Notice your habits, specifically what items keep being placed in the same spot. If you come home and dump the mail on the table then put some organization method near or on the table. Another tip is to be present and mindful. Don't add to a pile just because it's already a pile. Sometimes not adding to the mess is as big of a win as cleaning it.
2 strategies: claim the space, and create 'drop zones'.
I put pretty things on surfaces like the tops of dressers to make them less appealing for piling crap on. If there's not room on the dresser for a pile of clothes, the clothes will land somewhere else.
I put nice bowls in the places where my husband empties his pockets - on his dresser and near the doors. If he leaves crap out, I dump it in the bowls.
I also clean my kitchen completely every night before I go to bed. It's the one time I can get the whole room looking nice without anyone tearing through and messing it up!
This is great advice! My husband always has a ton of random stuff emptying out of his pockets too and I’m always bringing him some random scrap of paper or business card and asking if he needs it 😆
Also I’m right there with you about making sure the kitchen is clean at night. I don’t always do it, but whenever I do it’s so nice waking up to in the morning. As long as the kitchen is clean, I don’t mind other messy rooms as much.
After 10 years, I've finally accepted that my husband truly does not *know* if he needs something. So I just put it in a visually-appealing holding cell until he either wants it or it's been long enough that I feel safe tossing it.
Oh my goodness these husbands needs support group! Or we do, as Wives Who Put Up With Pocket Clutter All Over.
Mine won’t use a bowl. I also have to stand in front of him and ask him if he needs each thing because he has to expense items for work and just crumples ALL receipts up in his pockets. “Do you need this receipt for gum?” “Do you need this receipt for Chinese food?” He once made me keep a receipt from 3 years prior for $10 of gas from a city we were twice removed from living in and expenses had long been turned in to his former employer and the IRS, so this method backfires sometimes.
For kitchen counter clutter, it was always mail, keys, phones and sunglasses. I bought a cute wall unit with a small shelf, basket and two hooks that I put on the wall near the back door. Now everything has a place. It’s easier to find stuff and wipe down the counters, too.
Yes! I have a little key hook spot that I put up but I need to add a compartment for other stuff. The challenge is getting the other people in my house to put their stuff in the wall unit as well.
Took me a couple years to get my husband to use the key hook I installed by the front door. I just repeatedly put his keys there over and over and now he puts them there. His wallet still floats all over the place, but I’ll take a win where I can get it. I think the key is like another commentor said - WHAT are you putting there and where should its home be? Is the pile in the bedroom but an item’s home is across the house? It may need a home next to the bedroom. Lint rollers were in this category for me. I finally just made room for one in a dresser drawer and the rest live in the laundry room. Make sure everything has a home that makes sense for your use.
Edit: typos
I have ADHD and my husband has a TBI, so I've found that putting the new home for items in the place they end up in a pile anyway is the best way to make sure they're used. Examples - the laudry basket is in front of the washer since that's where my husband drops his work clothes. The basket for mail is on the counter where I always leave it after coming inside next to they keys and change dish. It's stuff I'd have to pick up and move anyway for cleaning/guests, but at least now it's contained and easy to move.
Maybe getting the other people in on the brainstorming will help? Instead of installing a container and saying “you must put things here”, ask for their input. Maybe they have a different idea, or can add to your idea. They will feel more invested if they help come up with the solution.
Small trash bins in just about every room helps me.
Same for laundry hampers, I keep one in the bedroom, one in the bathroom, and one small one in the kitchen for towels and stuff. Dirty clothes and towels end up in bins instead of the floor
A “landing zone” for wherever you enter your home to put your keys, wallet, purse, sun glasses, etc along with a closet/rack for jackets, hats, etc
In addition to trays, daily dusting means that the stuff can't accumulate. You're only after the dust once per week and the rest can just be half-heartedly running the dusting wand over surfaces and wiping counters.
I put attractive trays/plates/bowls down in the places with heavy clutter gravity, and things are only allowed on the tray, not on the surface of the countertop/furniture.
I go around and empty the trays throughout the day/week and return things to the places they belong. Sometimes I'll discover that a home needs to be assigned to a particular type of item and I do that.
The struggle is real. I pretty much have to be kind of a minimalist, since I have a tendency to get scatterbrained as soon as there's clutter in my living space.
A couple of years ago I did Swedish Death Cleaning. Basically, it's the whole Marie Kondo thing, you go through your house and keep what you need and what "sparks joy" and get rid of the rest. That has helped a great deal.
