So you went Marie Kondo on your entire house. You followed all the rules and guidelines and got rid of a lot of clutter from every single room of your house. But your house still looks cluttered?
I know you started the whole decluttering process because you wanted a clean home. But that clearly isn’t happening. Even when you have been decluttering like crazy. Am I right?
In this post I am sharing 20 reasons why your house still looks cluttered and what you can do about it. These simple tips will help you get rid of the visual clutter in your home. And when you do that, it will make your house look a lot more neat and organised.
A clutter free home is a stress free home. These tips will help you make your space a calm, inviting home that’s clutter free. So let’s get started?
20 reasons why your house still looks cluttered
& What can you do about it:
1.You haven’t decluttered enough:
Sorry to break it to you. But one of the main reasons why your house still seems cluttered is simply that you haven’t decluttered enough. No matter of you have been decluttering for the last how many months, you just haven’t been ruthless enough. You are still having issues with letting a lot of things go because you seem to form emotional attachment to material things.
I am not attacking but, but you need the tough love. If you want a clutter free home, then you will have to make some tough decisions. And believe me, they seem like difficult decisions right now, but you will forget all about them when you have a calm, clean, clutter free home.
And the whole idea behind decluttering is not associating joy with materialistic things.
2. Too much on the walls:
I know accent walls with tons of photo frames were really the trendy thing at one point in time. But that trendy wall is making your room look cluttered, then it’s time to re-think. You do not really need 20 frames on a frame wall.
I love looking at out family photos as much as any other sane person, but having 20 picture frames on a wall just seems outrageous. Try keeping only a few and giving the rest of the frames away to friends or family.
3. Small decor pieces:
I am a sucker for cute decor items and even more so when they don’t cost a lot at target. It’s easy to pick these small decor knick knacks on your weekly target run, but ask yourself “Are they really worth it?”. They make your home look cluttered and they are doing un-necessary damage to your wallet too.
I see it as a lose-lose situation.
You are far better off investing in quality statement decor pieces. And when you are taking your time to do the decor, just 2-3 pieces on a shelf are enough. You do not need 10 small pieces to fill up those shelves.
4. Paintings in small spaces:
If you have a small room, adding more smaller paintings to the walls will make it look even more cluttered. try having one big statement piece of art instead. The bigger pieces will give the impression of a bigger space and make the room and the walls look less cluttered.
5. Dark Curtains:
I think dark colored and heavy fabric curtains can make the space look more cluttered. Try replacing them with lighter and brighter curtains to reduce the visual clutter in your room and to make it look larger than it is.
6. Small rugs:
Having area rugs is great, but not when you over do it and they are a tripping hazard. I love rugs, I honestly do. And I know that this is probably not easy for some of you too, but try having a larger rug that covers almost the entire room instead of using 3-4 area rugs in a space.
7. No proper place for things:
If you do not have designated place for things, chances are everything will look cluttered. This is always the case with tv remotes. At one point we had 4 different remotes and they’d all be placed on top of our dresser.
And even when that was our designated space for them, it always ended up looking very cluttered.
Until we got a little tray to put the remotes in.
And that did the trick.
It made it look like the items places there were intentional and it was in fact their place.
8. Un-organised cabinets/closets:
No matter how many clothes you purge, if you do not have things organised, it will still look cluttered. I had all the linen, towels, some camera equipment, a dining set that rarely gets used, and a makeup bag that’s again rarely used, all in one closet.
I thought it just made sense since I rarely use all these things. But turns out it just made that cabinet look super messy and cluttered. So create sections for similar things and keep everything organised in bins for a clutter free look.
9. Too many Pillows & throws:
While pillows and throws are such an easy way to decorate your space, they just add to clutter after a certain. number. Having too many decorative pillows and throws is simply adding to the clutter, so try getting rid of a few to give your space a breath of fresh air.
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10. Too much furniture:
We had a couple of small side tables in our living room, because they made sense as people can put their drinks/mugs on them. but how often do people come over? And everyone just holds their drink anyways. And overtime, these side stools just collect clutter and dust.
And even if you clean all the surfaces, they simply add to clutter instead of serving a practical purpose.
So we took all of them out and now just have a big coffee table in the centre that serves the same purpose. it also means less surfaces to clean everyday, so it’s a win-win.
Same goes with having too many chairs. You do not need to have seating for 10 people in your living room. You just don’t. When friends come over, you can obviously bring in seating from other rooms temporarily.
