The older I get, the more I realize that every household seems to have a different relationship with vases. Some love them and have them in every room in matching colors and shapes, whereas others grab for an empty jam jar to fill with water on the rare occasion that their home welcomes a bunch of flowers.
This train of thought got me thinking about how many vases anyone needs, and when you have gone overboard and need to start considering how to declutter your home's collection. So I spoke to professional organizers to hear their thoughts on collecting vases, and when they feel someone should let some vases go. We also talked a bit about the most common mistake when choosing a vase, and what vases are the most versatile choice. Here’s what they had to say.
How many vases should you keep?
There is no set number for how many vases a home "should" have, but there are a number of factors that a person can think about when assessing how many vases a space requires.
Ask yourself questions such as, "How often do I receive flowers?" and "How big is my space?" before narrowing broader thoughts down further. If you have a big space, which spaces do you wish to display flowers in, and how many spaces are there in total? Do you only like to display flowers during the spring and summer? Do you like the sort of flowers that suit a tall vase? Are the vases you currently have doing a good job of displaying them?
Once you have finished reflecting, it's time to assess your current vase collection. Gretchen Moen, chief clutter cutter at Cut the Clutter RVA, says, "Start by assessing your current vase collection. Count how many you own and evaluate how often you use each one. If a significant number of vases are rarely or never used, it might be time to rethink your collection."
Most homes contain some seasonal items, and vases may be included. If you have seasonal vases that are rarely used but highly loved, the fact you love and use them is what's important!
The idea of knowing the use for each vase you own is something recommended by the experts I talked to as well. Jocelyn Bennett and Nicole Brown, co-founders of weOrganize, LLC, say, "We try to keep our vases to specific needs and rooms. Jocelyn has six vases and uses them for assorted sizes of live flowers whereas Nicole has vases for decorative means and enjoys both live and fake flowers in each room of the house throughout the year. It's important to know what the use of each vase is, how often that use is put into production, and how much storage space there is to house vases when they aren't in use."
When should you let a vase go?
1. You have far too many of them
If you feel your home is far too cluttered and you own seventeen vases, that in itself sounds like a reason to consider letting some go. Having vases for every room can be a beautiful addition to a space, but only so long as you actually use them, appreciate them and gain value from them.
Owning fewer vases doesn't mean necessarily overcoming a scarcity mindset, it purely means you are being rational and keeping what is of use.
Mindy Godding, certified professional organizer, owner of Abundance Organizing, and president of the National Association of Productivity and Organizing Professionals (NAPO), shared this useful way to keep the number of vases in a person's house under control.
"My best recommendation for vases is to choose ONE location in your house in which to store them. Identifying a home can help give a category like vases boundaries: once the space is full, it’s time to make some decisions about what to purge."
2. Your vases have chips or cracks
A small chip or crack on a vase can feel like nothing to us and sometimes barely be visible. However, damages to your vases can have a larger impact than you may first realize, and will far from extend the life of your blooms.
"It's important to always let go of vases that are chipped or cracked because they will not be water-tight," says Mindy. This can cause your vase to leak, creating mess in your home and preventing your flowers from accessing a stable water supply.
Gretchen adds, "Cracks, chips, or discoloration can indicate that a vase is past its prime, and may be less likely to bring you joy. If a vase no longer brings you joy, contains damage, and no fits your home's aesthetic, it might be time to pass it on."
If you own a sentimental vase that is no longer usable for its original function due to damage, you could try to repurpose it elsewhere in your home. "Nicole had a vase that was from her great grandmother but it had a crack preventing her from using it as intended," says Jocelyn. "She instead chose to reuse the vase as a collage in another vase, combining pieces of the old vase with a new one made from clear glass. The clear glass meant Nicole could still see the pattern of her old vase clearly, and the vase welcomed a new lease of life."
Other potential vase-repurposing ideas include using them to store craft supplies such as knitting needles as a trick for organizing a craft room, using them to stand up wooden cooking utensils in the kitchen, or only using that particular vase to home faux florals.
3. They lack versatility
If your vases are overtly themed or statement vases, they run the risk of becoming one of the most difficult items to store in your home. These kinds of vases only see the light of day for a certain occasion every year, so ask yourself if they are worth the space they take up in your life.
"I personally favor holding on to neutral glass vases over novelty ceramic ones that have a theme, as they are more versatile for reuse," says Mindy.
If your holiday-specific vases were gifts and you've felt obligated to keep them for all these years, perhaps don't tackle those first while decluttering. Instead, place them in a pile of sentimental items to declutter on the side, then assess each one for damage before asking friends or family if the vase would get more use in their home than yours. That way, the item is getting the use it deserves and you likely won't feel as guilty for letting it go.
Your vases will also lack versatility if they are all the same. If your household welcome flowers of many different shapes and sizes, you need to own vases to accommodate that (for instance, stylists love to use tall vases to create big, impactful displays of flowers). Not doing this will result in your taller flowers being cramped up in too small of a space or little blooms falling inside a vase that is too big.
Jocelyn and Nicole say, "Space is essential in evaluating the amount and size of the vases that one can have. We have found that first pulling all of a home's vases out and clustering them by size, color and/or use is highly effective. Doing this provides a true perspective of how many vases of the same size, use and ability exist in a home. From there forward, a person can see where to create change."
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