To Decant or not to Decant?

Apartment Therapy

I *heart* organization. Systems that wrangle loose cables and cords, make it easy to see things at a glance, and save space give me emoji heart eyes. But I find the trend to decant everything crazy-making. This is my decant rant. 

I've got nothing against decanting cotton swabs and cotton balls in the bathroom. It certainly looks pretty. But more than that, it makes it easier to find what I need in the morning. Plus, I only need to top up the containers every month or so. And it's not messy to decant them.

Martha Stewart

Decanting shampoos and conditioners is more trouble than it's worth. I prefer not to store bottles in the shower at all, but keep them in bins in the linen closet. This means taking them out and putting them back every time I shampoo, but that's no more time consuming than decanting them weekly. And because, mess.

The Home Edit

When it comes to the kitchen pantry, it makes sense to use decanters for bulk foods you find in bins at natural food stores. Things like beans, nuts, grains and possibly loose oats. If you buy in bulk, you decant because the bag you bring it home in isn't sufficient to keep the foods fresh. 

A Beautiful Mess

And I'm all for bins, baskets, and boxes that keep a bunch of loose bags from falling out the pantry every time you open the door.

Classy Clutter

A decanted pantry is certainly easy on the eyes.

The Budget Decorator

But you'll never catch me decanting my baking supplies, such as flours and sugars. Perhaps this is because I don't bake a lot. Bakers, does it make it any easier to measure amounts out properly when cooking? Or perhaps the flours and sugars keep longer? I'm willing to be persuaded.

House of Turquoise

Decanted pastas? No way, no how. It just seems more trouble than it's worth.

The Home Edit

Cereals — one of the great mysteries of shelter stylists to me is the decanted cereals. Most families would be decanting five or six boxes of cereal each week, and why? Just for the uniformity? When upkeeping the system of organization takes longer than having no system at all, I draw the line. Because isn't the whole purpose of organization is to make life maintenance faster and easier?

The Home Edit

I'd be decanting every week if I wanted my spices to look like this. I'll settle for keeping each spice in it's original container, but corralling the bottles in bins. Less time, less mess, but still organized enough to quickly what I'm looking for.

How about you? Do you decant? Why or why not?