Choosing to display, store, or get rid of an item
I am a firm believer that everything you choose to own should be display worthy, even if you choose not to display it. My hammer is stored in a toolbox along with screwdrivers, pliers, nails, and other tools because a portable box is the most efficient and uncluttered solution. The way I think about it is that I could hang my hammer on my living room wall, but I don’t because that would be inconvenient and a little odd with our decor. (Now that I’ve written about it, though, I must admit that I’m incredibly tempted to do it. Very dada.)
The fronts of my kitchen cabinets are mostly glass, so even my plates and cups are on display. Since I follow the red velvet rope test for my closet, I’m fine if people see my clothes, although I don’t know why they would want to look at them. My office supplies are stored in a closet, but the closet has made so many appearances on Unclutterer that people actually ask to see it when they come to visit.
For a possession not to be on display in my home, it must meet one of four strict standards: security, safety, efficiency, and anti-distraction.
- Security: If having an item on display risks your personal security, then by all means keep it stored out of sight. Your social security information, your passport, and other sensitive data is more secure if it’s difficult for strangers to find in your home.
- Safety: Cleaning supplies, weapons, and medications should be stored in such a way as to make it difficult for children and visitors to accidentally poison or injure themselves. If you or someone in your home has a mobility disability, keeping things stored away might also help reduce injuries.
- Efficiency: Storing tools in a toolbox is a good example of the efficiency factor — it is more efficient to carry a single toolbox to a project than to take each tool off a wall and carry it individually to a project. It’s efficient to store pots and pans in a kitchen cupboard because it keeps dust, bacteria, and grease from collecting on the items.
- Anti-distraction: This is a tricky standard and should be used carefully. It would be easy to justify storing every note you wrote in middle school in a box in your attic because displaying them would be a visual distraction. But, if you would be embarrassed to have any of the notes on display, you would be abusing the anti-distraction standard. The anti-distraction standard is for when an object being out on display distracts you the same way clutter does. Office supplies are better stored in a drawer if they infringe on your work surface and draw your attention away from your work. Your goal at your desk is to work, so your desk surface should be clear of all distractions.
Another good standard is the embarrassment factor: If I would be embarrassed for someone to know I owned something, it’s clutter and I get rid of it. Socks with holes in them and stained t-shirts become dust rags, for example.
If an object is not on display or stored because of one of the above standards, I recycle, trash, sell, or give it away.
Do you use standards or guidelines to help you decide what objects in your home belong in storage instead of being on display? I’ll admit that my standards are more strict than other people’s, but they work for my family and our small space. These standards also help us keep clutter to a minimum because if I don’t think an object is worthy of being on display (even if I choose not to display the item), I’ll get rid of it. Fewer possessions result in fewer things to clean and maintain — and I greatly value these benefits of an uncluttered life.
27 comments posted
Posted by themusiclivez - 05/27/2010
I love it: The Embarrassment Factor. That is the perfect way to describe it! I have started using TEF as a way of weeding through things I shouldn’t own: The shirt that is too tiny, the pants with the stain, the socks with the holes. I tell myself that if I would be embarrassed to run into an ex-boyfriend wearing it, I shouldn’t be wearing it in the first place.
Posted by Carrie B. - 05/27/2010
This seems good as a general rule and would be good to get started with for someone in a refinement stage of uncluttering, but getting bogged down by The Rules is a good way to get discouraged. For instance, would you display your “marital aids”? That’s one embarrassment factor I’m fine with keeping in a drawer. I’ll bet the husband is, too.
Posted by penguinlady - 05/27/2010
I recently chose to display my inherited jewelry instead of leaving it in my jewelry box. It is sparkly and pretty in a front-hinge shadow-box on my wall! If I want to wear it, I can just pop it out. I feel a lot better about it now, too, since it’s on display, like I’m honouring the memory of the people who gave the pieces to me.
Posted by Kathryn Fenner - 05/27/2010
Tampons? or are you young folk more liberated than my generation?
