Quick Steps to a Clutter Free House
Hey Friend! I see you curled up in the fetal position because your house is covered up in piles of stuff. I’ve struggled with the same issue but I’ve found a couple of tricks that help me to keep our house clutter free so I want to share them with you too!
Personalize Storage Solutions
This first idea is so brilliant I can’t even stand it. Mindy Starns Clark, author of the book The House That Cleans Itself learned that in order to keep her house clean she needed to look at the problem areas in her home and discover why they had become problem areas. She advises to start paying attention to how your family behaves in your house and create storage solutions that fit what your family is already doing.
In our house, my hubby and kids love to take their shoes off the second they walk in the door which meant that I was constantly looking at piles of shoes on the floor and constantly feeling frustrated. I solved the problem by placing an inexpensive shelving unit in our entryway closet and training everyone to place their shoes just a step away in the closet rather than leaving them at the door.
Yes, the shoes sometimes end up in a pile on the floor of the closet instead of on the shelves, but it’s behind closed doors so I don’t mind.
Decorate Flat Surfaces
It may seem counter-intuitive to add items to your surfaces but by placing decorative items on tables and counters you prevent clutter piles because there is no space for the kids to pile their stuff.
My kids have a tendency to place items on the entryway table when they come in. I sneakily covered up the entire surface with decorative items so they don’t have the space. I also keep a centerpiece on our kitchen table because when I have something beautiful on a table or counter we are much less likely to cover it up with stuff.
Use the 10 Minute Tidy
Of course we have to live in our house so there are messes on a regular basis but I keep the disorganization to a minimum by using the “10 Minute Tidy”. Every evening I ask the kids to put away all of their belongings that are in the shared spaces of our home and we make sure all of the surfaces are clear so we can start the next day with a clean and clutter free space.
If you are too overwhelmed to clear the entire living space, start with one surface like the kitchen table or counters. Waking up to a clear space gives you a much more peaceful start to your day.
Purge Regularly
To keep your house truly clutter free you have to begin getting rid of all of the extra stuff. I prefer the 10 Minutes A Day Decluttering Method but you can read my review of the Konmari Method HERE to see if that will work better for you.
How do you keep your house clutter free? Leave a comment or a link. 🙂
Grab my FREE 10 Minute Decluttering Tool Kit when you join the 30 Days to Organized Community.
Confession time: I have a storage ottoman in my living room. It is the catch all for papers, the mail, the school computer. I just open up the ottoman when I am watching TV and sort things into shred, school, or bill pay stacks. In the meantime, the paper isn’t cluttering the living room.
I love this idea Annie! It’s a great solution if you don’t take care of the mail as soon as it enters your home. Thanks for sharing!
Putting decorative items on flat surfaces works! I do it so my husband – and me too! aren’t cluttering the surfaces – I can be messy too! 😉
Thanks for reminder – I’m gonna do this with more surfaces tomorrow! 🙂
Thanks for the confirmation that this works Laura! 🙂
I wish this worked for my husband. His dresser is the most decorated flat surface in the house, he puts his stuff on top of it and in all the nooks and crannies. One of the decorations is a beautiful pair of jars meant for all his change. He still puts his change on the dresser…
Oh no! Sorry Abbi. Hang in there. 🙂
Haha! Sometimes I do that too. ? Whoops!
My house has never been clutter-free….
Everyone is a work in progress, right? 🙂