Expert Tips On Decluttering The 5 Messiest Rooms In Your Home!

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According to Peter Walsh, author of several bestsellers on decluttering and organization, “clutter is not just the stuff in your closet. It’s anything that gets between you and the life you want to be living.” How does your stuff get between you and the life you envision? There are several telltale signs:

• Stress and anxiety, making you feel overwhelmed and unable to find peace in your own home. 
• Frequently lost items, limited space, and even health hazards such as dust or mold accumulation. 
• Lower efficiency and missed opportunities. 
• Duplicate purchases because items are hard to find.

To paraphrase popular advice from psychologists, recognize that clutter is preventing you from moving forward. Now you’ve taken is the first step toward creating a more organized, positive space!

What This Means for You — If you find that maintaining and cleaning your home is taking up too much time and effort, experts suggest that eliminating clutter can reduce household chores by up to 40%. By decluttering key areas of your home, precious time can be saved and that’s the one thing you can never replace!

Are you looking for some new home design products that contribute to decluttering and organizing your living space? Click here.
 

Ground Zero: Curbing Kitchen Clutter
 

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The kitchen is a frequent repository for clutter due to its role as a high-traffic, multifunctional space. As every family knows, a kitchen is not just for cooking and eating. It is also a popular place for socializing with guests, doing homework, and managing household tasks. By merging these activities, a variety of items—ranging from cooking utensils and appliances to mail and school papers—can quickly accumulate. 

Additionally, many kitchens are located near main entrances, making them convenient drop-off points for bookbags, car keys, and other daily essentials. Without effective storage solutions, these items begin to create a cluttered and chaotic environment. 

Pro Tips for Kitchen Clutter

Creating hidden storage in the kitchen is a smart way to maximize space and keep the kitchen looking sleek and clutter-free. 

• Pull-out pantries can be installed in small gaps between appliances or cabinets, offering storage for canned goods, spices, and other pantry items. 
• Toe-kick drawers, located at the base of cabinets, utilize often-wasted space below cabinetry, perfect for storing flat items like baking sheets or cutting boards. 
• Kitchen islands can feature built-in drawers, shelves, or hidden compartments, while drop-down racks under upper cabinets can store spices or utensils.

Other tips and tricks for getting this space shipshape include:

• Zone your kitchen to organize space. Brick or stone accents can beautifully delineate different zones in your kitchen—such as cooking, prepping, and dining areas. This creates a visually appealing and organized environment.
• Take that kitchen outside! During warm weather, there is no better way to reduce kitchen clutter than with an outdoor entertainment space that includes food prep, food storage, refrigeration and cooking grills. Click here to get excellent ideas for this delicious decluttering tactic. 

When The Great Room Is a Great Big Mess
 

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Great rooms serve multiple functions, such as a living room, dining area, and playroom, making them versatile and accommodating to the diverse needs of a quickly expanding family arrangement: the multigenerational household.

However, their versatility also makes them “clutter central.” Because of the constant movement from busy families, this room often lacks clear boundaries for different activities. As a result, toys, electronics, mail, books, and personal belongings accumulate wherever there is an open space. Transforming a cluttered great room into an orderly oasis can be quite an undertaking, but it’s certainly achievable. Just ask Marie Kondo.
 

Pro Tips for Decluttering the Great Room

• Adopt the One-Touch Rule: According to Meaghan Kessman, an organizer from Los Angeles, decide what to do with an item as soon as you touch it—put it away, recycle it, or donate it.
• Evening Tidy-Up: Kessman also suggests spending 10 to 15 minutes each evening to tidy up—fold blankets, put away remotes, and clear the day’s clutter.
• Dual-Purpose Furniture: Invest in furniture that doubles as storage, such as ottomans with hidden compartments or coffee tables with drawers.

