7 Sneaky Ways Decanting May Be Wrecking Your Home’s Organization
Inside: Learn seven sneaky ways decanting may be wrecking your home’s organization and why you may want to avoid this practice.
A guest post by Evelyn Long
Our home is our sanctuary — an oasis of calm to unwind after a long day at work or enjoy quality time with family. But a cluttered or disorganized home can transform serenity into stress.
The idea of “a place for everything and everything in its place” helps to keep a home organized. However, there are times when organizing can get out of hand, and instead of helping your home, it can become a detriment.
A recent trend being shared all over social media channels is decanting. And while it may create a pretty space there are some ways decanting may be wrecking your home’s organization.
In this article, we’ll explain what decanting is, why it is on the rise, and why it may not be as beneficial as it may seem.
What Is Decanting?
Decanting transfers goods from their original packaging into typically matching acrylic, plastic, or glass containers. The reasons for decanting include:
- Aesthetics: Using matching containers is a visually appealing way to display items.
- Easy access: Transparent containers and labels make eyeballing what’s in them easier. A clear view may save time spent looking for items. You can also judge supply levels before you go shopping.
- Space-saving: Transferring bulk items or packaged products can be a space saver. Think Tetris, but for household items.
Why Is Decanting so Popular?
Marie Kondo ignited the flame of home organization with her 2011 bestseller, “The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up.” A Netflix series popularized the KonMari method. People worldwide questioned whether items in their homes sparked joy.
The Home Edit is a professional organizing business founded by Clea Shearer and Joanna Teplin. In 2020, they launched a Netflix show. The world watched as they organized the homes of celebrities like Reese Witherspoon.
Like most viral trends, social media played a role in decanting’s meteoric rise. Search #organization on TikTok, and over 620,000 videos appear, many of which feature decanting. Instagram has millions of #organization posts. You can browse over half a million on #pantryorganization alone.
Since psychologists have linked clutter to stress, decanting’s appeal is easy to understand. It offers an element of control in an uncontrollable world.
7 Ways Decanting Wrecks Your Home’s Organization
It’s an organizing myth that you need to decant various pantry items in your home. The art of decanting has its place, but in some cases, it works against home organization.
Here are reasons why decanting may be wrecking your home’s organization.
1. Cost Implications
Decanting may make your home look like a showroom, but it comes at a price:
- Upfront investment: The cost of buying matching containers in various sizes adds up. Quality and materials impact the price.
- Replacement costs: Containers have a finite life span. Factor in replacement costs if they break or wear out.
- Label expenses: You may opt for a label maker, handwritten stickers, or printed labels. From hardware to stationary, labels are an extra expense.
The cost to the environment should also be a consideration as purchasing a large number of plastic or acrylic containers can be wasteful should this newfound system not work out for you.
2. Time and Effort Requirements
Decanting is a time-consuming and ongoing process.
- Initial effort: You must clean and label the containers before decanting items. Transferring goods from package to container also takes time and effort.
- Regular maintenance: Maintaining decanted goods means replacing labels and expiry dates. Items need replacing or topping up. You should also factor cleaning containers into the equation.
The growing to-do list can turn decanting from a time saver into a time waster! For those with busy lives, maintaining a decanter’s lifestyle becomes tricky.
3. Space Inefficiency
Decanting may take up more space than it saves:
- Increased space needs: Containers can take up more space than the original packaging. You might gain visual appeal but lose storage space.
- Differing container sizes: Storing varying container types can look more disorganized than streamlined.
- Overflow: It’s unlikely that the containers you have perfectly fit the amounts of product, leaving you storing not only the containers but the overflow that didn’t fit as well.
4. Loss of Original Labels
Food packaging contains valuable information, such as nutritional values, allergens, and expiration dates.
You lose this info when transferring goods into containers. Recording every detail on labels or cutting off the labels to add to the container takes extra time and effort.
