The 3 stage Journey Every Object Makes Through Your Home (And why stage 3 is crucial to get right)

Every item in your home and ends up moving around different areas over time. To stop it from becoming clutter (and to enjoy your home as much as you can) – here’s why understanding that journey is so important.

Picture the scene.

You’re up in the loft on a Tuesday evening with a torch wedged under your chin, looking for the spare duvet before your sister arrives on Friday. You shift one box, then another – and your hand lands on something wrapped in a bin bag that you’re intrigued about.

Ah – it’s that table lamp with the amber glass shade. The one you bought nine years ago, in your first flat. You remember exactly where it sat: the side table, switched on every evening, throwing warm light across the room while you made dinner.

You haven’t thought about it in years. You genuinely can’t remember deciding to put it up here – it had obviously just ended up here, the way things tend to do.

You grab the duvet you’d been up there for in the first place, and head back down.

And then, somewhere on the stairs it occurs to you: you’ve got no idea how many other things in this house made that exact same trip, one you never actually chose.

That right there is what happens to almost everything in a home, a journey that ends up with something once genuinely loved just sitting in a box, costing you space every month, and giving you almost nothing back.

Understanding that journey is the first step to stopping it.

Stage one – the arrival & placement.

Every object starts here.

The excitement of something new, something chosen, something that’s going to be perfect in *that* spot.

You’ve thought about it. Maybe you deliberated for a while. You brought it home, put it exactly where you planned, and felt that particular satisfaction of a room that’s slightly more right than it was before.

This stage feels good. It should – you made a considered choice, you spent money on something you wanted, and it’s delivering.

The problem is that this stage doesn’t last forever…

Stage two – the refresh & demotion.

Of course, time passes.

And with that, your life, tastes, and needs naturally shift.

That item starts to bother you in some way.

You spot something else you love, or the room gets redecorated so it doesn’t fit anymore, or you just don’t like it in that space anymore.

The item is still fine – it’s not broken, it hasn’t done anything ‘wrong’ – but it’s no longer right in the space.

So, it gets moved.

Maybe to a less prominent position in the same room. Maybe to a different room entirely – but moved to somewhere it still looks decent but isn’t quite in the main act anymore.

Totally fine – because homes should evolve. They should shift and change as you do, as your taste develops, as your life looks different. After all – a home that never changes is a home that stopped responding to the person living in it.

Loving something for a season and then moving it on isn’t wasteful or disloyal to that item. It’s just how homes work when they’re working well.

The real issue is what tends to happen next.

The ‘common’ Stage three – indecision & stalemate.

After another period of time, the object goes on it’s travels again.

This time you find yourself moving it to somewhere genuinely peripheral. A room or space that doesn’t get used as much as the rest and therefore doesn’t get scrutinised much either.

Things like the ‘spare’ room, the loft, the garage, *that* cupboard, etc…

It’s still in the house.

It’s still technically being kept. But now it’s become part of the background of a space that’s itself become part of the background of the home.

And then, this is where the rationalisation starts.

You catch yourself saying things like: ‘It’s still useful’. ‘It might come back into rotation’. and ‘I paid a lot for it. It would be a waste to get rid of it.’

And so it stays. Not because it’s earning its place – but because it’s easier to leave it than to make a decision about it.

The space becomes a halfway house. A waiting room for things that haven’t quite been let go of yet.

Most people recognise this room. A lot of people have one.

And this is where it stops being just a story about objects and starts being a story about space.

Because this space isn’t free.

Every square metre of your home has a cost – whether you’re paying a mortgage or rent, every room represents a meaningful amount of money per month.

And when that space is given over to things you no longer use, love, or need – you’re paying for very expensive storage.

And storage for no good reason.

Storage full of things that used to serve you and now just take up space, and through which you occasionally rummage when you vaguely remember something’s in there.

The eye opening calculation nobody does

I’ll be honest – I’m a maths geek at heart. – and there’s one calculation I love doing, that I think everyone should do at least once, because it genuinely changes how you think about the space you’re using for storage like this.

• STEP 1 – Take your monthly mortgage or rent.
• STEP 2 – Divide this number by the number of rooms in your home (including the loft, garage, and any other significant spaces you’re got).

The number that you’re left with is roughly what each room costs you every month.

Go on. Actually do it. I’ll wait.

Now ask: What is each space giving you back for the money you’re paying for it?

In most cases, the honest answer is: not much.

A few things you *might* need one day. A collection of things you’ve been meaning to sort our properly. Objects from previous chapters of your home’s life, preserved in bubble wrap against a future that probably isn’t coming.

That’s an expensive use of the space…

And it’s not just the financial cost. Keeping stuff like this carries a particular kind of mental weight too.

You start trying not to think about. A door you don’t open. A low-level hum of unfinished business that sits at the edge of your awareness and never quite goes away.

The space is costing you twice: once in money, once in mental load.

>> More clutter related stats can be found HERE

So – what’s the answer?

There’s nothing wrong with your items moving around the house as your needs and tastes change over time – that’s the exact way a YOU-NOW Home that I talk about creating, works in practise.

It means things come in. They serve their purpose. And then they move to serve a new purpose elsewhere. This is a natural, healthy rhythm of a home that feels good to live in.

The issue though is when that journey stops in the wrong place. When it’s no longer needed, but the decision isn’t made to let it go.

So the trick is that when you can see that the item has reached the end of it’s journey in your home – and don’t stop until it’s been properly dealt with.

That’s the real Step 3.

The ‘ideal’ Stage three – decision & opportunity.

When you see yourself moving an item from one place to another, stop and ask yourself a quick question.

Are you moving it for a good reason – to a place that would be useful / look nice etc… still? Or… are you really moving it because it’s no longer needed?

If it’s the former, then brilliant – it’s still enjoying the journey with you – but if it’s the latter – then you need to take that item and make a decision about where it REALLY belongs now .

Usually the answer will be that it needs to leave your house completely. You need to declutter it as it’s not earning it’s place anymore.

TIP: The only items that don’t go from the house are things that you genuinely and actively don’t mind taking up storage space in your home. These are less common, and could include items that end up in your memory box (still a proper decision), and items that you may be saving for a specific reason (maybe your child will be moving into their own home in the near future and you want to keep a few things to help them set things up). As long as that storage is understood to have a cost to you, and you have the storage available – then that’s fine. If not – let it go!

If it has financial value – sell it.

Second-hand furniture, vintage pieces, well-made items that have simply run their course with you – these can sell really well.

And then, the money you make can fund the next thing you actually love, or just go back in your pocket.

Either way, that’s a better outcome than paying to store something indefinitely.

If it doesn’t have financial value but it’s still in good condition – give it away.

To someone who needs it, to a charity, to a friend who’s always loved it. It gets a new season in someone else’s home.

That’s not waste – that’s the object continuing its journey rather than ending it in your loft.

And the space it leaves behind?

When your stuffs journey ends out of the house in some way – then you’ve naturally created an opportunity.

You’ll be able to use every space in your home in a useful way for your current lifes’ needs, rather than holding the leftovers of a previous one.

You can create spaces like a proper guest bedroom, a craft area, a workout space, a place to work at home – etc….

The list really is endless.

Going forward from today – let your home evolve, but also let the things in it move on. The aim is to always keep using your space for what actually serves you now – and nothing more.

If this has got you eyeing up parts of your home that have slowly become a dumping ground, then the 👉 Free 5 Day Declutter Challenge could be the perfect next step for you [Join it here]