Your Stuff Needs a Home

"A place for everything, everything in its place." - Benjamin Franklin

After the tidying, decluttering, minimizing, or whatever you choose to call it has been done, it is time to find a specific spot for every item. This may sound overwhelming at first ("I have to figure out the exact right location to store everything I own?"), but is a key part of the process.

Taking the time to do this gives the following benefits:

1. It's another chance to determine if something adds value to your life. If you feel like you can't be bothered to take this step, well, how important can X item be to you?
2. By having a set place for everything, you will be less tempted to just toss things on the floor, on the kitchen counter, etc. because you won't have to think about where an item goes. 
3. For the same reason, this makes tidying up when things get out of control (after all, this is real life) a lot easier as well. This can be especially helpful when teaching children how to tidy.

So, what's the best way to go about finding a home for everything? A lot of it has to do with considering your lifestyle and what works for you - even now, how I store things now in a small-town  three-bedroom home is very different from how I stored things in my Boston studio apartment.  Here are some questions to ask yourself:

1. How often do I use this item?  Take advantage of those hard-to-reach storage areas and use them to store items you only use occasionally. Have a holiday dish set you love to set out every Christmas? Store it in those above-refrigerator cabinets. Out of season clothes? Perhaps that high shelf in your bedroom closet you need a stool to reach would be just the right place. Conversely, place frequently used items (ahem, coffee maker) where they're within easy reach.
2. Where do I use this item?  Although Marie Kondo recommends choosing the perfect space over location, I have to disagree, especially with everyday items. You don't want to have to go up two floors to grab your undies every morning!
3. Where are other items like this located? Try to keep categories (clothes, books, toiletries, etc.) as together as possible. This helps give a good view of everything you own (nothing like seeing 10 Chapsticks in one place!) and prevents accidentally purchasing duplicates because you didn't realize you already had something (see, 10 Chapsticks).

Once you find a place for everything, even your closets and cupboards will naturally become neat and organized, giving extra calm and beauty to even the "hidden" parts of your home.