At our house, it seems like both our dining table and the storage cabinet in the living room are always cluttered up with miscellaneous items. And I suppose it doesn’t help that the stuff cluttering the dining table often gets shoved unceremoniously into that storage cabinet. (But not by me, of course) ;-)
As I’ve recently been doing some tidying up and organizing around the house, I’ve also been dwelling on the clutter that so often plagues our dining table and nearby storage cabinet has been. We all have areas where clutter tends to congregate, and I’m sure you could think of a few such hot spots in your own home!
So I thought we could start our decluttering efforts together, and that’s what we’ll do in this post! But trying to eliminate all clutter from your house would be a massive undertaking, so instead, we’re going to start by addressing the most commonly cluttered areas.
Below, you’ll find simple solutions for decluttering and organizing 7 clutter “hot spots”. Not only will this make a much more manageable project than trying to tackle your whole house, but you might be surprised what a difference your efforts make!
7 Easy Organizing Solutions For Common Clutter Hot Spots
1. Dresser Drawers
Take a look in your dresser and determine what the problem is. Not enough room for socks? Move them! Put them in a different drawer, or move them to a basket or shelf somewhere else.
Not enough space? Get rid of a few things you rarely wear. Or try a different folding method to make the most of the space available.
You may end up refolding and rearranging your drawer’s contents a few different times before finding an arrangement that works, so don’t be afraid to experiment!
To help prevent your drawers from returning to their cluttered state in the future, resolve to tidy them up a bit every time you put clothes away.
2. Entryway
A good first step for dealing with a cluttered entryway is to remove any items that are “out of season.” Keep what you need near the door, and store the rest in a closet or storage bin until you need them again.
Another way to clear up clutter is to utilize an over-the-door hook or peg rack to get things up off your floor and tabletops. Hang up items like purses, backpacks, and umbrellas so they’re easy to find and stay cleaner too.
3. Pantry
When your pantry starts to get chaotic, checking expiration dates is a great place to start. There’s likely to be at least a handful of items that have passed their prime, and getting rid of them will free up valuable pantry real estate right off the bat.
Another useful step is to transfer bulkier foods from their original packaging to mason jars or other food storage containers. Eliminating bulky and redundant packaging frees up additional space (and it looks nice, too!)
Once you have some wiggle room in your pantry, finish off by arranging things so that they’re visible and easily accessible. Put larger items at the back of the shelves and smaller items in front, using tiered shelves for easy access to smaller items.
4. Junk Drawer
Every home seems to have a junk drawer somewhere that’s packed to the brim with miscellaneous items. To get a better handle on what you’re working with, start by sorting out items by category.
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Use broad categories if necessary, grouping craft supplies like tape, glue, and colored pencils together while making a separate pile for office supplies like calculators, stamps, and staple removers. When you’re done sorting, you can decide what should stay in the drawer and what to store elsewhere. (For instance, if you have a designated storage area for office supplies, move your pile of office supplies there!)
As for the stuff that will stay in the junk drawer, just organize it as best you can. Shallow storage bins of any kind will come in handy here!
5. Under The Bathroom Sink
I don’t know why the area underneath the bathroom sink seems to attract clutter of its own accord, but it does! And it doesn’t help that it’s so easy to develop an “out of sight, out of mind” attitude about this particular space either.
If you don’t have an under-the-sink organizer or storage bin, getting one like this is a great place to start! Once you have a bit more structure in the space, you’ll be able to replace your items in a tidier and more accessible way.
Related: Under-The-Bathroom-Sink Makeover In 5 Easy Steps!
6. Charging Station
If there’s an area in your house where people often plug in their devices to charge, cord clutter can be a very real issue. In this case, the easiest solution would be to replace those individual cords with a centralized charging station like this one.
Not only will you be able to charge more devices at once, but they’ll look a lot neater too. The shorter cables won’t get tangled up, and it’ll put an end to the arguments about whose charger is whose! :-)
7. Paperwork Pile
Paperwork like mail and documents are a common source of clutter in many people’s homes! And unless you have some sort of paper organizer, you may feel like you’re fighting a losing battle against your paperwork pile.