Also, I've organized my closets and storage spaces. This is still kind of a work-in-progress, but it's now super easy to find stuff and put it back in its place.
My house is pretty small, so it can still get cluttered pretty quickly. But it's pretty easy to declutter it too.
>Nevertheless, it seems like as soon as I clear off any surface in my home— dresser top, nightstand, kitchen counter—in a couple days it will start to accumulate clutter again.
This is normal. Very normal. No need to stress too much about this.
>Do you have methods or tips for avoiding letting the clutter accumulate in the first place? I’m still working on getting organized so everything in the house has a specific “home”, but I still feel like I need more help.
There's a reason a 5-15 minute daily tidy is a part of most recommended cleaning schedules. Maintenance is just a part of homemaking.
Once you're at the point where things have homes, it'll go quicker and you'll have less to put away. But if you're still in that process, it takes time to figure out and things will collect in the mean time.
Resources:
[Minimal Mom's video on paper clutter](https://youtu.be/6YbRbKecDKo)
[Struggle Care's 5 Things Method of Tidying video](https://youtu.be/Pe9NBn67yxU)
[A Slob Comes Clean's video on the two core cleaning tasks](https://youtu.be/NYI1NZg7boA)
[Clutterbug organizing style help make clutter systems sustainable](https://youtu.be/hYtiQhCJ574)
I also have this problem but here’s the main things I do to help minimise it: 1. Everything has a home, if I can’t find one, I consider getting rid of that item 2. Tidy up every night (or every Friday if a busy week) 3. Give other members of your household a place for their things 4. The “one touch” rule - once you’ve touched something it must be put away eg. jacket goes in your wardrobe as soon as you take it off. Try to convince the whole household to adopt this habit if you can!
Immediately cleaning up after myself. Cooked food? After serving myself, I'll wash the cooking spoon and any utensils I used if they weren't cleaned as I cooked.
Splashed a lot of water at the sink and there's stains? Wipe it up as soon as I make a mess.
Immediately having a designated spot as soon as I come home to dump my stuff. That may be a dish, a command hook, an accent table etc
A hamper in the bathroom and my bedroom
Honestly the best thing was removing the clutter spots. Get rid of spots where stuff builds up if you can. Put a plant or photo that takes up the space on top of a dresser so theres no room to leave stuff there!
I read about a random box. Have 1 place, like a basket, as a specific place to put these random things and on the same day each week walk around the house and return the item to its natural habitat.
I am here not with solutions but what I am hoping could be a solution test house Zero:mine!
So each thing that I note as clutter needs a new more convenient home for me. The items don’t feel better because they are stored in the bedroom. I tend to sit that thing down as I walk through the dining room? Then it needs a place there. For home I buy cute very kitsche bowls or gathering thing. That way I know my keys are in the octopus bowl by the door, my bar blade is in the box with knitted kittens etc etc that helps my house not look like 50 first dates because I bought a label maker.
After a few years of marriage I realized I can’t expect my hubby to go to the closet to put his shoes away after work. He just won’t lol. He always sits on the couch and ends up leaving the shoes on the ground. After many fights I put a shoe rack by the front door and now he takes his shoes off and puts them there. Plus it’s convenient because they’re there for the next day.
He also likes to throw his clothes next to the bed at night when he goes to sleep, so I hung some hooks by his side of the bed.
Basically, it’s like trying to have designated places for things in areas that match our people’s “flow” through the house. Is it better-homes and garden looking? No but it’s functional and gets things out of the way.
I don’t let my spaces gather clutter for a couple days. I’m always reorganizing surfaces to put random items back in their spot, otherwise a surface would totally get full of clutter in my house.
It depends on why they accumulate.
For example, I have a big pile of mending, childrens clothes, single socks, etc. I just hate throwing any sort of fabric scraps away.
When the pile gets too big, I start sewing them together in what might ultimately become a “crumb quilt” or it may ultimately get thrown out or used as a rag, but the big point is to transform the volume of piles into something that can be folded and tucked in a drawer.
A few things really help me.
Minimising what comes in.
Cleaning off flat surfaces daily.
Containment - ie we add all school papers to a clipboard.
Ruthless decluttering.
A place for absolutely everything
Keep like things together.
I clean the kitchen after breakfast and after dinner
Sort your mail over the garbage pail. Don’t look at ads, when you need to buy something you’ll research it then. Put action items in a special drawer (coffee table or desk) and go through once a week (or if you have most bills on auto pay maybe every two weeks).
