I had never paid much attention to visual clutter in my room until I realized how distracting it can be. Even things like a laptop lying on the table top, books on the bedside table, phone charger on the bed, a chocolate wrapper lying on the floor, a towel hanging on the chair or an unmade bed can seem like too much of clutter to handle. Even though these are little things to be concerned about, together they can make a room look extremely unorganized.
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Visual clutter has been proven to work like a distraction that can hamper your productivity for the time it goes unaddressed. After spending an entire weekend cleaning the home, it can be frustrating to know that there’s still something causing the home to look untidy and cluttered. Decluttering would be of no use if there’s still visual clutter lurking around in your house.
Getting rid of visual clutter can be easy if you know what all things you need to do right to make the home look appealing. Besides that, the following tips, if followed through on a daily basis, can help you eliminate the visual clutter:
1. Use Containers Wherever Possible
Things that don’t have a proper place at home end up creating a lot of visual clutter. You open a packet of biscuits to eat and leave it on the bedside table because you don’t know where to keep it. Your office supplies are scattered all over because you haven’t yet designated them a place. One of the best ways to tackle the issue of visual clutter is to use containers as much as possible to house your things. Make containers your best friends in your journey towards decluttering as they can help you keep all your stuff together.
2. Identify the clutter pain points
Visual clutter is most likely to get settled in places like bedside table, dining table, bedroom floor and the bed. You may need to pay attention to these places in order to eliminate the clutter as they are often the dumping ground for stuff like chocolate wrappers, cellphone chargers, gadgets, remote controls and utensils. Even better is to prevent clutter from reaching these areas by keeping things right back to where they belong after using them or in a basket if you need them daily.
3. Use Storage Baskets And Boxes
I personally find it extremely distracting when someone leaves their shoes anywhere in the living room. The shoes that you are not wearing should either be put in the shoe rack or kept in a shoe storage basket that you can keep in the hallway. Similarly, you can use storage baskets to house stuff like handbags or wallets or anything that you may need while stepping out of the house. I have this tiny basket set up in my living room to hold the car keys, wrist watch and glasses.
4. Clear The Bathroom Countertops
Bathroom countertops can unknowingly be a major area for clutter to settle on. Even though I try my best to keep it free of clutter, items like perfumes, toilet papers, comb, shower gel and other toiletries fill up the space within no time. My bathroom used to be a place of huge chaos until I finally formed the habit of organizing everything back in the cupboard immediately after taking shower.
5. Have A System To Tackle Paper Clutter
Paper is one of the major source of visual clutter which alone can make a house look messier than it actually is. Old magazines piling up on the coffee table, newspapers lying on the living room sofa and notes and bills scattered on the dining table can be too distracting to comfortably go about your day.
To be able to tackle the paper clutter better, you can install a paper shredder in the living room to be able to get rid of the junk immediately. Throw away the old magazines before letting a new one enter your home. Keep a mail holder and a paper folder to hold the physical mail and other important papers and put the bills together in a box or a drawer.
6. Organize The Kitchen Spice Rack
Spices and other ingredients kept in containers of different colors and sizes can be distracting enough to make the kitchen look more cluttered. You can use clear or white containers labelled cleanly and arranged in a fashion that makes your kitchen look appealing to the eyes.
7. Clear the Kitchen Countertop And Sink
A heap of unwashed dishes overflowing from the kitchen sink and a messy kitchen countertop is all it takes to make an otherwise beautiful kitchen look all dirty and cluttered. To eliminate the visual clutter in your kitchen, clear the countertops immediately after cooking and do the dishes after eating. Keep the utensils back in the drawer after using them and appliances back into the shelf.
8. Fix The Decor To Avoid Conflicting Patterns
If the wall decor and the storage don’t go along with the overall look of your room, take it down and find things that can enhance the visual appeal of your house. The curtains, furniture, carpet and interiors should all be planned in a way that keeps the visual clutter to the minimum.
9. Organize Open shelves
With items of different shapes, colors and sizes finding a place on them, open shelves can be the major areas of visual clutter. You can use matching containers or baskets to rest on the shelf instead of keeping all your belongings lined up in a manner that looks distracting. It is also equally important to be dusting the open shelves regularly in order to keep them neat and clean.
Banishing visual clutter is like giving your home a final polish after decluttering it. It can look like a task to get rid of the visual clutter, but it’s simple when you get into a habit of doing it on a daily basis.
What all tips and tricks do you have for reducing visual clutter? Let me know in the comments below or drop me a message at hello@theaestheticabode.com. I love hearing from you.