my scatterbrain self forgets her toothpaste.”
But for a polite, “How’d you sleep?” inquiry in the morning? Nothing but gracious (unless I didn’t sleep well for something my host would have no control over, in which case I might joke about it with “Everything was great, my fault for drinking that espresso after dinner last night!”).
My in-laws are the most complain-y house guests.
His mums spent an hour in the bath together in our one bathroom flat when I was 4 weeks postpartum….I ran over to the neighbour’s crying and asking to use her toilet. Then they complained about the baby waking them in the night.
We’ve moved to a bigger (but still small, 1000 square feet) house and his stepmum said: “I come here to be pampered… I can’t possibly vacate the bed before 10am”. For context, we’re 2 working parents with a elementary school kid, the guest room is also my office.
His dad asked me to make him coffee, while I was under a cluster feeding baby, and I nearly squirted milk in his coffee.
We keep the house cooler – it’s wildly expensive to keep our older, single glazed house at their preferred sauna temperature and they moan the whole time (but also don’t put a fleece on?).
Anything short of this level of entitlement is fine.
We also do house swaps – so try to think about how to keep people comfortable, while recognising that the purpose of house swaps is to live like ordinary people.
Wow, I can’t imagine being a guest in somebody’s home and saying “I came here to be pampered” what gall!
Yeah that’s a situation where they need to stay in a hotel.
Uhhhh they would not be invited back to stay as houseguests under my roof. That’s terrible!
I tend to think “how did you sleep?” is more of a pleasantry than an invitation for honest feedback on guest accommodations. I wouldn’t necessarily say “great” if I slept terribly and if I was fairly close to the person who asked, but I would come up with something softer like, “I don’t always sleep well when I’m not in my own bed but I’m so glad to be here.” Or very polite requests like, I’ve gotten so used to my overheated apartment that I didn’t bring warm enough pyjamas; do you have an extra blanket?” But I admit self-advocacy is not my strong point.
I think it’s know your audience. And maybe it’s on the host to double down if they want honest feedback. Like not just asking “how did you sleep” but “is the bed okay? We never sleep in the guest room, so I have no idea.” If you get the more specific question, I think you can and should answer honestly.
Yes I would say great no matter what. I’m not a hotel reviewer when I stay in a friends place.
I only stay at the homes of people I’m really close to so I know where the extra blankets are and where food is. Same if people are staying with me. I guess if it was something weird I could deal with like I don’t know a giant doll collection staring at me, I would just deal with it and not say anything. If it was I need another blanket, I don’t think it’s rude to ask for one. If it’s something more irritating like they’re a smoker or I have to sleep on a pullout couch I would know that before I came to stay and opt to stay somewhere else.
As a host, I wouldn’t want to deal with complainers, but I’m not going to invite them to my home and serve them food they hate or do something else to make them uncomfortable for no reason. I would ask people those kinds of things in advance though.
Can anyone recommend a neurologist (or other specialist?) in NYC to talk to about frequent headaches and migraines? Manhattan or Brooklyn would be easiest.
Is anyone else worried about the impact that AI use has on the environment? It just seems to use so much energy for very little benefit. The fact that it also seems to be eroding critical thinking skills doesn’t make me feel any better about it’s use.
I think it’s bad all around. If environmental reasons are a compelling argument for someone, I’m happy to have the argument focus on that for that person! I don’t know that that aspect has broad spectrum appeal, though, so target your argument against AI to the recipient.
Worried might be the wrong word here, because I can do nothing to stop the recent incorporation of LLM tools into the workplace. I recognize the harm it causes in terms of energy usage and think it’s ridiculous in light of all the consumer pressure to adjust our thermostats, but like I said, I can’t do anything to impact wider society. Much like social media usage, we will look back in astonishment one day once the effects become more apparent.
Yes. The resource consumption is abstracted away from end users and that’s scary to me. There’s no real movement to conserve anywhere and our excesses will absolutely come back to bite us.
It’s one of my many concerns. There is something so profoundly sad about further damaging the environment to support tools that co-opt and commoditize and dehumanize that which makes us human.
Yes! And frankly super sick of people who dismiss those concerns. (Looking at you, boss.)
Yes. I am dismayed by the flagrant abuse of energy resources involved in AI use. Also by how it turns people I previously viewed as smart with good ability to evaluate information into utterly incompetent and blindly trusting lemmings.
