The Unintended Decor: Redefining Your Living Space

In the latest episode of Before Breakfast, host Laura Vanderkam shares a thought-provoking perspective on home organization, inspired by McKellen Smith’s book House Rules: How to Decorate for Every Home, Style, and Budget. The core premise is simple but profound: "Everything that sits out in my home is a decoration."

The "Cereal Box" Phenomenon

Most of us don't consider utility items as part of our interior design, yet Vanderkam argues that "people’s eyes don’t have some special filter" to distinguish between intentional decor and stored items. If a cereal box is sitting on your kitchen counter, it is, by definition, part of your kitchen's aesthetic.

Whether it is "bags of coffee beans," "dental floss by your bathroom sink," or "a big box of diapers on the floor," these items are "stored in plain sight." Because they are visible, they inevitably function as decor, regardless of whether they were selected for their aesthetic appeal. Vanderkam challenges listeners to look around their homes and realize that they are likely "decorating with cereal boxes" without even intending to.

The Case for Intentionality

While acknowledging that people often leave items out for "convenience" or as "reminders" of tasks to be completed, Vanderkam suggests that we can maintain functionality without sacrificing visual harmony.

• Relocation: Many items, such as diapers, can be stored in a drawer rather than a box on the floor. This is "possibly even more convenient, and definitely more attractive."
• Corraling: If an item must remain accessible, it should be "corralled and put in something attractive." For example, using "individual baskets" for shoes or a "nice little container" for daily makeup prevents clutter from spreading across surfaces.
• Final Homes: Vanderkam advises against the habit of leaving things on stairs or near doors. Instead, she recommends putting the object in its "final home" immediately. For tasks like returning library books, she suggests placing them on the "driver's seat of your car" rather than on the kitchen counter, ensuring they are impossible to forget.

Auditing Your Space

To improve your living environment, Vanderkam suggests a home audit. Walk through your house and identify spots where items have "wound up out in the open instead of put away." While it makes sense to keep frequently used items like "olive oil and salt" near the stove, we often let less-used items, like "champagne vinegar," clutter our counters.

By being more intentional about what we leave out, we can transform our homes into spaces that truly reflect our desired style rather than a collection of scattered necessities. As Vanderkam concludes, surveying your home for items "stored in plain sight" is the first step toward making the most of your living space.