7 Reasons You’ll Benefit When Everything in Your Home Has a Place
Have you ever attacked your clutter in this way?
You walk determinedly into a room, an empty laundry basket clutched under your left arm, while your right arm becomes machine-like, robotically skimming all countertops, clearing anything that lies in its path. You catch falling debris in your empty basket and survey the now clutter-free surfaces.
Beautiful.
You take a deep breath. Peace begins to set in.
Until you look down.
Your basket is still filled with clutter. A familiar question interrupts your serene moment—where does all this stuff go, anyway?
You see, our homes have a finite amount of space and places to put things. But so often we overlook these built-in boundaries our homes provide.
We go on accumulating stuff, and before we know it, random piles form on floors and countertops. So we buy a cute catch-all bin and fill it to the top. Problem solved. Until we need another. And another.
Soon, our homes feel crowded, we can’t find what we need when we need it, and digging through these decorative bins has become our new hobby.
Even possessions that we use and love may begin to feel like clutter—simply because they don’t have a “home” within our home.
The mantra of “everything has a place” can help. When we designate a spot for the items in our home, the things that matter most are what settle in and stay. And the rest is clutter we can let go of.
This leads to a more intentional life—a life focused on what matters.
Here are 7 reasons you’ll benefit when everything in your home has a place:
1. Less wasted time
Studies show that Americans spend 2.5 days a year looking for misplaced items. We spend collectively $2.7 billion each year replacing lost items and more than half of us are regularly late for work or school due to searching for something. Remotes, phones, keys, glasses and shoes are the top misplaced items. When everything has a home, we know right where to find it. Time is one of our most valuable resources. Do we really want to spend it looking for lost things? I think not.
2. More helpful children
When everything in a home has a place, it’s much easier for children to help tidy up. I often ask our girls, “Will you please put this back in its home?” When they know right where things go, the request seems less overwhelming and they are more likely to pitch in. Plus, less effort is required on my end because I don’t need to help them decide where to put their possessions.
3. Fewer questions
Before we transitioned to a minimalist lifestyle, I used to get asked about the location of things. . . All. The. Time. Apparently, moms are always supposed to know where everything is. When our possessions have designated places to which they are routinely returned (routinely—not always—this isn’t about perfection), the need to ask where something is significantly decreases. And we no longer surpass our “question-answering quota” for the day (which, for most of us, means less stress).
4. Calmer home
Author Gretchen Rubin’s phrase “Outer order, inner calm” holds truth. The state of our environment affects the way we feel. A cluttered, disordered space can overstimulate us visually and fill our mind with “to-do’s” instead of making home a place to relax and enjoy our family. A home where everything has a place is peaceful and holds what matters most.
5. Reset spaces easily
When everything has a place, a room can be reset in a matter of minutes. When things begin coming out of their “homes” (all of you with toddlers can relate), knowing that order can quickly return is helpful. My self-talk upon seeing the contents of a room completely displaced before minimalism sounded like, “How am I going to find time to clean all this up?” Now, it sounds more like “This can be cleaned up in no time.” This mindset shift leads to less overwhelm and more peace.
6. Fewer decisions
If you already know where everything goes, then you don’t have to make a daily decision about where to put it. This helps reduce decision fatigue. The more decisions we make throughout the day, the more difficult it becomes to make decisions as the day goes on. When everything has a place, we save our decision making power for the decisions that matter.
7. Less time spent decluttering
Clutter is easy to spot in a home where everything has a place. When something is setting out on the floor or countertop without a “home,” it stands out. If you quickly discard, donate, or keep it, then this stops clutter from accumulating. When decluttering is built into your home and routine like this, then you won’t need to spend a lot of time decluttering later.
Maintaining a home where everything has its place doesn’t mean you’re seeking perfection. And it certainly doesn’t mean that everything will always be in its place (you’d drive yourself crazy to aspire to that, especially if you have kids).
But it does mean that, regardless of the size of your home, your possessions respect your home’s given boundaries.
By living within these guidelines, your home, and your life, will feel lighter, more manageable, and will, without question, be focused on what matters.
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Julia Ubbenga is a freelance journalist whose teachings on minimalism, simplicity, and intentional living have reached thousands of people worldwide through her blog. Julia practices what she preaches in her Kansas City apartment home with her husband, two extremely lively young daughters, and newborn son. You can also find her on Instagram.
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