8 Things that Make Your Home Look Cluttered

Things that Make Your Home Look Cluttered

Here are some of the things that make your home look cluttered. Discover tips that will help you reduce clutter and simplify your home and life.

Even though your home may be clean, it can still look cluttered. Having too much clutter in your home can be stressful for some people. 

It can also lead to more work dusting and cleaning. To simplify your home and your life, reduce clutter with these easy tips.

These tips will help your home look less cluttered. However, it’s important to get rid of excess items so you have less to put away each day and fewer things on your surfaces.

When you’re creating a space to organize your items, it’s important to keep it simple. If it’s too complicated, then you and your family won’t stick with the system and your home will soon be cluttered again. 

You may also want to read this article on what to do with decluttered items.

Related Decluttering Article:

• 12 Tips for Handling Decluttering Overwhelm

Why Should You Reduce Clutter

A cluttered home is a matter of personal preference. Some people don’t like to see anything on counters or on shelves, but others want to display important, pretty, or useful objects on surfaces in their home.  

However, too much clutter can be stressful. It can be a distraction and lead to decreased attention and increased stress. 

You may look at a pile of papers or a too full shelf and become stressed thinking about how you will get rid of it or organize it.

Having less clutter also makes cleaning easier. Instead of picking up each item to dust, you can save time by cleaning the shelf without dusting each individual item.

Reducing clutter can save you time. If your possessions aren’t organized, you’ll spend valuable time looking for them and moving things out of the way to find what you need.

Clutter can cost you money too. Not only did you spend money buying the items, but if you have too much, you may lose items and have to buy them again. 

You may also need to buy more shelves or storage boxes to store your items in.

8 Things that Make Your Home Look Cluttered

#1. Refrigerator

Clean both the outside and the inside of your fridge weekly. For the inside, this helps get rid of expired or spoiled food. 

You’ll be able to find what you need, so you won’t buy more and waste any.  

For most families, the outside of the fridge is a place to keep important paperwork and even children’s artwork. 

As much as you want to display their precious artwork, it can quickly become cluttered.  

Make a point to clear off your fridge once a week. Move paperwork to its designated area or file for the future.  

#2. Dishes

Dishes are also a source of clutter in the kitchen. Your kitchen will look many times better if there are no dishes sitting out, whether they are clean or dirty.  

Get into a habit of washing, drying, and putting away dishes every day. Your sink should be empty and clean before you go to bed each night.

#3. Kitchen Counters

Kitchen counters are notorious for getting cluttered, and it makes your kitchen look dirty. 

You may not even want to cook or spend time in your kitchen because of the clutter. 

With so many kitchen gadgets and tools available, it’s easy to overbuy and keep too much.

To declutter your kitchen counters, keep appliances and kitchen tools in drawers and cabinets and not on the counter. As you are organizing, get rid of anything that you haven’t used in six months.  

You may have some holiday dishes or tools that you only use to make a special dish or dessert for the holidays. 

In that case, consider storing them in a box in the basement, garage, or in a closet so they are not in your kitchen.

Related: Keeping Flat Surfaces Clutter Free – Flat Surface Decluttering Rules

#4. Laundry

Like dishes, laundry never ends. Each family has their own laundry system. Some wash one day a week and put away all of their clothes at the same time. Others wash one load at a time.

No matter which system you use, be diligent about folding and putting away clothes as soon as they are clean. This reduces wrinkles so you’ll look more put together, too.

If you find it overwhelming to put away laundry, I suggest washing one load at a time.  Do not start another load until the first load is washed, dried, and put away.  

Putting away one load isn’t as overwhelming as putting away several loads at a time.  

#5. Paperwork

Paperwork can quickly take over your home if it’s not kept in check. It’s important to create a system for your family that is easy to use so you can easily find paperwork when you need it.

Consider getting a file folder and using a separate file for each category and one for each family member.  

If you don’t have time to file paperwork daily, set it in a basket or in one place so that you can go through it weekly or monthly. 

Here are more tips on how to reduce paper clutter.

#5. Clutter Hotspots

Hot spots are places that clutter naturally collects. This could be your entryway, a kitchen counter, or your table. 

This is where family members place items quickly without putting them away. 

To reduce hot spots, keep track of what is placed there. Then determine where its proper place is.  

If it’s coats and shoes, determine why they aren’t put away. For example, younger children might not be able to reach a hanger to put away a coat. You might want to hang hooks on the wall so they can reach them.  

For shoes, place a shoe rack near the entryway. Then remind your family that only one pair of shoes per person can be out at a time. Other shoes belong in their rooms or in a closet.  

If paperwork collects in hot spots, create a dedicated space for paperwork and file it daily or weekly. 

Want more information on clutter hotspots? You may want to read this article on clutter hotspots and how to tackle them.

#6. Decorations

We all want to display decorations in our homes. Some may have sentimental value, some you just might like how it looks. (You may also want to read how to declutter sentimental stuff)

If you have too many decorations, it may be time to purge. Consider getting rid of some so that the ones you really do love or want to keep have their own space.  

If your shelves are cluttered, get rid of items that aren’t practical or don’t need to be displayed. 

If you have reference books that aren’t used often, consider placing them in boxes and storing them until needed.  

#7. Furniture

Too much furniture can lead to excessive clutter. If each home is filled with furniture, it can be visually distracting. 

If you have family heirlooms or antiques, then it may be hard to part with them.  

You may want to offer family heirlooms to other family members. If no one else wants it and you do not have a use for it or the space for it, then do not feel guilty selling it and creating a less stressful home.

For your remaining furniture, keep them clean and uncluttered. Limit the number of throw pillows and blankets that you keep on your furniture.  

Make it a point to clear items off your furniture every night so that you don’t wake up to clutter.

#8. Toys

Children can amass a lot of toys, and this can create clutter all over your home. Before trying to tame the mess, go through your children’s toys and get rid of the ones that they don’t play with anymore.  

Then determine a good storage system. Bins are easy for children to use so they can put away their own toys.  

Chances are even after getting rid of several toys, your children will still have too many. Store half of them in plastic bins. Then in a month or so, bring out those toys and store the ones they are playing with. Keep rotating them so your children have “new” toys each month. 

Related Decluttering Articles:

• How to Declutter Toys
• How to Start Decluttering Your Home

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