There are certain places in our homes where we leave out items because we think it is more convenient. For example, we leave something on a counter because it is easier for us to grab it the next time we need it.
We see this happen at countless places in our home: the kitchen, the bathroom, the living room, the office, the bedroom.
Consider items like:
- small appliances on our kitchen counters
- toiletries beside our bathroom sinks
- office supplies on our home-office desktop
- DVDs on the entertainment center
- tools on our tool benches
- art supplies, keys, canisters, magazines, newspapers, a knife block
By leaving these things out in the open, we think we’re saving time when we need them and we think we’re simplifying our lives, but the result is anything but. I call this the “convenience fallacy.” And it’s a huge source of the visual clutter in our homes.
Sure, by leaving them out, you may save a couple of seconds when you want to grab one of them. But for the other 99.9 percent of the time they’re sitting out, where they create visual distraction, get in the way, add to the disorganization of our spaces, and attract more clutter.
Consider those old CDs you’ve held on to for years in a CD tower in your family room. Since it would take very little time to pull a CD out of a storage cabinet and put it back when you’re done, wouldn’t it be better to store them out of sight instead of where it’s contributing to clutter and acting as a visual distraction in your space?
The same goes for most, if not all, of the things we leave out for “convenience” around the house. They actually spend far more time as clutter than in service to our lives and our environment.
For example, if you make toast for breakfast, it will take you roughly three minutes to toast your bread. After that, the toaster will sit unused, on your countertop, for the next twenty-three hours and fifty-seven minutes.
Is leaving the toaster out where it’s taking up space and creating visual distraction worth the few seconds you will save pulling it out when you’re ready to drop your slice of bread into it in the morning? Think of all the times you’ve needed to move it to clean around, or behind, or had to shuffle it about to create more working space on your counter.
Rather than allowing these appliances to take up space, find a home for them in an easily accessed part of the kitchen, such as inside a cabinet or on a shelf. When you do, you will immediately reduce the amount of visible clutter for both you and your guests.
How to Overcome the Convenience Fallacy:
1. Notice, and identify. Look around the room you are sitting in right now—maybe you are reading this in your living room, your bedroom, great room, or office (or maybe you need to wait until you get home). Where can you see the convenience fallacy at play? A coffee maker, a teapot, a blender, a video game controller, a stack of unread magazines or newspapers, a stapler, maybe even an unnecessary clock. Take note of how many items you leave out simply for “convenience-sake.”
2. Clear unneeded possessions from cabinets and drawers. One reason, understandably, people leave items out on visible surfaces is because their cabinets are so full, they don’t have space for those appliances to be put away anyway. In order to overcome the convenience fallacy in your home, you’ll actually need to minimize the possessions that are hidden away. But once you’ve gotten rid of things in your drawers and cabinets and under the sink, you can put more things away and keep that counter beautifully clean.
3. Find a new home, out-of-sight. Organizers will tell you it is best to keep the most-frequently used items in-front of rarely-used items, so they are easier to reach. That is good advice. Which of the items on your counter really do get used? And on what basis? Keep the most frequently used items stored out of sight, but near the front so they are easy to reach. In my home, that means the toaster and the coffee maker are in the front of our kitchen cabinet, while the tea pot and hand mixer are in the back… and the canisters of baking goods are kept in the pantry.
4. Be intentional at the beginning to store items away. Habits can be tough to break. Once you have found a new home for your Convenience Items, be intentional and diligent to put them away—especially at the beginning. After a short while, you will begin to appreciate the empty space and those items will feel like clutter when you forget to put them away. But at the beginning, you’ll need to re-program yourself through intention to put things away immediately after use.
5. Take special note of the new, empty space. There is wonderful possibility in empty spaces. It keeps our eyes, minds, and attention focused on other things than material possessions. An empty space can be used for anything, at any time. Energy is free to flow. And an uncluttered space is less likely to attract more clutter. Notice these benefits as you clear surfaces and keep them clutter free.
