One or more of an item?

[Tybee]

Gardnr's post about cloth tape measures made me think of something I read years ago in an organizing book, and it was the one of something or many of something principle. The point was there are a lot of things you need, but you can go with either a several of them in different places in the house, or one in a known place that gets put back after use. On this list I can think of
pairs of glasses
tweezers
staplers
tape dispensers
nail clippers
cloth tape measures
metal tape measures
etc.

Do you all think in these terms, and what did you decide--one or more than one?

[rosarugosa]

Tybee: I am OK with just one thing in many instances, but it does depend on the thing. It seemed like I was always reaching for scissors that were not in their designated place, so one day I bought several pairs of scissors at a discount store, and now we have scissors everywhere. It is a vast improvement. If it is something just used by me, one will usually suffice since I'm quite disciplined about putting things away. One is also enough even if we both use it, if it is only used in one location (e.g. tweezers in the bathroom).

[Tybee]

Good points-- I have lots of pairs of glasses under this reasoning, in my purse, upstairs and downstairs.

[pinkytoe]

I never had multiples until we moved to this multi-story house. There are now duplicates of certain things like scissors, pens and reading glasses on each floor. Going up and down stairs to fetch everyday items got old real quick.

[iris lilies]

I still have this dilemma with sheets, and will have it with towels, all in our Hermann house.

Here where we live it is easy, no dilemma. We have two bedrooms and main bathroom on 2nd floor and a large linen corset, so all stay in one place.

When we “downsize” to Hermann we will have 4 bedrooms and 3 bathrooms on two floors. Seems to me each floor will need supplies.

I have this problem with scissors. Need scissors on first and second floor. Tweezers I have both in the car ( because I tweeze while in the car) and at the table where I sit the most.

[Gardnr]

The point was there are a lot of things you need, but you can go with either a several of them in different places in the house, or one in a known place that gets put back after use. On this list I can think of
pairs of glasses I have them everywhere. They are from the $ store. Good sunglasses? 1 pair and always by my purse when not on my head.
tweezers- 1 really good
staplers- 1 in the office cabinet under my sewing table
tape dispensers-nope. We use so little tape I have a plastic container type in our "office drawer" in the kitchen. 1 regular and 1 double stick (8+ y old?)
nail clippers- nope. 1 in my purse, 1 in dish in our family room, 1 in my bathroom basket.
cloth tape measures- no cloth but 2 for sewing. 1 at home and 1 at the cabin
metal tape measures-2 in hubbies shop
etc.

Do you all think in these terms, and what did you decide--one or more than one?

My responses are embedded.

[Simplemind]

In most cases I can and do get by with one thing in one spot. The exception is garden tools. We have a big yard and I hate dragging stuff from the back to the front. With the exception of motorized tools I keep a basket of hand tools along with a couple of shovels and rakes in the front and the same for the back.

[JaneV2.0]

I'm working on upstairs and downstairs computers.

[Tybee]

These responses are so interesting--it's obviously something that depends on size of house, stairs, and amount of use item gets--so one balances all these depending on circumstance.

And if you have a small one story house, you need fewer items.

(Not that my husband would ever agree to a small one story house.)

[JaneV2.0]

A return to a small, one-story house is a dream of mine.