A simple organizer like this one can go a long way! Use the separate slots to distinguish between bills, forms, personal letters, and other papers that tend to clutter up the area. And don’t forget to use it—it won’t help much otherwise!
For more clutter corralling tips: The Most Useful List For People With Too Much Stuff
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What’s the biggest clutter hot spot in your home, and how do you keep it organized?
great ideas
Please log in or create a free account to comment.As my Aunt Trudy always says, “I have the URGE to PURGE !” I just love it ……………….
Please log in or create a free account to comment.Thanks for the suggestions. This article has inspired me to write a list of small areas I need to declutter, most of which are drawers as I am a hidden hoarder. After making the list, I put them in order of which to do first. My plan, as someone else suggested, is to do just one a day. Today’s is now done & I am not feeling obligated to do another drawer until tomorrow. Great tip!
One thing that has helped me to declutter (I call it decrap) is to make sure items can breathe in their space vs being crammed in it.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.My pleasure, Kathy! I love your process because it helps to prioritize and just do a little each day.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.I love your term, “decrap”…maybe I’ll start calling it that too.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.The desk/paper organizer is a good idea, as my desk is covered with various papers as we speak – which I have no place to store but which can’t be thrown away, either. The other main place is the kitchen despite daily cleaning, as I’ve recently realized that I’m a pack-rat when it comes to leftover odds and ends as I hate to waste anything. A couple of dried tomato skins that I’ve been “meaning” to grind up and add to my tomato powder jar, some dessicated basil leaves that are waiting to be stored in the freezer, a jar of olive brine that I want to use as chicken marinade, eggshells waiting to be pounded into powder for my worm composter…just to name a few. They take up not only workspace but visual space in my already-small kitchen, and so for the past couple of days I’ve been making a deliberate effort to use these things, put them away or move them on to their next phase rather than continue to work around them.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.“…as I write this,” is what I meant.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.Hey Terry. I have to ask….what do you do with tomatoe powder?
Please log in or create a free account to comment.I haven’t used it yet, but I think the idea is to use it as flavoring in sauces and such. I wondered if I could make my own popcorn seasoning or dip flavoring with it. I came across the idea when I canned tomatoes last summer and wondered what to do with the skins other than throw them away. They can be freeze-dried and then pulverized into a powder, then stored in a jar for a few months at least.
I try to go through my pantry once a month to see what is close to expiration. (Food waste is frowned upon in my house!) So to cut back on clutter I try to plan meals that can use those products before they go bad. I also try to buy bigger quantities when something is on sale so I try to keep things newer in the back & bring what I already have to the front for easy access. Sounds like a lot of work but when I put groceries away, I put the new towards the back & put what’s already there to the front. Saves us lots of money by not throwing out food!
Please log in or create a free account to comment.I agree with you on using things before the date (if possible), but if you read the usda.com website, they explain that dates are not required except for infant formula. They also explain that dates are related to freshness issues, not safety issues. This has helped me not to toss perfectly good food because of a random date used by the manufacturer.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.For recycling, I hang an inexpensive coat rack on the inside of a bedroom door that is off our dining room. I hang three large kitchen plastic garbage bags. One is for soft plastic wrap, small bags or grocery bags to recycle, next bag holds deposit cans and bottles and the last bag holds plastic bags without holes in them to recycle for my small trashcans throughout the house. Works great, it’s out of the way (out of sight) and it’s easily accessible to return the bags to the store…………………………..
