Hand placing items using the "grab" function or workshop (which is a nicer way to go) is almost pointless. Every time I return home, I find many different items I've placed have either shifted to unusual locations, sank into whatever they were sitting on, or have completely disappeared. Sometimes those items that ended up disappearing will show back up in a pile in an odd location. I'm using Home Base right now and those items will usually pile up near the front door. Hell, even magazines that you place in a magazine rack's actual inventory end up falling off. At this point I've just given up. I stored all non-static items in a chest. One of the massive features of this game is custom building our own bases/settlements. It's not quite as fun when this particular part of it is just so broken. What's the point in building shelving and tables when you can't put anything on them and rest assured they'll stay that way?