Ready to get serious about organizing your home once and for all?
Clutter sneaks up on you. One junk drawer seems harmless, but then…
It’s everywhere. It creeps into every room and makes everything feel smaller and more chaotic.
Sound familiar?
The good news is, there are some simple steps any homeowner can take to reclaim their space.
This is what’s inside:
- The Problem With Clutter
- Declutter by Room
- The Biggest Problem Area of All: Your Garage
- Storage Solutions That Actually Work
- How to Keep Clutter From Coming Back
The Problem With Clutter
Clutter is more of a problem than most people realize.
Sure, we all know cluttered spaces are unsightly. But mess takes a toll on day-to-day life in ways many people don’t even notice…
Lost time and energy searching for misplaced items. The stress of entering a home that’s already giving you anxiety. Money spent replacing items buried in the clutter.
But don’t just take our word for it…
Surveys consistently find that clutter is a major issue in most American households. In fact, recent surveys show that more than half of people across the country feel overwhelmed with the amount of stuff they have to deal with.
And most homeowners don’t realize how much clutter really impacts their lives…
Clutter isn’t just an eyesore. Studies show it actually has negative effects on productivity, sleep quality, and even relationships. A cluttered home environment has mental spillover effects that follow people around all the time.
For people who are completely out of space, one solution is to get a new garage for sale. Buying a prefab garage adds a whole new area of dedicated storage space without the need for time-consuming or expensive renovations. And it’s ideal for relocating some of the overflow clutter from the main house.
The best place to start? Tackling clutter one room at a time. And when it comes to the biggest offenders in terms of accumulated junk…
Declutter by Room
Decluttering the entire house in one go can feel overwhelming. It’s an invitation to procrastinate.
Instead, break it down into individual rooms. Focus on the area that frustrates you most and go from there. The smaller your space, the faster the win.
Here’s what to focus on for each room in your home:
Living Spaces
Always start with surfaces. Declutter countertops, tables, shelves, and entertainment centers first.
Ask yourself one simple question about each item: Does this belong here?
Only keep things that have a specific purpose and support the function of the room. Decorations are okay, but too many compete with each other instead of complementing the space.
Bedrooms
Closets are usually the easiest place to start. Pull everything out and sort into three piles: keep, donate, and trash. Give yourself a one-year cutoff. If you haven’t worn something in the past year, it’s time to let it go.
Nightstands are usually eye level so keep only the bare necessities. The more stuff on them, the more visual noise and distraction they create.
Kitchen
Go through every expiration date on every item in your kitchen. Donate duplicates of utensils and gadgets you don’t actually use. Organize cabinets with frequently used items within easy reach.
A kitchen that is well organized makes cooking more enjoyable.
The Biggest Problem Area of All: Your Garage
There’s one dirty little secret most homeowners don’t want to admit…
Your garage is almost certainly the most cluttered area in your entire home.
Yep, we said it. We already mentioned the big national surveys that show American garages are overloaded with clutter. Cars have become the forgotten priority of garages.
The biggest clutter battle of all, the garage, deserves its own dedicated section.
Garages get overrun because they’re “out of sight, out of mind”. That old furniture? Dump it in the garage for now. Those seasonal decorations? Throw them in the garage until next season.
Over time those small junk piles grow into a major storage problem. In fact, a CRAFTSMAN survey found that 36% of people store so much clutter in their garages that they can’t even fit their cars inside anymore.
There are a couple of solutions to garage clutter…
Storage Solutions That Actually Work
Storage is never the solution. In fact, it’s the problem.
Wait, what? You’ve just spent a bunch of time decluttering your home and now we’re telling you not to store things?
Believe it or not, a lot of people make that mistake. Buy bins, containers, closet organizers, shelves thinking it will magically make their mess go away. But more storage in a cluttered space only creates more hidden clutter.
Here’s the secret…
Clutter hides best where we least expect to look. Storage makes things visible so we feel like we’re not messing it up. Add bins and containers to a cluttered garage and you get organized clutter.
The best solution is to own less stuff in the first place.
Get your belongings decluttered properly, then smart storage can help you maintain order. A few things that really work:
Vertical Storage
Walls are hugely underutilized in most people’s garages. Pegboards, wall-mounted shelves, and hanging systems are ideal for keeping items accessible without taking up floor space.
Clear Containers
You can see inside at a glance. That means no more digging around trying to find what you need. Saves time and stops you from accidentally buying duplicates.
Label everything. Label every box, bin, shelf, pegboard, you name it. Makes everything easy to identify at a glance.
Place for Everything
Every item should have its own specific home. When you use something, it goes right back where it belongs.
The easier it is to put something away, the more likely you are to do it. Make dumping junk on the floor a more difficult choice than returning it to its proper place.
Multi-Purpose Furniture
Look for furniture pieces with built-in storage to save space. Ottomans with storage, beds with drawers, coffee tables with shelves. The more double-duty pieces you have, the more you free up available space in your home.
How to Keep Clutter From Coming Back
Decluttering is only half the battle. The rest is making sure the mess never comes back.
Building good habits takes a little longer than initial purging. But without some ongoing systems, that organized home will slowly revert to a state of chaos.
Try these tips for long-term decluttering:
One In, One Out
For every new item that comes into your home, get rid of something old. It keeps your possessions at a manageable level.
Regular Purges
Schedule time every quarter to declutter each room in the house. Purge whatever has accumulated since the last time you did it.
No Impulse Buying
Impulse buys are one of the leading causes of clutter creeping back in. When you want to buy something, wait 48 hours. If you still need it, buy it. Most impulse purchases never get missed.
Daily Reset
Spend 10 minutes at the end of every day just putting things back in their places. Do that every day and you’ll find it’s much easier to keep clutter at bay.
Pretty simple right?
The best organizing system is the one you can actually stick with. The more complicated something is, the less likely you are to do it. Stick to habits that make sense for your life.
Bringing It All Together
It’s possible to have an organized home, it just takes some effort.
Start with the room that’s giving you the most trouble. Work through it methodically. And apply those easy-to-follow decluttering steps from there.
Don’t forget the garage. It’s where the clutter tends to build up fastest. And since it’s also one of the easiest rooms to remodel, a new addition makes sense. Getting a garage for sale gives you tons of extra storage without tearing up the main house.
Here’s a final summary:
- Don’t organize before decluttering
- Tackle one room at a time
- Use vertical storage wherever possible
- Keep up good daily maintenance habits
Decluttered homes have time and energy savings that add up to more time doing the things you actually love. It’s a lifestyle upgrade you really won’t regret.
Further Reading
