I have proudspire manor, and I try to put the bugs in a jar on the stone mantle upstairs. When I finally get them up I leave, but when I come back they are all over the floor. Similarly, I set up a kettle and put gems in it, and when I reload the area the kettle and the gems are all over the floor with the kettle being in another room.

is there a way to fix this or is it just an annoying glitch?

Me thinks you have a poltergeist....

Who ya gonna call?

God I hope so, it annoys me as well.

Though I did find that if you pick them up and put put them in the same place, they tend to stay the second time. Not always mind you. One of those claw key thumgummyjigs just wouldn't stay put no matter how many times I placed it back.

I think its just a glitch that happens when the game loads your house's cell. I don't know of any way to fix it.

Items that come with the house reset when you leave and return after a while. That is so the game does not have to remember the position of all of those items and bloat the save game.

For example, if you knock a plate off of a table in your home and leave long enough, the next time you return the game engine will forget about the new position and put it in it's default position.

If you bring a new item into your house, it will likely stay where it is, since there is no default position.

Yeah i tried this too, the claws just won't stay put. it seemingly random for many things.

and the bugs in a jar....argh, I put them up there, and every time I reenter, they are on the floor in the same spot

I quit decorating my houses back in Oblivion. Physics is fine and all, but not in my home.