The cult of storage: is tidying really the fast track to a happier, healthier life?
Clutter and chaos can have all kinds of effects, from decreased productivity to a compulsion to eat unhealthily. So is it time we became hotel managers of our own homes?
It started innocently enough, with a four-drawer, transparent acrylic box. A cube organiser for my bathroom, it promised to sort out the mountain of clutter once and for all. No more marauding mini shampoo bottles, rogue cotton buds and homeless scrunchies. All of them would now be confined to one sleek drawer. Ditto makeup, nail polish and spare contact lens holders.
I was so pleased with myself that I went online and bought a second bathroom box and a matching tray. A week later, I bought a home office filing system and an acrylic condiments turntable accessorised with random food storage boxes, including a spaghetti holder with a pleasing pop-up lid. Soon, I was binge-streaming YouTube videos hosted by interiors gurus and, at my lowest ebb, seriously considered investing in a rotating sunglasses organiser that holds an impressive 15 pairs. (Fortunately, just in time, I remembered that I own only one pair, and anyway this is my home, not a shop.)
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