Tackling Built Up Clutter

Welcome to Part 3 of my Anti-Hustle Fall Series!

This week we’re talking about clutter that builds up in sneaky spaces. Over the summer, we’ve been busy focusing on outdoor projects and spending as much time as possible outside.

This means that a lot of things have gotten tossed into random places and I haven’t had time to organize. With the turn of the seasons and because we live in a small house, I’ve been feeling overwhelmed by the clutter piling up in drawers, cupboards, and other spaces throughout our home.

This blog will cover a few spaces where I’ve found clutter tends to sneak in, tips for decluttering and going through it, and a few boundaries put in place to stop it from building up again.

Top Sneaky Clutter Spaces

Junk Drawers: Aptly named, these drawers are usually the first to attract clutter. Most of the items I found included old receipts, various papers, gift cards, pens, lighters, etc.

Nightstands: I found so many items here that didn’t belong—papers to be filed, baby items, office supplies, old to-do lists, boxes, etc. It completely refreshed the room by cleaning this space out!

Bookshelves: We have a bookshelf with shelves on top and cupboard drawers on the bottom—it’s really nice to keep things organized but also hide the busy items.

As you can believe, most of the clutter piled up in those bottom drawers. We ended up decluttering kid toys, old books, cords, and games we didn’t use anymore.

Desk: Office supplies, stationary, books, journals, and more. This is a great space to tidy up, organize, and make you feel ready for fall and back-to-school season.

Mudroom: This is probably the messiest and most cluttered room in our home! Streamlining the amount of items in this room was a major project.

Garage: I don’t know about you, but our garage and outdoor spaces seem to attract any and all clutter! I recommend cleaning these out at least once a season to avoid too much from piling up and prepare the space for the needs of the upcoming season.

Tips For Decluttering Tricky Clutter-Filled Spaces

1) Remove All Trash

This is the easiest way to get started! You’d be surprised by how many items you can quickly clear out with this method. Remember the No Mess Method and take a garbage bag with you.

2) Return Items to Their Original Home Immediately

The second easiest way to declutter any space is to return items to their original home. Like I said earlier, when we’re running around to places, packing and unpacking from trips, and busy with other summer projects, it’s so easy to just throw things wherever.

Tip: Return them immediately! Don’t make more piles to deal with later—that just makes more mess!

Did you find items without a home? This can happen with sneaky clutter—items without homes just jump around from place to place. Take a couple seconds to think where you would first look for it. That’s the place where this item should live! Don’t overthink it, just let your gut reaction dictate where to put it. Next time you’re looking for that item, you can be sure it will be in the first place you look!

3) Be Ruthless

After dealing with the first two steps, it’s time to do an initial sweep through the items that are left. Be ruthless! Remember, sneaky clutter is comprised of items we have procrastinated in dealing with. Often, we don’t actually need most of the stuff (or we just need to deal with it and be done with it).

No more procrastinating here!

Rhythms to Tackle Built-Up Clutter

• Set times to regularly tackle the areas that tend to build up clutter (I would recommend once a week, once a month, or once a season depending on the space.)
• Find homes for all items immediately
• Make it a habit to completely unpack or put away items whenever you return home or finish working on a project (I am so guilty of this, but am trying to work on it regularly!)

What are the spaces in your home where clutter has built up?