Broaching Bedroom Bedlam
 

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To transform a cluttered bedroom into a serene, relaxing space, homeowners must get back to the basics. To set a proper tone, make the bed every day. Doing so instantly makes things look neater and sets the tone for the rest of the room. 
According to principles of feng shui, a clutter-free room promotes positive energy flow, contributing to a harmonious and restful environment.

Pro Tips for Beating Back Bedroom Bedlam

• Clear off surfaces like nightstands and dressers, keeping only essentials and a few decorative items. 
• Utilize under-bed storage, closet organizers, and hooks to maximize storage. Keep daily essentials within easy reach and organize drawers with dividers to separate small items. 
• Spend a few minutes each night tidying up and choose a minimalist decor approach to create a calm, peaceful environment. 
   

Clutter Busting the Home Office
 

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The pandemic encouraged many businesses to allow their workers to work from home. This trend has continued, in one form (hybrid) or another. As could have been predicted by simply taking a quick look at the average worker’s work space at an office, home offices have even more working for/against them. 
 
They often become cluttered because they serve multiple functions and may lack a clearly defined purpose. As flexible spaces, these workspaces tend to collect items that don’t have a specific “home” elsewhere in the house. Their convenient location makes them an easy spot to drop things quickly, which can lead to disorganization. Additionally, when other areas of the home become overcrowded, the overflow often ends up in the home office. To prevent this, it’s important to establish clear uses for the space and regularly tidy up to maintain order.

Pro Tips on Clutter Busting the Home Office

• Organize Supplies: Use storage solutions like bins, drawers, and shelves to keep supplies organized. Label everything for easy access.
• Minimize Paper: Go digital wherever possible. Scan documents and save them on your computer or in the cloud. Recycle or shred old papers that you no longer need.
• Invest in Storage: Consider investing in good storage solutions, like filing cabinets, bookshelves, and desk organizers, to keep everything in its place.
• Handle deliveries more efficiently. Every day, important documents, sales samples of products, and dozens of other items show up on the front porch and are subject to being stolen by wily porch pirates. One way to prevent this is by installing the Box Gobbler ™ from MB Sentinel.

Garage Storage: From Overflow to Organized

In many contemporary garages, there is no room for vehicles. There is just too much stuff, piling up willy nilly. Garages frequently turn into a catch-all room for items lacking a specific spot in the home . Items used seasonally, like holiday decorations or gardening tools, contribute to clutter when not stored properly. 
 
Plus, many people have a hard time parting with various “treasures” (some of which have been broken for years) even when they are no longer needed. Garages or other rooms in the home can quickly become overwhelmed with these items. The truth is, the longer clutter is left unattended, the more daunting it becomes to tackle. 

Organization experts offer hope to restore order.

Pro Tips for Organizing a Messy Garage

• Maximize Ceiling Space: Utilize overhead storage for items that are not frequently used, like seasonal decorations or camping gear, to keep them out of the way.
• Use Clear Containers: Clear storage bins allow you to see the contents without having to open each one, which can save time and reduce frustration.
• Plan for Accessibility: Ensure that frequently used items are easily accessible, and store less frequently used items higher up or further back.
• Stay Disciplined: Maintain discipline by sticking to an organization system and involving all family members in keeping the garage neat.

For a deeper dive in garage decluttering, click here. 

Transformation

Organization expert Peter Walsh categorizes clutter in two ways – “memory clutter” and “I might need it one day clutter.” Memory clutter reminds us of the past, some of which is warm, fuzzy and pleasant. To deal with this type of clutter, he advises that homeowners designate a spot in the home for keepsakes and create a digital archive of things that you are passing on.  

The other form of clutter are things that you might potentially get around to using one of these days. With both types of clutter, evaluate the significance. Keep a donation box for items that you are unsure of, and if you haven’t retrieved the item in a few weeks, let it go. You don’t need it. 

Walsh reminds us that decluttering isn’t about physical items, it’s about letting go of that which no longer serves us and making more room in our lives for what truly matters!
 

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