5. Contamination Potential
Moving food between containers can introduce issues such as:
- Hygiene risks: Contaminants may creep into goods, increasing germ or bacteria risks.
- Moisture exposure: Improper container sealing may allow moisture to enter, spoiling food.
On the flip side, if you live in an area where mice or bugs commonly get into food, it makes sense to decant food items as needed to protect them from critters.
6. Psychological Impact
An organized home instills a sense of mental well-being and control. However, decanting can have adverse effects:
- Overwhelmed: The recurring act of decanting and maintenance can become overwhelming. This negative association may lead to procrastination or abandonment of the method.
- Obsessed: The rewarding feeling of a well-organized pantry or closet could become all-consuming.
The influence of social media and the temptation for comparison cannot be overstated here. Keep in mind that what you see online is a snapshot and often don’t depict the every day realities of life.
7. Limited Flexibility
As your needs change, adapting the organizational system can take more time. You may move homes, change your diet, or buy more items than you have space (or containers) to fit them in.
Items may not fit into containers, leading to a mismatch between what you have and how you want to store it.
Practical Ideas to Optimize Organization in Your Home
Decanting is one very small aspect of home organization. If you’re searching for more practical room organization ideas to use in various areas of your home, here are seven tips to help you get started.
1. Make decluttering a habit.
Want to know a secret of people who have an organized home? They prevent clutter from collecting in the first place.
It’s all too easy for items to accumulate. With the ease of shopping online, it’s common for new items to pile up in the home quickly.
Get into the habit of decluttering often. Decide what you need, what you can get rid of, and what you can give away.
2. Use your vertical space.
Hooks are a simple, cost-effective organization tool. Mount them on a wall or in a closet to hang clothes, bags, keys, or just about anything else.
3. Kitchen storage considerations.
Consider replacing kitchen and bathroom cabinets with organization-savvy options. A few select open shelves can make a room look larger than it really is, giving the illusion of more space.
However, too many of them can make a room appear cluttered with all the items sitting out on display so use them minimally if at all.
4. Find space where you can.
If you live in a small space, you may search for every space where you can hide some extra storage. The space under beds, sofas, or stairs can transform into a storage spot.
5. Get smart with storage.
While matching containers may be nice, that typically doesn’t work for every type of item you want to store. Consider clever storage alternatives like packing cubes, over-door shelves, or baskets to suit your specific needs.
6. Put your best foot forward.
Shoes can be the culprit for unnecessary clutter. Put them in their place with a hanging shoe rack in a closet or over a door. Or arrange them on open shelves in your closet.
7. Use multifunctional furniture.
Multiuse furniture is an organizer’s dream! A couple of options include space-saving Murphy beds or benches that double up as trunks.
To Decant or Not to Decant?
In the quest for an organized home, it’s easy to get swept up in the allure of decanting. The idea of neat containers can spark joy and inspire a sense of order.
Consider what works for you and your household when weighing the pros and cons. After all, the best organization method enhances your daily life.
Evelyn Long is a home organization writer who helps homeowners and renters maintain a neat space through innovative decluttering tips. She has written for several other publications including the National Association of Realtors and DecorMatters. She is also the editor-in-chief of Renovated Magazine, where she shares additional tips on decluttering and home organization.
Is decanting wrecking your home’s organization? Share your experience in the comments section below.
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I decanted my pantry in the 90’s before it was called decanting – we had a bad infestation of roaches (Florida) and I needed to transfer my food to containers that would protect it from the horrible little critters. I saved every plastic container from the foods I bought at Sam’s Club and used those – and I’m still using them today even though we can now afford an exterminator.
I do understanding needing to do this in places where bugs are common. I just think it’s gone to the other side where people see it on social media and are doing it for more aesthetic reasons which makes less sense in my practical mind 😉
I’m also a Prof Organizer, and on one hand I love the look and idea of a place for everything and seeing it all awesome in the cupboards… but, I’m also frugal and know how maintenance of such “systems” doesn’t always last and then becomes one more stressor.
