Sometimes when I walk around my house and talk to my stuff (yes, I do, mostly in my head; no, this is not crazy, at least I don’t think so, as long as it stays in my head; um, maybe I should move on here…), I ask, “Could you go in a cupboard?” This is an important question, because it helps me reach one of my lofty minimalist aims – clear counter space. Let’s take a look at one of my kitchen counters:

I asked the stuff on this counter that question recently and here was the response:

Utensils: Heck, no! You use us all the time! We’re your go-to guys when you’re cooking at the stove, to which we are located oh-so-conveniently. Remember all those times you’ve grabbed us to stir pasta or saute onions? You can’t hide us in a cupboard, oh no!

I had to admit, the utensils had a point. Next I interrogated the fruit bowl:

Bananas: What are you thinking, putting us in a cupboard? Those pesky kids of yours devour at least one of us every morning! They even congregate beneath the bowl, chanting, “Nana! Nana!” Until you give in and hand one of us over. You can’t put us a in a cupboard. Besides, we’d over-ripen.

The bananas were right. They deserved their space. Which brought me to the bowls of onion and garlic.

Onion bowl: Whaaaa? You wanna put me away? You grab an onion out of here maybe once every week or two. I mean, we’re not used that much, but we are used. We’re important! Hey, hey, get your hands off me! Don’t push me around!

(These were the last words I heard as I stuffed the onion bowl, along with its sidekick, the garlic bowl, in a cupboard.) They resisted at first, but now they seem quite happy in the cupboard next to the counter. I mean, they get to hang out with the honey bear, and who wouldn’t want to hang out with the honey bear?

And here’s the best part – this clean, less-cluttered space in which to chop veggies and prep plates for dinner. Ahhh!!

Minimizing doesn’t always have to do with donating or throwing things away. Often, it has to do with how we look at our space and how we want to use it. Does that pile of mail really belong on the dining room table? Could it go elsewhere? Do your keys belong on the coffee table or is there a better, less conspicuous place they could reside?

One thing I’m starting to realize is that everything in my home has a home. It’s like the old saying, “A place for everything and everything in its place.” Where are the true homes of your objects?

I hope I’ve inspired some of you to perhaps relocate items in your house to a more fitting home. Rest assured, my onion and garlic bowls are doing just fine in their new abode!