Curious, I asked what he meant. He explained that in his native Japan, “cute” is a serious value for everything – products, clothes, technology, and other commercial ventures. The power of cute is an important part of his culture – and probably for plenty of other cultures as well even if they don’t verbalize it.

I love cute. Cute is good. And yes, it’s for grown-ups as well as kids. I never realized how important the power of cute is to my organizing clients and, well, to myself too. You would think I would have realized that by the reactions we all have at places like The Container Store, IKEA, and Target. These three stores have built their reputations on the power of cute. If I had a nickel for every time I’ve oohed and aahed about something cute while shopping at these places, I would have the cutest pile of cash you ever saw.

My organizing clients prefer using cute and fun organizing products vs. something plain and boring. The cute stuff catches their eye, reminds them, and keeps their life more organized. Cute works on the professional organizer too. When my department moved into a new office building last summer with metal gray institutional furniture, I bought a few cute items from SeeJaneWork.com to add some color to my work world. My boss kept bringing people into my office to show them my super cute stuff. Behold, the power of cute.

Value the power of cute. When you’re thinking about organizing your space at work and home, don’t forget The Cute.