I don’t care about anything anymore. I personal don’t engage in damaging behaviors but I know most people are selfish and it’s not worth spending my limited energy caring what others do. I just need to be able to be okay with my own actions at the end of the day.
I am, because a lot of people use it for nonsense reasons in place of a basic google or like 5 minutes of thinking with their actual brain.
I’m seriously worried about the decline in basic cognition and capability I’m seeing due to AI. People are using it to write basic thank-you notes and apparently teens are struggling to write even the most basic of essays on their own (they’ll submit one long sentence or at best, one long paragraph). It’s terrifying!
I hate it too and avoid it whenever possible. Recently though, I have been an attendee in zoom meetings where the organizer has enabled AI notetaking. I either have to agree to the disclaimer or leave the meeting so I grudgingly agree. Open to strategies to avoid this.
Why do you need to avoid this? Do you object to a human taking notes, or just want to be difficult? Maybe you should volunteer to do all the note taking and after action follow up work instead.
Oh for fuck’s sake, it’s reasonable to not want AI eavesdropping on your meetings.
It’s not reasonable unless you want to volunteer to do that work instead.
Agreed. It’s crazy to me how younger generations (X included) are so okay with giving up privacy.
At my recent medical specialist visit the doctor wanted to use an AI note taking tool. I was in a gown in the room and needed treatment when he asked permission, so I begrudgingly agreed. He was a white gut in his 60s, couldn’t tell me the name of the tool, had no idea if it kept the content of our conversation private and didn’t know if it was HIPAA compliant, although he did say it was something he downloaded himself and not a program the medical office provided for his use. The notes after the fact? They were full of garbage. They listed topics we never touched on, they described health issues I don’t have and said they were pre-existing conditions, they erroneously referenced medications I don’t take. Never again. I cancelled my follow up appointment and told them it’s because I question the judgement of someone who thinks using such a tool in that setting is acceptable.
Honestly, AI is coming no matter what. I worry more about the impact on our economy, our ability to teach our children to think and learn.
I worry more about the waste of energy used for cryptocurrency mining. That entire industry should not exist.
I don’t agree with the inevitability. Maybe it will, but I also think it could be a fad. Every company is trying to use AI now so as not to be left out, but the real benefits of that won’t be known for another year or few years. It’s like the self checkout machines at grocery stores. After a few years, stores started taking them out.
I saw a tweet last summer that noted something like, people are being asked to adjust their temperatures and keep the house at 80 unless they really need the AC, and meanwhile the AI that nobody asked for is guzzling up energy to produce a picture of a woman with 5 breasts.
I think about that a lot.
Same. It’s very irritating.
Yes! And it’s crazy that government is putting energy restrictions on individuals so that data centers can use energy completely unchecked!
Long shot question, but does anyone have the Loft Palmer pants in the linen blend? Or some other linen blend clothes from Loft this season? It is linen-viscosr-spandex, and line dry only. I actually want the pants to be a bit more snug and half an inch shorter so I’m thinking of washing warm and tumble drying low. Any real world experience appreciated.
I’d be worried they’d shrink too much. You can’t really control how much they shrink when you toss them in the dryer.
I’d worry about the different fibers shrinking at different rates. If it were 100% linen I’d say go for it and check on it during the dry cycle.
Those fibers are heat sensitive for reasons other than shrinkage. I think you’d just damage your pants and they’d fit similarly.
If you were a DC-area landlord, how much of a security deposit would you want from a Trump appointee tenant? 100%? And am I right to think that these folks largely aren’t going to buy a place (regardless of exclusivity) but are smart to rent?
I own a rental house, and I always require a security deposit of one month’s rent. I think whether or not they are a Trump appointee is irrelevant….
Yeah same. You’re not allowed to discriminate like that.
Wait, why not? Being a republican is not a protected characteristic.
Some laws require consistency in how security deposits are calculated.
More importantly, landlords in DC are liable for triple damages if they withhold a security deposit in bad faith.
How do you demonstrate bad faith? “I charged you a larger deposit because you’re a Trump appointee” isn’t going to look all that great when you’re trying to defend your actions later on.
Per DC law, it is
Can’t a landlord just link it to stability of employment?
Well, according to the DC Tenants Bill of Rights, the amount of a security deposit may not exceed one month’s rent, so that is your answer. Landlords also may not discriminate based on political affiliation or source of income, so this shouldn’t be an issue at all.
lol, what?
