How to Reduce & Prevent Clutter at Home

Clutter can accumulate in even the cleanest homes. While clutter does not bother everyone, it can lead to stress for those who want to live in a cleaner space. If you’re looking to conquer the clutter in your home, we’ve put together some tips to help you get started.

Organize Your Mail

For many, mail is the number one source of everyday clutter in the home. It’s far too easy to bring it in, put it down and completely forget about it until the pile has become overwhelming. One of the best things you can do to prevent mail clutter buildup is to create a system for sorting and handling the action items as soon as possible. Choose a designated spot for the mail and keep an extra waste basket nearby. This way you can toss junk immediately before it becomes part of the stack. Any items you need to keep can go into separate piles like magazines or bills, for example.

To stop mail buildup at the source, opt into paperless billing and correspondence with every service you can. You can clean and sort your inbox automatically, but the paper takes up space quickly.

Donate Regularly

To help prevent clutter, try to make a habit of donating clothes or other household items more frequently. For many, gathering things to donate is a once-per-move task or only inspired by specific charity drives. These trips can involve an overwhelming amount of bags or boxes ferried to various donation sites and while the reward is satisfying, the job can be easier if you do it more often. A great way to encourage more frequent donations is to keep an empty bag or box in your closet. Anytime you come across an item you know you don’t need, put it in the bag right away. Once the bag is full, you’ll know it’s time to donate.

You can always hang onto items you’re not sure about, but by putting them in a designated container will accomplish half of the goal. You’ll make room for the items you want to keep while putting the others out of sight. Pay attention to how much time passes without thinking about those items. You might be more ready to part with them than you expected.

Rethink Your Storage

When you’re trying to get organized, organization tools and containers become very tempting. However, if you don’t have a storage plan, you might end up worse than you began. Before you opt for that clever modular closet organization system, do a thorough de-cluttering of the space to see if you really need it. Finding the right type of storage and organization tools will help you become more efficient rather than less organized.

Another great way to make your existing storage more effective is to rethink what items go where. Try storing “like with like” so that certain objects are easier to find. This could apply to kitchen utensils, toiletries, pens and pencils, books, remote controls, electrical components and much more.

These are just a few ways to help reduce and clear out the clutter in your home. Though it might seem like a challenge, you can make an enormous difference even with the smallest changes.