If given only five minutes to declutter the home, I know I would first run to pick the clothes, books and utensils lying out of place. These are always the major items that make my home look cluttered and I won’t be wrong if I say that I can’t really go about my day if any of these items are lying disorganized. Of course, that doesn’t mean that my home looks perfectly organized once I put the clothes in cupboard, books in the shelf and utensils back in the kitchen drawer.
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Decluttering never gets fully done until you pay attention to every single thing that’s wrong with your house. Right from cleaning the carpet to setting that crooked picture frame in the right position to getting rid of the dust that seems to come back every 5 seconds, decluttering is a journey that never comes to an end. You just keep doing it because you want to feel comfortable in your home.
Keeping a home organized and clutter-free isn’t as easy as it sounds. And if you have kids at home, you are in for one never-ending ride. What’s more exhausting is to realize that despite doing a complete deep cleaning of that living space, it continues to look cluttered and untidy.
So how do you really put it together without having to spend your entire weekend cleaning it? How can you actually get rid of the clutter in the minimum possible time? The answer is simple. A few things at home, no matter good an organizer you are, can make your home look cluttered if gone unnoticed. You can take note of these things that are possibly stealing the visual appeal of your home without you even realizing it:
1. The Refrigerator Front
While you may not realize it, your fridge often becomes an area of clutter with all the sticky notes you keep attaching to it. The refrigerator door, within no time, ends up becoming a collection of reminders and stickers making the entire kitchen look cluttered. Consider removing any item from the outside of the fridge that is possibly causing clutter and you’ll be surprised by how it can enhance the overall look of your kitchen. Besides that, try not to stack containers and jars on top of the fridge to prevent it from looking messy and untidy.
2. Mismatched storage
You can’t do away with storage if you wish to keep your home organized. But even the storage can make your home look cluttered if all you have is a collection of mismatched containers and boxes lying all over the place. Consider replacing those mismatched baskets and containers with transparent storage boxes or the ones that are similar in colors and sizes.
3. A Littered Floor
The floor of my house always ends up becoming the dumping ground for stuff that doesn’t belong there. Chocolate wrappers, shoes, bags and even utensils – everything that has no business lying on the floor somehow finds a space there. Over time, I built an OCD against clutter so much so that I can’t stand a single item lying unnecessarily on the floor. I just pick them and put them in a basket that I always keep in a corner of my living room. A decluttered floor certainly makes the home look beautiful and tidy.
4. Dim lighting
Off late, I realized how important it is for your home to have proper light fixtures that can keep it bright enough during the day. Dim lighting takes away the visual appeal of the house making it look more cluttered than it actually is. Consider replacing those dim light fixtures with the ones that are bright enough to light up the dark corners of your house.
5. Overflowing Dishes
Dirty dishes piling up in the kitchen sink are bound to make the entire place look dingy and cluttered. But if you get into a habit of doing the dishes right after having your meals, it can help you save a lot of time and energy besides keeping your kitchen clean throughout the day.
6. Unmade Bed
Make it a habit to make your bed the first thing in the morning and you’ll feel amazing about how this one-minute task can make your room look absolutely neat and clean.
7. Cluttered Surfaces
Flat surfaces like tabletops, kitchen countertops and coffee table are more likely to become the dumping grounds for the mess. Clear those flat surfaces and make storage spaces for every little thing in your house so they don’t end up cluttering your countertops.
8. Unused Stuff
Your home might unknowingly be the depository for a lot of stuff that has either not been used for years or is not usable anymore. Expired beauty products and medicines, duplicate items, lidless cans and containers are just a few of the things that are being a huge cause of clutter at your home despite being of no use to you. Get rid of these things today to be able to make space for the more important stuff.
9. Neglected Laundry
Laundry at your home is bound to multiply with every passing hour. A neglected pile of laundry, whether clean or dirty, can make the entire room look messy. Try restricting the dirty clothes to a hamper until you get time to wash them and put away the clean ones in a closet after folding them properly.
10. Paper Clutter
Managing paper clutter is often the hardest thing to do being that paper always manages to find its way back to your home in the form of bills, physical mails, newspapers and magazines. But what really messes up the look of your house is the heap of those bills lying on the coffee table and the physical mail stacking up on the dining table. The best way to tackle paper clutter is to organize all the important mails and letters in a drawer or a folder. Besides that, put all the bills in a box and throw away the magazines and newspapers that aren’t needed anymore.
So when you don’t know where to start or if you have a time crunch to do complete decluttering of your home, look to declutter these 10 things and you’ll be grateful to have a perfectly organized living space.