For any renter, I’d want whatever the maximum deposit is that is market standard and legal…
I’m guessing the specificity is because the revolving door of the cabinet is about begin? Can’t wait.
To the extent permitted under relevant housing law, I would avoid renting to someone who made that choice.
There are laws about how much of a security deposit a LL can charge.
I have a built-in cupboard in our bathroom that is narrow and deep (into the wall).
We currently use it to store extra bathroom supplies like TP, and all of our medicines.
This includes kids medicines, bottles of tylenol, advil, asthma inhaler as well as other things we use less frequently like band aids, thermometer, or motion sickness medicine.
What is a good way to organize it? Currently bathroom supplies are in the bottom shelf.
The other shelves are a mix of kids and adults medicine and we can never find things we need.
Toothbrushes and toothpaste are in a mug at the sink. For everything else, I need a solution. Thanks!
Do you have pull-out shelves or drawers, or it’s just a narrow deep cabinet and stuff gets lost at the back?
Is it wide enough to accommodate stackable bins of some nature that you can label with the contents? (We do this in one cabinet and it’s things like bandaids & neosporin & topical stuff, vs. cold and fever, vs. allergy.)
No pull out drawers, just shelves that go deep into the back. So its a nightmare to find anything. One of the shelves is also too high so less visibility as well.
Yes, I have a couple of clear bins that I started to organize the stuff into. One for kids medicines and one for adults. But many bottles ended up too tall to be able to close the clear bin, so they ended up being kept out on the shelf and not in the bin.
You need open-topped bins. Target has some, but the Container Store has the biggest variety of sizes.
I would take measurements and then go in person to IKEA, HomeGoods or Target. There are TONS of basket and bin solutions and you may find something perfect for the space (eg, three drawer tower that fits just right in a shelf)
I have a lot more space than you do, so ours are either spread out on the shelf or in bins, but this is how I group my bathroom cabinet supplies:
1. Hygiene (floss, toothpaste, contact solution, deodorant, etc)
2. Colds/fevers/allergies(advil, tylenol, ibuprofen, benadryl, cough syrup, thermometers)
3. Stomach upsets (imodium, pepto, etc)
4. Cuts/pain (bandages, hydrocortisone creams, antiseptics, biofreeze, also anti-itch and anti-rash stuff for poison ivy, oak, etc)
5. Travel-size items (but generally only hygiene items since if we bring meds we’ll usually bring the bottle or a baggie)
I keep the kid/adult meds together for the same malady. Husband keeps his asthma stuff in a completely different place.
agree with the others, you need a basket or box that you can pull out and look through — if shoeboxes would work those might be ideal. one on the bottom for smaller things (with the top closed) and one on the top for taller things if that works. i am totally guilty of that middle-aged lady thing where I save “good boxes” for just this purpose, particularly from fancy skincare/electronics packaging.
We have something similar and use clear bin for tall things (sun screen, insect repellent, etc.) and labelled bins with lids for everything else so that we can pull the whole bin out when we need it.
I like clear plastic bins for this – mine are from Target. I have one for 1st aid stuff, one for daily meds, one for occasional meds, one for nail stuff, one for shaving stuff, one for bulk products not yet in use (deodorant, soap etc). Clear bins versus baskets is key for me because then I can actually see what’s in each one.
Look for clear plastic narrow and deep bins made for fridges, that you can pull out. There are loads made for drink cans and similar.
Clear plastic shoe boxes, perhaps without the lids depending on contents, can work well here and are inexpensive.
I organize my things in clear bins but put things I infrequently use on the top shelves (maybe beach/pool towels or things like the heating pad). I would group all of your backup things like TP on a higher or lower shelf where it can be accessed but not eye level. And then I group my supplies by all of my hair products in a bin, all of my travel items in a bin, sort of a general first aid kind of bin, a cold/pain reliever/ other similar meds bin, period products, prescription medical supplies because I get like 90 days, other beauty supplies, and then kind of miscellaneous.
Lazy Susans for pill bottles, or those shelf-size plastic drawer units for small things like tubes of ointment or thermometers. They’re especially good for keeping all like things together — all the wound care supplies in one drawer, all the itchy skin treatments in another, etc.
Also, there’s some Amazon gadget that influencers were recommending a while back – it’s like a filing system for pill bottles. Each holder sits perpendicular to the cabinet opening, but it can cantilever out so you can see the contents (each holder fits 6-10 bottles). I always thought it would be good for a deep cabinet, but never got one to see in person.