I definitely agree with the gist of this post, but display-worthiness tends to make me want to buy far more expensive beauty products because they tend to come in such chic packages, while the cheapo stuff frequently does not. I have two Dior shadow quads on my vanity top, and a cool Cargo palette, but the Revlon gets stuffed in the drawer. I know, I know–who needs that many shadows, but…that’s a significant improvement from my previous levels of makeup holdings–I used to be able to make up an entire touring company of Cats w/o making an appreciable dent.
Posted by Erin Doland - 05/27/2010
Bathroom and “marital supplies” (as CarrieB called them) aren’t really embarrassing. Everyone has them. I wouldn’t display them because they’d be distracting and inefficient — imagine the time involved with hanging them all up on the wall!
Posted by chacha1 - 05/27/2010
I’ll warrant Erin was not intending to include household consumables (or marital aids) in her “everything” generalization! Most of them fall squarely into the security, safety, efficiency, or anti-distraction closed-storage categories. I mean honestly … it would be pretty distracting to have your Tampax and your vibrator out on your bedroom dresser top (or wherever).
44 years of collecting have led me to the point that I wholeheartedly agree with this post. The areas that are closed to view are the ones that have accrued, not just clutter, but junk – things that, if I had to look at them, I would not have kept.
That alone is a good reason to apply these tests.
Posted by chacha1 - 05/27/2010
Eh, she beat me to it.
Posted by Michele - 05/27/2010
inefficient — imagine the time involved with hanging them all up on the wall!
On the contrary, some of the best marital aids I’ve encountered — uh, maybe it’s better to stop myself right there.
Posted by Amy - 05/27/2010
Maybe you could add another category…The “None of Your Business” category.
That would cover a multitude of sins.
This is another interesting post. I enjoyed reading it!
Posted by slkeeth - 05/27/2010
When I lived in a loft, everything was “on display,” whether I intended for it to be, or not. I was careful to make sure everything was visually pleasing, from the blender right down to my toothbrush. Now that I live in a house, I have waaaaay too much stuff, and so much of it is ugly (which is why I’m reading the unclutterer blog!).
PS In the loft, I kept tampons in a basket with a lid. Almost everything in the bathroom was decanted into an attractive container. Now, everything just gets crammed into the cabinet (sigh).
Posted by finallygettingtoeven.xom - 05/27/2010
For me i don’t seem to like much of anything on display. The only items that make it are the ones that i still continue to stop and stare at and bring me a smile every time i pass by them. Otherwise, out the door it goes because what is the point of having something only to have it stuffed somewhere in a drawer or box. Unless as you said, it’s for cleaning or wearing or has some other functional duty besides just sitting there looking pretty.
Posted by Louise - 05/27/2010
Displaying the marital aids proudly may lead to decluttering your life of prudish friends. Depending on your priorities, that may or may not be a bad thing.
Posted by Mrs.Mack - 05/27/2010
I don’t think Erin’s point was to *actually display* everything, as much as noting whether it would be worth keeping.
I think she put it this way because we keep a lot of things we wouldn’t consider worth displaying. Her way of phrasing it makes you think twice about that box in the attic you haven’t touched in 10 years but can’t get rid of because it’s full of “treasures.” If you don’t value it enough to be willing to display it, it’s not a treasure. It’s not precious. It’s junk you’re just putting off dealing with.
So, no, you wouldn’t want to display your “marital aids” or practical but not necessarily pretty things. But those would fall under one of the exception categories she mentioned (like distraction).
And the difference between being embarrassed about ratty clothes and personal lubricant is shame. I would be ashamed to be caught in the first, but not for owning the second.
Embarrassed, probably. But not ashamed.
Posted by themusiclivez - 05/27/2010
Mrs.Mack – I loved your response. Perfect!
Posted by ari_1965 - 05/27/2010
Part of this post makes me wonder if too much power is being given to what one thinks other people are thinking. I prefer to believe that I throw out or convert the holey socks because they lead to blisters rather than because I say to myself “Ooh, I’d be so embarrassed if people knew I had holey socks in my house.”
I don’t see why decluttering needs to make use of shame in order to be successful.
Why worry so much about what you imagine other people are thinking. As long as the holey socks don’t end up in the soup you serve them for dinner, what does it matter if you own holey socks.
I guess I don’t get this “Embarassment Factor” motivation.