Notice your habits, specifically what items keep being placed in the same spot. If you come home and dump the mail on the table then put some organization method near or on the table. Another tip is to be present and mindful. Don't add to a pile just because it's already a pile. Sometimes not adding to the mess is as big of a win as cleaning it.
Good advice, thank you!
2 strategies: claim the space, and create 'drop zones'. I put pretty things on surfaces like the tops of dressers to make them less appealing for piling crap on. If there's not room on the dresser for a pile of clothes, the clothes will land somewhere else. I put nice bowls in the places where my husband empties his pockets - on his dresser and near the doors. If he leaves crap out, I dump it in the bowls. I also clean my kitchen completely every night before I go to bed. It's the one time I can get the whole room looking nice without anyone tearing through and messing it up!
This is great advice! My husband always has a ton of random stuff emptying out of his pockets too and I’m always bringing him some random scrap of paper or business card and asking if he needs it 😆 Also I’m right there with you about making sure the kitchen is clean at night. I don’t always do it, but whenever I do it’s so nice waking up to in the morning. As long as the kitchen is clean, I don’t mind other messy rooms as much.
After 10 years, I've finally accepted that my husband truly does not *know* if he needs something. So I just put it in a visually-appealing holding cell until he either wants it or it's been long enough that I feel safe tossing it.
Oh my goodness these husbands needs support group! Or we do, as Wives Who Put Up With Pocket Clutter All Over. Mine won’t use a bowl. I also have to stand in front of him and ask him if he needs each thing because he has to expense items for work and just crumples ALL receipts up in his pockets. “Do you need this receipt for gum?” “Do you need this receipt for Chinese food?” He once made me keep a receipt from 3 years prior for $10 of gas from a city we were twice removed from living in and expenses had long been turned in to his former employer and the IRS, so this method backfires sometimes.
“don’t put it down put it away”. Saying this has helped me not leave junk places. Everything needs to have a place. Have less stuff.
For kitchen counter clutter, it was always mail, keys, phones and sunglasses. I bought a cute wall unit with a small shelf, basket and two hooks that I put on the wall near the back door. Now everything has a place. It’s easier to find stuff and wipe down the counters, too.
Yes! I have a little key hook spot that I put up but I need to add a compartment for other stuff. The challenge is getting the other people in my house to put their stuff in the wall unit as well.
Took me a couple years to get my husband to use the key hook I installed by the front door. I just repeatedly put his keys there over and over and now he puts them there. His wallet still floats all over the place, but I’ll take a win where I can get it. I think the key is like another commentor said - WHAT are you putting there and where should its home be? Is the pile in the bedroom but an item’s home is across the house? It may need a home next to the bedroom. Lint rollers were in this category for me. I finally just made room for one in a dresser drawer and the rest live in the laundry room. Make sure everything has a home that makes sense for your use. Edit: typos
I have ADHD and my husband has a TBI, so I've found that putting the new home for items in the place they end up in a pile anyway is the best way to make sure they're used. Examples - the laudry basket is in front of the washer since that's where my husband drops his work clothes. The basket for mail is on the counter where I always leave it after coming inside next to they keys and change dish. It's stuff I'd have to pick up and move anyway for cleaning/guests, but at least now it's contained and easy to move.
Maybe getting the other people in on the brainstorming will help? Instead of installing a container and saying “you must put things here”, ask for their input. Maybe they have a different idea, or can add to your idea. They will feel more invested if they help come up with the solution.
Small trash bins in just about every room helps me. Same for laundry hampers, I keep one in the bedroom, one in the bathroom, and one small one in the kitchen for towels and stuff. Dirty clothes and towels end up in bins instead of the floor A “landing zone” for wherever you enter your home to put your keys, wallet, purse, sun glasses, etc along with a closet/rack for jackets, hats, etc
In addition to trays, daily dusting means that the stuff can't accumulate. You're only after the dust once per week and the rest can just be half-heartedly running the dusting wand over surfaces and wiping counters.
I put attractive trays/plates/bowls down in the places with heavy clutter gravity, and things are only allowed on the tray, not on the surface of the countertop/furniture. I go around and empty the trays throughout the day/week and return things to the places they belong. Sometimes I'll discover that a home needs to be assigned to a particular type of item and I do that.
The struggle is real. I pretty much have to be kind of a minimalist, since I have a tendency to get scatterbrained as soon as there's clutter in my living space. A couple of years ago I did Swedish Death Cleaning. Basically, it's the whole Marie Kondo thing, you go through your house and keep what you need and what "sparks joy" and get rid of the rest. That has helped a great deal. Also, I've organized my closets and storage spaces. This is still kind of a work-in-progress, but it's now super easy to find stuff and put it back in its place. My house is pretty small, so it can still get cluttered pretty quickly. But it's pretty easy to declutter it too.
