Why I don't post (much) organization porn
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Why I don't post (much) organization porn
The allure of the visually organized home is strong, but it's a trap.
Your House is Your Machine takes a new approach to home organization and life. Think: less buying bins, more sitting on your couch drawing flowcharts. I’m experimenting here and really appreciate your engagement and feedback! If you’d like to keep reading I encourage you to subscribe below.
This image is deeply satisfying. I want my house to look exactly like this. This image is calming, my dream, my drug. Yet, it’s misleading…the trap it lures us into is the fallacy that if I make my shelf look like that, I will have Achieved Organization.
But really, making your pantry look like this is only a small fraction of what it actually takes to actually experience an organized pantry all (or most) of the time. It obscures the system required to maintain this.
That’s why you won’t see sexy images of super organized spaces in this newsletter. I love that stuff as much as anyone, but I don’t want to perpetuate this seductive idea that making your space visually satisfying is all you need to do. There is so much capitalism driving the home organization space, and the messages are so convincing that if you just buy this one thing, your life will be perfect. I’m here to tell you the truth.
Here’s an example of what I mean. I saw images like these pantries above on Pinterest years ago and fell in love, hard. I set about my mission to make my kitchen look like this, with all these cute glass containers perfectly stacked.
I bought containers, Mason jars, cool baskets, and labels. (To be brutally honest, I also had to go buy more dry goods because I didn’t eat that much stuff that can be stored in jars.) I carefully decanted all my nuts, seeds, and flours into these containers till my shelves looked just like the photos online.
But there was a hidden underbelly I wasn’t sure what to do with…what about the rest of the rice bag that didn’t fit into the jar? Or what happens when I overbuy almonds because the jar is empty and I forgot I had a half-used bag stashed in my drawer? How will I know what to shop for at the store when I have food living in two places? What do I do when I don’t have the right sized container to fit that box of spaghetti I just got?
The dream fell apart. I ended up with a “show pantry” and a “shadow pantry” where all the leftover crap went. My shadow pantry was basically an uglier version of what I had started with! And overall my kitchen functioned less well. (Btw, if you have figured out how to handle this please leave a comment because I genuinely do want to have a show pantry but can’t figure out how to make the system work.)
Based on many experiences like this, I came up with a set of rules for myself when I take on an organization project:
Do not buy ANYTHING. There is so much marketing telling us that if only we had the right kind of bin, everything will be solved. A bin will not solve your problem! You can find containers around your house if you need them…shoe boxes, Amazon boxes, your neighbor’s recycling bin…the items can be found, I promise you. They won’t be pretty but for this first step it doesn’t matter.
Stay far away from the Container Store. See above.
Do your organizing, culling, etc, using your ugly cardboard containers.
Come up with your plan for MAINTAINING your system (5S gives you a framework you can start with if you’re at a loss). How will you keep items in their proper place? Do you need to train household members in the system?
Run your system for a couple of weeks, tweak as needed, and ensure things are working well — items aren’t exploding out of their containers, random stuff isn’t piling up, etc.
Once you’ve established that everything is working as planned and can be maintained easily, THEN you have my permission to buy cute bins if you really want them. (I still try to stay away from the Container Store, where everything costs 5x what it should and where you’ll get easily seduced into getting more than you need. That place should be regulated as a controlled substance, I’m telling you!)
We will get out of this addiction to organization STUFF together. The key is to focus on the system underlying it all, and then, later, once you’ve proven to yourself that your system is working and sustainable, you can make things beautiful. That’s a pretty good reward in my book!
Why I don't post (much) organization porn
The decanting. I found it worked for me when it was easier. The oxo cereal push and it comes out cereal containers are less mess for my semi ferral children then pouring from the box and I can see how much is left. They also hold the Costco size boxes of cereal that are basically the only ones we buy.
Its easier to get rice from the canister on the counter next to the rice cooker, using the rice cooker special scoop that lives with the rice, then the floppy bag. Ditto coffee, flour, sugar etc.
its not easier to put the box of pasta into anything else because our family serving size is a box. No matter how pretty it was making work.
I just want to say that this has become my favorite Substack and it's *uncanny* how similarly we think about organizing. Yet, I find I'm learning things from your posts rather than just feeling validated.
The emphasis on figuring out how you'll MAINTAIN a system before you full invest in it is crucial, and something my friends would tell you I harp on in all venues of life. Professionally: you want to add another meeting / policy / product feature? Fine, but how will you maintain it, and will it be worth the hours it costs to maintain? Kids: you want a new doll / piece of jewelry / outdoor toy? Fine, but what's your plan for maintaining it? And hey it looks like you already have 3 similar things you forgot to play with. Life: we should really start doing X activity? Fine, but how often will we be able to make it there, and will we need to spend money and store items related to it, and what can we get rid of if we're taking on yet another activity? Etc. etc. forever and ever.
Adhering to just a little bit of structure really helps our life not fall into overscheduled, overwhelmed chaos—and keeps our home a place where we can go to unwind and relax and just be together. For the things it's really worth adding, they stand up to this scrutiny easily. For the things that aren't worth it, the rationale quickly crumbles. This is the hill I'll die on!