Posted by Lee - 05/27/2010
We have a few pieces of ratty looking clothing for painting and outdoor cleaning. Why toss the shorts with the paint stains, just to get paint on a good pair the next time?
We also have some ugly blankets we keep in the car in case we unexpectedly have to carry something that needs to be protected when traveling and used them for sleepovers when the kids who stayed for supper wanted to stay for a sleepover.
I’m a little concerned about the jewelry being displayed. We have been burglarized many times and even when the alarm goes off, there’s still a lag time before the police show up that they can at least grab what they see, even if they don’t have time to dig around. If someone really wants in, they can probably find a way, even if you have taken reasonable security measures.
We try to donate what is usable and trash what no one would take if we tried to donate it. I think we should be more concerned with having keep/donate/toss standards that work for us rather than just keeping everything, and not be concerned about what others think of our standards.
Other than all of that, I think that the basic ideas you presented are extremely helpful and are a very good place to start when thinking about our own standards and decisions. Good job!
Posted by Jo - 05/27/2010
@ ari_1965 Hear, hear!
Posted by Erin Doland - 05/27/2010
@ari_1965 You’re taking it more literally than I intended. I didn’t mean actual other people, more that you would be embarrassed if you saw it, I mean REALLY saw it in your home. So often we have things in our home we don’t see — we become numb to their presence, our eyes just glaze over them. If we imagine other people seeing things, however, we are then able to see them ourselves. Think about how you behave when you throw a party … you imagine your place through other people’s eyes. It’s not that you care what they think, you care what YOU think.
Posted by Mara - 05/27/2010
I simply imagine what would happen if I died and my husband and/or son had to deal with my possessions. There’s the nice and normal stuff, there’s the normal necessities, and then there’s the crap and the embarrassing things. Makes it easy. It’s not much different than the old saying that you should always wear nice underwear in case you end up in the hospital
Posted by gypsy packer - 05/28/2010
Conceal the fine jewelry, the iPod, laptop, and anything quickly pawnable, if dealing with the public or even friends with problem teens.
The marital aids can always be concealed in a bag or an interior compartment of a small decorative throw pillow made of fine silk, satin, or a great vintage fabric.
Posted by Anita - 05/28/2010
Two important elements that are missing from this list are decency and good taste. Or are they implied?
Posted by Anita - 05/28/2010
A third element I forgot to mention is privacy. Things you treasure that you would not want displayed, not because they’d be embarrassing, but because they are private to you. Or has our “highly evolved” society lost the need for privacy?
Posted by Erin Doland - 05/28/2010
@Anita — In my mind, privacy and security are the same thing. For what it’s worth, though, I think privacy is mostly a mental game we play with ourselves.
Posted by Anita - 05/28/2010
@Erin — I’m trying to see your point, but failing to.
To me, security and privacy are very different — a house made up entirely of 2ft thick bullet-proof glass would probably be very “secure”, but that doesn’t mean I’d walk around naked in it for the neighburs’ viewing pleasure…
I’m with Amy on the “None of your business” category.
Posted by Lili - 05/30/2010
I think privacy is different than security too. You lock your front door at night for security, but you lock your bathroom door for privacy. You keep your passport and valuables in a safe place for security, but you keep your journals in a safe place so people don’t snoop. And you put a password on your digital financial records for security, but put a password on your [ahem] adult entertainment files so your devout Catholic bf or gf doesn’t find them and throw a fit and make you delete them. Similar actions, but motivated by different reasons.
Posted by Laetitia in Australia - 05/31/2010
Here’s the big difference in cultures – I wouldn’t even have thought to list ‘securing weapons’ if I wrote this blog post because it just isn’t a regular part of Australian culture the way it is for USA citizens. And my family had rifles for defending livestock from marauding dogs.
I’m with Anita on the security / privacy / decorum divide but whatever works for you and your household is cool.
Posted by Tim Carlson - 06/01/2010
Who cares what the name of the category is? It doesn’t matter if it’s called privacy, security, embarassment, good manners, or whatever. Take the spirit of the post and apply it to your life in whatever way works for you.
Sometimes playing mental games with yourself is a good way to see things from a different angle — even if the hypothetical situation you have set up is not entirely plausible.
Comments are closed for this entry.