There are many different factors that contribute to the clutter in our home. The “convenience fallacy” is one of the them. Now that you are aware of it, notice it in your own home and I’ll work to notice it in mine. And together, we’ll live more focused, intentional lives, focused on the things that matter.
Just a comment that a wise woman, Grandma Joyce, once shared with me: “Eat the meat and spit out the bones.” Thanks for some truly wonderful ideas and advice, Joshua! Your articles inspire me, even when they don’t necessarily apply to my space!
I’m surprised by all the comments regarding putting a toaster away. Don’t you clean it after use? If cleaned after each use, you don’t have to worry about dropping crumbs when putting it away in a cabinet. I realize I’m a little OCD when it comes to cleaning and putting things away but I do clean my toaster after each use. I do leave my coffee maker out because it’s the type that has to stay plugged in otherwise my counters have very little on them except I did get an idea from this article to put away one other item. My coffee grinder! Thank you.
I put my toaster away in pantry almost every day without cleaning out crumbs, except the ones that sink to bottom. I do have it setting on a cardboard lid. When it gets dirty, I toss!
Does cleaning a toaster after each use include unplugging it and turning it upside down over the sink to shake out all the crumbs, wiping all the external surfaces and putting it on a shelf? Then when you go to make toast you take it out, plug it in and repeat? I’d have to just skip the toast/bagel/Eggo/English muffin. The toaster and the coffee maker are just going to remain where they are color coordinated on my counter. For almost everything else I can agree to putting out of sight or tossing.
I keep a two year old and a four year old and I’m 63 with painful joints. I have everything in my kitchen where I need it. You have to be quick when you’re keeping an eye on small children. I don’t have time to search for small appliances. My kitchen is not a showplace, it is a working kitchen with everything I need within reach. And it is thoroughly cleaned before I go to bed every night.
Must be nice to have space to store items. I don’t have a kitchen cabinet with a shelf tall enough to put any of my kitchen appliances in. I have to keep my oven pans in the oven as there is no place else to put them. We have 2 kitchen cabinets – everything has to fit in same.
I am tired of organizing experts who think everyone has a huge home. I started reading an article on how to organize an “average” size bedroom closet once – the “average” sized closet was 2/3 the side of my master bedroom itself! My actual closet is about 2.5 wide and has a 2 foot door which opens for access. The closet is 7 ft tall on one side (the highest height of the ceiling in the room) and about 4 feet on the other side – the ceiling of the staircase rises through the floor of the closet – one other closet is like this and the other ones have the roof line coming down through them so they have the same situation.
I have less than 5 ft of counter space (more than I have had in any other kitchen) and that is not continuous. Yes, the appliances take up the back of the counters – but the front of counters are free for use as is our small kitchen table.
I can reach the bottom shelf of each the two cabinets in my kitchen – if I could put the toaster oven and blender in them (they are too tall to go on the shelves) I would have have to climb up on a step to take out my dishes (or my pots if I did so in my other cabinet) on the shelves above them – or I would have to climb up to take out the appliances and something needed on a fairly regular basis would have to go to to clear a shelf to have room for what is moved for this.
Neither of our two bathrooms have ANY counter space or drawers. If there is a full roll of toilet paper it touches one when one is “seated”. Real houses are not the houses that organizers talk about – they are much smaller in every detail
Some sense of what size a real kitchen (and house) is, as well as the design of them, is needed by organizing experts.
As to Marie Kondo’s concept of keeping that nothing which does not spark joy – as mentioned by one poster – does anyone’s toilet bowl brush spark joy? If I got rid of everything which does not spark joy I would standing naked – in the street – with my husband – and on some days he would not be there. Items in one’s home are there to serve their purpose and nothing more.
Most people I know do not live in the luxury sized houses that organizers think are the normal sized house. If I had the sort of rooms described in organizing books I would not need the books.
I was thinking the same as I read your eloquent retort. I have no storage. I weed constantly and buy little. I love to read things like this, but I fail to see how I can implement. Storing away that appliance means I probably won’t use it, even though it is helpful. My food processor comes to mind. I’ll just hide it all when I have a party.
Sweeping generalisations here about house sizes and organisers. I live in a small home with little storage.