For decades I’ve used glass canning jars for the same practice. Works great, in the cupboard or the refrigerator.
I also buy some things bulk from Natural Grocers who have a nice label, so I cut it out and tape it across the front of the canning jar and write the buy-date on it. EZ PZ!!
Could a guest know what they’re finding in my kitchen? Yes, easily. Then, I can too.
And, yes, I don’t want to add more items to the trash “someday” that are not recyclable or add microplastics to the land/fill. Using glass canning jars makes it completely recyclable when needed.
Speaking of microplastics, unless the containers are glass or stainless steel they are shedding microplastics in the food and into the consumer affecting ones health and wellbeing.
Thank you for a great article.
Great points, Kim. Thanks for sharing!
I use canning jars too!!
I’ve never heard of “decanting”, but now I know what it is. I could never fathom grocery shopping then coming home to put everything in a different container. Just seemed silly and a time waster. With the glorification of busy, it seems like it’s just more nonsense people put upon themselves, not to mention the money spent on containers. Maybe if it’s just yourself and not a family – could be a possibility. But good article. I think it’s sort of dumb. lol
I agree Ann! Some influencers have built there whole channel on restocking them. It’s gotten really out of hand and promotes over consuming.
I like containers for dry products. I buy several food items in soft packaging and containers keep them neat. I leave the food in the original packaging that way all the info is preserved. Doing this saved me from hundreds of dollars 2 winters ago when mice made our home and pantry their chosen residence. As it was I ended up having about $500 worth of food destroyed or contaminated. (25 dead mice later we finally ended the invasion, sticky traps where the only thing that worked. Inhumane, yes, but so are the deceases they carry. I and a friend who helped me both got ecoli bladder infections from the problem) so anything not in container was contaminated and land fill. So sometimes extra protection is a necessary preventative. And we have a fairly new house, but the mice made new doorways to access. This is the second winter we haven’t had the problem, but winter is not over yet. If I was physically able to have an indoor cat I would, too many limitations to be able to care for it. I’m sure living in the country made us more exposed to this danger. Fortunately coyotes are now living in the back yard, they love mice. Hopefully they stay! I hate mice!
I know some people that are probably doing this. They are retired, live alone, have the money and love the compliments from others plus they have to participate in the latest trend. For me, I’m blind. This could be beautiful and I would love to do a little of this but I would be SO frustrated! As you might imagine, stress would increase and I would probably have a bad attitude, too.
I don’t decant at purchase, but I do find it helpful when I have leftover unused portions of items. I too use my empty canning jars of differing sizes. I also recycle pickle, jelly & sauce jars for this purpose.
That’s a great upcycle idea. Thanks for sharing, Carol!
Helpful article–thanks. The pictures of freshly decanted foods look so appealing, at first. But the cereal always has its powder dust at the bottom and soon the sides are coated in food dust requiring constant emptying, cleaning, drying and refilling to keep “the look.” My concern that I didn’t see listed (maybe I missed it) is the challenge of quality control. Any new product poured over old product takes on the expire-by-date of the old product. This seems like a health challenge or a huge pain to fully clean the containers with each refill. Cheers!
I decant lentils, farro, black rice, quinoa, and oats. I mail order from a shop in Brooklyn and they arrive in thin, resealable plastic bags easily accessible to the one damn mouse I can’t get rid of. I named him Lucifer. He visits once a month routinely. I also decant dried fruits for much the same reason. I use Weck jars, which have held up marvelously for years. Glass, dishwasher safe, and can take a few bumps without breaking. Inexpensive and attractive (the latter doesn’t much matter as I’m the only one who sees them). For all other things that require storage I use run-of-the-mill glass square/rectangle/round storage containers to refrigerate and freeze. Saves the monthly expense of zip lock bags, which are incredibly expensive and wasteful.
All helpful reading. What are canning jars?