Keeping an eye on household duplication
Ever found yourself buying something you’re sure you need, only to discover later that you already own not one but several of the same item?
That’s exactly what happened during a recent bedroom decluttering project, where I unearthed not one, not two, but nine lip balms (same brand and type, my client had an obvious preference) scattered across various drawers, bags, and coat pockets.
I thought of this small (yet surprising) discovery as the perfect example to show how duplication can become the norm in your home, sneaking into your drawers unnoticed, and taking up space.
The lip balm conundrum
From a Lean and Six Sigma perspective, duplication like this often come from a ‘lack of inventory management’. In short, we don’t see it and we don’t know it’s there. This is why decluttering your home is important.
Not having a clear system in place makes it easy to lose track of what we have and where it is. At home, this might mean repeatedly buying lip balms because you can’t find the one you already have… or even forgetting you own it entirely.
In Lean terms, this duplication wastes not only physical space but also your time, money, and mental energy.
The solution? Apply a little Kaizen-inspired thinking to your home.
First, take inventory: group similar items together and see what you actually have (those lip balms were hiding in plain sight!).
Next, assign each category a “home” so you’ll always know where to find things. For these lovely lip balms, we decided it would be the bedside table for the one in use, and the bathroom for the excess stock.
Finally, set a rule for restocking: don’t buy a new lip balm until you’re on the last one. This small habit can make a big difference in reducing duplication in your own home. And who knows? You might even realise you’re set for lip care for the next two years!
As a Lean Champion and professional home organiser, I’m always focused on reducing excess and prioritising what’s truly needed. In the end, this often translates to saving time, money, mental energy—or even all three.
So many lip balms!