I appreciate advice and tips from people like Joshua and take from it what I resonate with me. This helps me to cut out clutter, organise what I have, and live with more intentionality.
Sweeping generalisations here about house sizes and organisers. I live in a small home with little storage. I appreciate advice and tips from people like Joshua and take on board what resonates with me. It helps me to cut down on clutter, organise what I have, and live with more intentionality.
It is the people with the huge homes that are the customer base they are trying to reach.
People with more possessions and more money are likely to spend more money to get organized.
It is the same for all the worthless DIY home building shows. yeah, we want to revamp this room, but only have half a mill to do it with…..
I’ve read both Komodo’s books and I think something useful to remember is that she address that not all items that “spark joy” are pretty or lovely to look at. The example she used was scissors. A typical drugstore pair of scissors may not aesthetically spark joy, but there function likely sparks joy.
KONDO. Darn auto-correct.
Sounds like you need to move.
I totally agree with you I live in a small home also. I don’t know where they have the space but I guess they live in giant homes or at least homes that have a lot of cabinets
I like my home to look as though I am either moving out or just moving in! Well, maybe a bit of an exaggeration!
Love the minimalist look …. so tidy, maybe a colorful glass piece or a few flowers.
Mmn. I often share my kitchen, and other people who are helping to cook can’t find things if they’re not out and to hand. A kitchen is a workroom, so I don’t worry about it looking minimal – efficiency is more important, so my herbs are on the wall in a rack and my wooden spoons and salt pig are on the counter, while pans are hung up near the cooker – this is a map that any cook can read without having to ask directions. In the bathroom, we don’t have any storage except under the sink (the whole room is only 4m2) and I don’t want to have to bend and fish about in the deep cupboard for things I use every day (liquid soap, sunblock, toothbrush, eau de cologne etc), so they stay out on the counter, corralled on a tray for neatness. Our living room and bedroom are fairly minimal but for me, in the kitchen and bathroom, convenience and efficiency take priority.
Just finished your book, and this phrase really resonated with me! I’d been looking for a way to articulate it, and this helped me clear more surfaces. I guess I didn’t interpret this as literally as some? I didn’t clear EVERYTHING away, but what’s out is deliberate and gets more use and attention as a result. The only thing I leave out is the coffeemaker, a big bowl of produce, the multicooker we use for nearly every meal, and a spice rack carousel. It makes cleaning so easy and it feels restful and ready for the next kitchen activity. I’ve cleared the drawers and cabinets around the stove that utensils and other cooking supplies can stow away close by. I’m using this to help figure out our kitchen renovation plans and incorporating ways to tuck away our daily use items so it’s even more tidy. Thanks!
This is a bit extreme. If I don’t mind these appliances or things on my counters, I am leaving them. And some of the things I have sitting out are convenient and pretty. I even have things I don’t use. I like colored glass containers that catch the sunlight. (I love color). I have an pitcher I don’t even use. When all counters and table tops are completely empty, or near empty, it looks cold, as if no people live in the house. There is a balance between too cluttered, and to sterile.
Totally agree with you there. Sometimes too picture perfect neat and clean gives off a cold do not use vibe. I try for clean enough do not have to worry about bugs or getms but messy enough noone worries about using that room. Now if the guys would put their empty cheese wrappers in the trash before leavung the kitchen that would clear a lot if clutter.
Thanks for the comment. Just to jump in here. Your argument is that clean and neat communicates a “do not use” vibe, while messy communicates “use this room”? I will disagree entirely, especially in the kitchen. I feel much more welcome cooking in a clean kitchen than a messy one.
YES! This article totally resonated with me. I had left out some things for “convenience”. But I realized that I don’t use them that often! I rearranged some cupboards and hid some things and my kitchen feels so much better! It was just a few things but was the nudge I needed to a better feeling kitchen.
I have 4 kids, homeschool, and cook most things from scratch (homemade marshmallow’s anyone?) so our kitchen gets used A LOT. Whatever I can do to make my life easier is welcome. :) Thanks for the inspiration!!