Please log in or create a free account to comment.I organized a male friends linen closet with empty large liquid soap bottles. He uses the same kind and had about 8 empty ones. I cut the tops off and scooped out the side opposite the handle a little lower. I then used each container different items, such as medicine, one for light bulbs, lotions, shampoos etc. I then made labels attached to a string and tied it to the handle and placed the containers on the shelf with the handle facing out. Each container can be removed and items inside are all the same and easy to keep track of. The storage self looks so neat and unified. The labels are on a string in case the contents change. I put a plastic square container on the next shelf with wash cloths rolled so a lot more fit instead of folder and you never have to straighten them because they are not folded.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.As diabetics we are on insulin & prescriptions for managing blood sugar, hypertension, , and other complications, and we take vitamin supplements as well. I keep our medications separated. His are stored in a basket on a shelf behind the door of his magazine stand/side table in the living room, ,where there is a hutch at a comfortable height for me to stand and fill his dispensers. He takes meds four times a day, so in addition to setting alarms on both our phones as a reminder to drop what we are doing & go medicate ourselves, I bought 4sets of stacking medicine dispensers at CVS. I separated them all and recombined them so all four clear ones are for Sunday, all yellow for Monday, and so on throughout the week. Avery makes a label that fits perfectly. After labeling with day of week and time of day, I scotch-taped over it to prevent peeling and fading. I refill once a week. Really has helped!
Please log in or create a free account to comment.Oh, each set comes with two lids so I have one extra for when we have to take pills with us for the day. So convenient!
My daughter likes to pursue her activities in the living room with us nearby rather than off by herself in her room, but that has often meant the living room looked like a playroom. A couple small totes with lids that fit in the bottom of a curio cabinet (with solid door instead of glass), a padded chest that provides seating and storage, designated drawers in the tv stand, and a nice decorative box under the coffee table keep most of her things corralled and the living room looking more presentable. Usually.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.I used to make runs to the dump. Now I rent a dumpster once a year all true trashy clutter goes in there. If a person is under 50 years and they comment on a treasure they leave with it.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.I really like this idea. Going to try it but not sure my daughters-in-law will love it!
Please log in or create a free account to comment.I hung a bag that is used for plastic bag storage in my closet to hold my socks. I used an over the door shoe bag in the coat closet to put my cleaning supplies and air freshness
Please log in or create a free account to comment.Great idea about storing the socks!!!
Please log in or create a free account to comment.I have a small junk drawer in my kitchen cabinetry (approx 8×11 and 6″ deep). Loose items I don’t have to deal with immediately get slipped inside ( new address, garden plant tags for my “home” dictionary, hair ties and bows for granddaughter, summer bug spray, etc.) When it’s full, I clean it out.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.I love your ideas and suggestions. Thanks also for the visuals.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.I do this ‘one draw a day’ challenge (which is totally MY thing, I invented it). So everyday I go to one draw in the house with a couple of plastic shopping bags (in this case my bedside drawer) and just do a complete tidy up of every little bit of shit, tissues, old plastic lids from various cosmetics, various out of date cosmetics, last years David Jones Christmas Catalogue, lolly wrappers (dunno who put them in there…?) cotton buds that have turned into mini hair twirlers, last years tiny gift out of a Bon bon … you get the drift ONE DRAWER OR cupboard a day and the good thing about it is you always keep going….. round and round cleaning every single drawer and cupboard.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.Great method!
Please log in or create a free account to comment.Great idea. I am going to start doing this. One trick I use to keep up with messy clutter: every time before I leave a room I look for three things I can straighten up or put away or take to another room. It becomes almost like a game to find three things. Of course, you could use a larger or smaller number of items. Whatever works for you.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.Pantry – sugar or sweet related items on one shelf or drawer, salt or savoury related items on another. It works for me!
Please log in or create a free account to comment.I have one idea for medicine for those of us who are unfortunate takers of prescriptions. I bought an expandable, three tier bamboo spice rack for my meds. I have what I need to take morning, noon, night and special occasion organized in the tiers without taking up much room. The spice rack was ordered online from Target and cost less than $15.
As always, thank you for your help!
Please log in or create a free account to comment.I fill my medicine for 2 weeks in 2 locking containers ( found at craft store for $2.50 each) that have 7 slots – one for each day. Then , after I fill those, all the bottles of vitamins and meds go into a “Ditty bag” in my closet, in an out of the spot, that is easy to get to for next container fill day.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.I do this too. I keep mine on the end of kitchen counter
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Great idea Pamela!
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