But you do not need a 7 seater couch and them some chairs and ottomans too. We still have a 7 seater sofa that we are planning to change for a 3 seater couch. What a day that’ll be. Let’s see when that happens.
11. Kitchen counters & appliances:
I know you love your coffee station in your kitchen a little too much and that’s okay, you can keep it. But what you can do away with is having other appliances on the kitchen counter. I love the look of having clean and clutter free counters and have made space for all the appliances in cabinets underneath.
And if you have the luxury of space, I say do it. It will have such a huge impact. And you can simply bring out the appliances when you need them and put them away when you are done. It works perfectly well for things like your toaster, blender, kettle etc.
12. Too many mugs/ Dishes:
If your kitchen always feels clutters, maybe it’s because you have too much stuff. You do not need 20 coffee mugs, you just don’t. Again, you will have to be ruthless with the decluttering process here. Give away things you do not need and you will automatically have more space and less clutter.
13. Put away things you rarely ever use:
I know there are things that you rarely ever use but just can’t get rid of. Maybe it’s a dining set that your mother in law gifted you. But the thing is, you don’t really need to have it in your kitchen at all times.
It is just adding to clutter. And there are more chances of something breaking when you don’t have ample space for everything. So maybe your expensive dining set is better off in storage. Just make sure to label everything when you are putting things in storage and make it a habit to declutter the storage space every few months.
14. You are keeping groceries in bags:
If you are keeping your groceries in the bags that they came in, it can make your pantry looks very cluttered. Instead, invest in some glass or good quality see through plastic containers. You know the ones that have bamboo tops? And try to label everything. You’ll be surprised how quickly it changes the whole look of your pantry and how much of a difference it makes.
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15. Have a designated drop off place near your entry way:
Having a designated drop off place near your main door will be a game changer. We have a small dish that we always put our car and house keys in. We no longer have to go looking for keys in the entire apartment, every time we have to go out.
Same goes for your shoes and coats etc. Have a designated space. but make sure you aren’t abusing this space. Don’t overload the coat hanger with 5 different coats. Just keep the one you are currently using.
Having a shoe rack is also a great idea. I love having a closed shoe rack, that still lets the air pass. it looks so much better than having your shoes laying on the floor near your entry way.
16. Have a color palette:
Not having a color palette while decorating can leave your room looking all over the place. So have a color theme while decorating and stick to it. Having a color theme makes everything go together nicely and makes the space look more put together and clutter free.
17. Limit the use of prints:
Having prints on your throw pillows, throws, curtains, couch covers, rugs and every other thing makes it impossible to make the space look put together. Prints can be very difficult to work with. So you’re better off with using bold colors and minimise the use of prints in your space.
And if you have to have prints, try incorporating them into smaller things like cushion covers. That way it’ll be something you can easily change, unlike your curtains let’s say.
Same goes with your bed and duvet covers. Having a clean bed cover in one solid color will make such a big difference when it comes to your bedroom. We invested in some pure linen bed covers in pastel colors a while back and it was the best investment ever.
18. Toys:
If you have kids, you know how much clutter can toys create. And even when you have decluttered and donated half of your kid’s toys. And although there isn’t any solution for this as such, my only tips is to teach your kids to put their toys and other stuff away when they are done with them. And remember kids learn by examples, so you’d have to do the same with your stuff too.
19. Wires and cables:
If you have an entertainment unit in your living room and have wires exposed, you know the struggle. All these wires can make the space look super cluttered. So make sure to invest in furniture that has a space to hide all the wires and cables. It makes such a big difference, no kidding.
Same goes with chargers etc. Have a designated space to charge your electronics and do so every night. Maybe you can do that while you’re making dinner. This way you won’t have chargers lying around the house, adding to visual clutter.
20. Books:
While books make for the perfect practical decor items, they can make a space look cluttered when they are displayed on a shelf. especially when you have lots of them. One simple tip I have is to make Linen covers for your books in pretty pastel color linen fabric.
And then arrange you books according to color. It makes for such an easy and aesthetic DIY and you can easily do with over a weekend. all you need is some fabric and some fabric glue.
And there you have it. 20 Simple ways you can reduce the amount of visual declutter from your home and make it into a space that looks calm and clean. I’d love to know which of these tips did you find the most helpful. Let me know down in the comments below.
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