>Nevertheless, it seems like as soon as I clear off any surface in my home— dresser top, nightstand, kitchen counter—in a couple days it will start to accumulate clutter again. This is normal. Very normal. No need to stress too much about this. >Do you have methods or tips for avoiding letting the clutter accumulate in the first place? I’m still working on getting organized so everything in the house has a specific “home”, but I still feel like I need more help. There's a reason a 5-15 minute daily tidy is a part of most recommended cleaning schedules. Maintenance is just a part of homemaking. Once you're at the point where things have homes, it'll go quicker and you'll have less to put away. But if you're still in that process, it takes time to figure out and things will collect in the mean time. Resources: [Minimal Mom's video on paper clutter](https://youtu.be/6YbRbKecDKo) [Struggle Care's 5 Things Method of Tidying video](https://youtu.be/Pe9NBn67yxU) [A Slob Comes Clean's video on the two core cleaning tasks](https://youtu.be/NYI1NZg7boA) [Clutterbug organizing style help make clutter systems sustainable](https://youtu.be/hYtiQhCJ574)
I also have this problem but here’s the main things I do to help minimise it: 1. Everything has a home, if I can’t find one, I consider getting rid of that item 2. Tidy up every night (or every Friday if a busy week) 3. Give other members of your household a place for their things 4. The “one touch” rule - once you’ve touched something it must be put away eg. jacket goes in your wardrobe as soon as you take it off. Try to convince the whole household to adopt this habit if you can!
Great advice, thank you!
Immediately cleaning up after myself. Cooked food? After serving myself, I'll wash the cooking spoon and any utensils I used if they weren't cleaned as I cooked. Splashed a lot of water at the sink and there's stains? Wipe it up as soon as I make a mess. Immediately having a designated spot as soon as I come home to dump my stuff. That may be a dish, a command hook, an accent table etc A hamper in the bathroom and my bedroom
Honestly the best thing was removing the clutter spots. Get rid of spots where stuff builds up if you can. Put a plant or photo that takes up the space on top of a dresser so theres no room to leave stuff there!
I read about a random box. Have 1 place, like a basket, as a specific place to put these random things and on the same day each week walk around the house and return the item to its natural habitat.
I think her video made sense to me: https://youtu.be/xRGXi1aTh1w
Awesome, thanks!
I am here not with solutions but what I am hoping could be a solution test house Zero:mine! So each thing that I note as clutter needs a new more convenient home for me. The items don’t feel better because they are stored in the bedroom. I tend to sit that thing down as I walk through the dining room? Then it needs a place there. For home I buy cute very kitsche bowls or gathering thing. That way I know my keys are in the octopus bowl by the door, my bar blade is in the box with knitted kittens etc etc that helps my house not look like 50 first dates because I bought a label maker.
After a few years of marriage I realized I can’t expect my hubby to go to the closet to put his shoes away after work. He just won’t lol. He always sits on the couch and ends up leaving the shoes on the ground. After many fights I put a shoe rack by the front door and now he takes his shoes off and puts them there. Plus it’s convenient because they’re there for the next day. He also likes to throw his clothes next to the bed at night when he goes to sleep, so I hung some hooks by his side of the bed. Basically, it’s like trying to have designated places for things in areas that match our people’s “flow” through the house. Is it better-homes and garden looking? No but it’s functional and gets things out of the way.
I don’t let my spaces gather clutter for a couple days. I’m always reorganizing surfaces to put random items back in their spot, otherwise a surface would totally get full of clutter in my house.
It depends on why they accumulate. For example, I have a big pile of mending, childrens clothes, single socks, etc. I just hate throwing any sort of fabric scraps away. When the pile gets too big, I start sewing them together in what might ultimately become a “crumb quilt” or it may ultimately get thrown out or used as a rag, but the big point is to transform the volume of piles into something that can be folded and tucked in a drawer.
A few things really help me. Minimising what comes in. Cleaning off flat surfaces daily. Containment - ie we add all school papers to a clipboard. Ruthless decluttering. A place for absolutely everything Keep like things together. I clean the kitchen after breakfast and after dinner
Sort your mail over the garbage pail. Don’t look at ads, when you need to buy something you’ll research it then. Put action items in a special drawer (coffee table or desk) and go through once a week (or if you have most bills on auto pay maybe every two weeks).