One or more of an item? [Archive] - Simple Living Forums

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Tybee

2-9-20, 11:10am

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

2-9-20, 11:44am

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

2-9-20, 11:48am

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

pinkytoe

2-9-20, 12:06pm

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

2-9-20, 12:28pm

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

2-9-20, 12:32pm

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

2-9-20, 12:42pm

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

2-9-20, 12:52pm

I'm working on upstairs and downstairs computers.

Tybee

2-9-20, 12:54pm

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

2-9-20, 1:12pm

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

Teacher Terry

2-9-20, 1:20pm

When I lived alone one was plenty because I put things away. With a messy husband we have multiples in various places. Reading glasses are in 4 rooms and in my purse. I have lived most of my life in a 2 or 3 story house. I love having a small one story. We sold half of our furniture when we moved here and cleaning is so much faster.

SteveinMN

2-9-20, 1:42pm

For us it all depends on the amount of use it gets and the amount of space it takes up.

For instance, there are at least three pairs of scissors in the house (excluding scissors used for sewing or manicuring or kitchen shears): one in the kitchen and one in each of our "offices". The kitchen pair is in use often. There is a pair in each office because I have a good pair of scissors while DW's is about the cheapest (and dullest) pair imaginable; I find hers unusable. I keep my pair hidden. ;)

Currently we have our vacuum upstairs and MiL's old one (from when she moved to assisted living) downstairs. Beats lugging the old upright up and down the stairs. But I don't think I'd have gone out to purchase a second vacuum just for downstairs and I'm disinclined to replace it when it goes. But it sits in a corner quietly most of the time and it's handy so it remains.

I will admit to spare food processor parts, a duplicate of our electric food steamer, and a spare carafe for our coffeemaker, all in the back of our pantry. I stock these because the original items are long discontinued; official parts (if you can get them) are hideously expensive; and the products we could buy to replace them likely would be of lower quality. We've kept our coffeemaker going for about 15 years now by replacing the carafes when the old ones broke. It cost about one third as much to buy the entire food processor at Goodwill than it was to buy just a replacement workbowl/feed tube/etc. at an appliance Web site (again, assuming you could find those parts at all) and that likely keep the food processor going for another 40 years (if it doesn't, I've got a motor base that's ready to go). Small investment in money and space that's already paid off.

Tybee

2-9-20, 1:51pm

Steve, we do the same thing with coffee carafes, and would if I saw Cuisinart parts.

catherine

2-9-20, 3:07pm

I have always had a plastic shoebox in my sideboard with duplicates of basic tools: hammer, screwdriver, metal tape measure). I hated having to go out to the garage if I just needed a simple screwdriver. I put labels on the tools I wanted to stay in the house so they wouldn't wind up back in the garage with the rest of the tools.

I do like multiple pairs of scissors: one in the office, one in the kitchen, and another spare somewhere.

DH has reading glasses all over the place.

The other stuff on the list I'm fine with one of.

As for sheets, I would love to get away with one set per bed, but every time I think I'm going to be able to strip the bed, and wash and dry the sheets in one day, I wind up ready to go to bed before remembering that the sheets are in the washer, wet.

Tybee

2-9-20, 3:10pm

Teacher Terry

2-9-20, 3:14pm

I am down to 3 pairs of sheets per bed. I won’t go lower than 2.

KayLR

2-10-20, 2:59pm

Along with scissors, I add seam rippers (2), one for my sewing basket, one at the machine.

Also, at each end of the house I have step-stools (and one in the garage) and those reacher-grabber things. Because I'm short.

happystuff

2-10-20, 5:52pm

Mine is pens. At the desk, above the kitchen calendar, by each phone w/paper, with grocery list, upstairs by bed, in bag, and at least one in each car.

Yppej

2-10-20, 6:05pm

I have scissors, reading glasses, etc in the car as well as the house.

rosarugosa

2-10-20, 7:05pm

I don't really sew other than mending, but I do have a second seam ripper and tape measure that live in the night-table drawer. The other set is in my sewing box, and I guess I'm too lazy to get that out all the time.

NewGig

2-10-20, 8:51pm

I do both. We have 2 containers of tape. The packing tape and scotch tape live upstairs. The painter's tape, duct tape, etc. live downstairs.

We have main supplies of things in one place and then a few pieces in another: rulers for one, the main supply is upstairs. The smaller ones are downstairs. The specialized woodworking ones and the drafting ones are in the workshop.

Scissors the same way. All the tiny ones are stuck in florist foam in a purple cow creamer in the kitchen. The cow looks like it went to a bull fight in a nail parlor ;-) Yes, I"m weird, but it tickles my funny bone everytime I look at it. The main scissor supply is elsewhere. And there are some in the sewing kit too.

etc.

However, culling dupes? I got rid of my medium Pyrex measuring cup, also the medium bowl scraper. I always use either the big one or the little one. Why do I need the medium one too?