Buying Less(but better) Really Is More
How purchasing fewer but higher quality products improved my life and inspired me to start a business
Acclaimed author Kurt Vonnegut Jr. once said that we should “Enjoy the little things in life because one day you’ll look back and realize they were the big things.”
Living through a global pandemic forced all of us to spend more time inside — and often this meant making purchases just to get through daily life. Maybe a heavy blanket to keep us warm in the winter, or a better home office setup for remote work. Now, as we return to a more “normal” life, our homes are full of the remnants of this unique time.
For me, it also meant becoming much more aware of all of the stuff inside my small one bedroom apartment. After a few weeks stuck inside I started to wonder, is all this stuff really making my life better?
As Amazon has risen to become a dominant e-commerce marketplace, accumulating more stuff has become as easy as a click of the mouse. When we’re faced with a busy daily schedule and an endless flood of similar items, sometimes it feels easier to just buy the cheapest product and move on.
While buying more stuff has gotten easier, owning so many items isn’t making us happier. A 2019 study by Sabrina Helm at the University of Arizona found that when people reduced consumption, this led to decreased psychological distress and had a positive effect on their well-being.
Bestselling author and expert on the experience economy James Wallman takes this idea further, relating overconsumption to a feeling of suffocation.
Having too much stuff and feeling suffocated is damaging for your mental health.
— James Wallman
After learning more about the adverse effects of owning so much stuff I decided it was time to re-evaluate my consumption habits and acknowledge that my stuff may be bringing me down. During this process I not only refined the products I use, but I was motivated to start a company. Fiberologies is my contribution to help everyone get a little more joy from their towels.
Rethinking my stuff
Research suggests we should reduce our clutter, but that doesn’t mean we need to get rid of everything in our lives. I believe that it’s more of a call to action to pay more attention to what we buy by valuing design, durability, and sustainability over speed and quantity.
I’m trained as an architect, so design and usability already drive my professional work. As we emerged from the initial pandemic lockdown, it felt like the right time to apply these ideas to the more practical aspects of my life and re-evaluate whether the household items I was using most were really bringing me joy.
I started where I start my day, with my coffee cups.
For my daily cup of joe, I was using plain white cups that were part of a generic IKEA bulk set. The cups got the job done. I could drink coffee from them without spilling and put them in the dishwasher to clean, and the design was clean and simple. Nevertheless, I realized that since my coffee cup was an item I valued in my life, I could be using something better.
I decided to invest in a set of coffee cups I loved holding and drinking from, which I’d want to keep with me as I grow older. I bought myself some non-glazed porcelain mugs with a comforting neutral tone and immediately felt a difference. I was much more relaxed at the start of the day, and the coffee stayed hotter for longer, stretching out a part of my routine I really enjoy.
As a designer, I was glad to have a cup produced with function in mind. A generous handle hole and a bit of texture on the outside of the cup meant I always had a solid grip even when the cup was hot.
I had made a simple change, replacing a whole set of generic, throw-away cups with a product that was higher quality and would last me for years.
My kitchen towels were another household item I found myself unhappy with. I was suddenly cooking at home much more often, and with the sudden scarcity of paper towels, I purchased a cheap bulk set of kitchen towels on Amazon. While the price was great, as I used the towels more, I soon became disappointed. They didn’t look good, they didn’t dry quickly after use (so often smelled), and they were already starting to thread after just a few washes.
I started looking for something better, but the amount of options available online was overwhelming. Every company was offering cheap bulk packs of towels, or the same terry cloth fabrics that have been underwhelming for years. I ended up buying a few different towels, none of which were very satisfying. Yet after my experience with my coffee cup, I knew that this small household item could be part of a bigger change in my life. What’s more, if I couldn’t find towels that brought me joy, I figured other people may have the same problem.
My design instincts were tingling as I thought about this issue. It felt like it was time for me to take matters into my own hands and design something better. Maybe even something that could help challenge the current online market for buying towels.
Inspired to make better stuff
To start the process I looked at how we currently buy towels. While there are many different sizes and different categories, it’s hard to find towels for all of your household routines in one place.
I set a goal to challenge the current pattern of purchasing towels one-by-one by developing a complete home set with each designed specifically for a daily task. Towels that are environmentally friendly, long-lasting, look good in my home, and most importantly get the job done.
I started thinking about a typical day in my life and the number of times I was using towels. This helped me narrow my focus to four daily routines that I take part in almost every day.
- Washing my face
- Drying my hands after washing
- Different jobs while cooking
- Cleaning up after cooking
With my design goals in mind, I set about learning as much as I could about which factors influence a towel’s quality. This narrowed my focus to two things: the yarns that make up a towel and the weave used to turn these yarns into fabric.
Each of my four routines required a product with a different weave and blend of fibers. Based on this, I developed four unique towels designed to bring me the maximum amount of joy and utility.
Each towel uses durable plant-based materials that are beautiful to look at and woven together in a way that supports the task they’re created for. This range of four towels I developed based on my needs eventually led to the initial product line for my company.
- The Face Washer
- The Hand Dryer
- The Chef’s Helper
- The Mess Eraser
These often-overlooked accessories now add a touch more joy to my daily life and I wanted to share that feeling with others, so I started Fiberologies, to bring better towels to everyone.
I hope my journey to re-evaluate my stuff and improve my towels can serve as inspiration for everyone to rethink shopping habits and focus on long-lasting, high-quality products rather than the cheapest, quickest option. It’s time to seek out products that bring us just a little bit of joy every time we use them. It’s time to pay more attention to the small things that make everyday life better.
