Comments on: Survey your home for clutter accumulation areas

By: Teresa

Teresa — Sun, 28 Sep 2008 17:39:55 +0000

Library books: I have a shelf set aside for these. I keep a bag in the closet for the ones we’ve finished to return them to the library.
my desk, kitchen table..A daily reminder to clean
I hang re-wearables on the back of the bedroom door. Sweaters go in a under the bed basket after airing in the dryer.

By: Xavier

Xavier — Sun, 14 Sep 2008 09:15:50 +0000

My solution to this problem is to have a weekly appointment in my PDA that says ‘desk clean’.

So, every Friday afternoon I oblige myself to leave my desk completely empty (except for the computer and stereo, but no papers and, overall, no stuff that is there because I have no idea where to put it).

By: Julia

Julia — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 22:32:37 +0000

All well and good but – does anyone have a recommendation for library books? I think if I actually put them in a bookshelf, they’ll get lost amid the ones I actually own.

They always end up piled on the sofa, or shoved under the side table (which makes them ugly AND hard to reach.)

I wouldn’t mind the books so much, but a stack of books attracts junk mail, receipts, etc. like a trailer attracts tornadoes…

By: Petra Teunissen-Nijsse

Petra Teunissen-Nijsse — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 08:38:55 +0000

My friends father used to say: “Every horizontal surface is prone to clutter.” I agree entirely and tried to invest in antique chests that have rounded tops…

By: cv

cv — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 22:16:19 +0000

Kendra, for me the problem got much better when I designated a cubby or two in one of those hanging sweater shelf things for “semi-dirty clothes I plan to wear again” – stuff that I change into in the evening when I come home from work, pajamas, etc. Piles used to accumulate because I’d tell myself that an item was dirty, so I didn’t want to put it back in the drawer, but if I put it in the laundry basket it would get wrinkly and smelly and I wouldn’t be able to wear it again. Now that everything has a place where it “belongs” at any given time, I have a much easier time staying on top of the piles.

By: Caperunner

Caperunner — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 13:03:48 +0000

I can identify completely with this article! But I do have to say I laughed out loud at the end of it, where it said to watch over the problem areas for the “next few weeks” — HAH! How about the next 48 to 72 hours??
Sometimes it seems like spontaneous reproduction….

By: Kendra

Kendra — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 12:23:17 +0000

This seems so simple – identify the problem, evaluate, and consider solutions. Why even though I have perfectly good drawers (that I spent a lot of money on!) do my clothes end up laying in a pile on the chair in my bedroom? That’s a clutter space, and I can’t build a closet on my chair. Commitment. Ugh. Thanks for the good reminder.

By: Sian

Sian — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 11:55:57 +0000

My boyfriend calls the space between my side of the bed and the wall my “trough”…

By: Deb

Deb — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 02:33:20 +0000

My bookbag has been a source of constant clutter. Up ’till this year I had used a rolling tote bag and ended up toting lots of excess garbage with me. I had a mini-office in that bag, when I really didn’t need it.

Now I am carrying a smaller, canvas shoulder bag and I don’t feel like I need a tugboat just to arrive at school each morning.

It’s not a living space but it has been a quality of life issue!

By: Deoris

Deoris — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 01:17:43 +0000

In the livingroom, the kids had piled everything. Not only ON every surface, but under as well. I combatted it by removing all the surfaces I could. To combat me, they’ve moved the tv trays in there and cluttered under and over those. Oh..”kids” are 17 and up.

By: adam

adam — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 20:41:57 +0000

It’s my desk that’s the problem! The subject headings for the filing cabinet need reorganizing, and until that’s done, the papers keep piling up!

By: becoming minimalist

becoming minimalist — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 20:36:15 +0000

these areas need to be cleared daily because clutter always attracts more clutter.

By: Michele

Michele — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 17:18:23 +0000

I have a few areas like this too – an unusual one is the bathroom. I tend to get dressed in there and change several times a day (gym wear, normal clothes, work clothes, etc). Shoes, hair accessories, jackets, clothes to be rehung accumulate. I have found that I need to straighten daily to keep things in order.

By: infmom

infmom — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 16:29:13 +0000

The biggest problem areas in this house are my son’s room (let’s hope the health department never darkens his door) and the various areas my husband commonly inhabits (his desk in the office, around his chair in the living room). Knowing where the mess is isn’t the problem. Getting the people who created it to deal with it… ai yi yi.

I try to set a good example by dealing with my own messy areas (my desk and the floor near my chair in the living room) regularly, but so far that’s done nothing to inspire anyone else. Sigh.

By: Fit Bottomed Girls

Fit Bottomed Girls — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 16:28:37 +0000

My desk and kitchen table is the worst. I always drop the mail there or something I need to do, but I know I won’t for at least a week.

By: cv

cv — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 15:41:50 +0000

One thing I try to do with this type of area is contain the problem in an organized way. Get a basket for papers that need to be dealt with, or a jar for loose change, or a bin for clothes that were worn for an hour but aren’t going into the laundry yet, or whatever works for your clutter zones. Trying to stay 100% on top of things every moment is a losing battle for many of us, but giving certain types of mess their own place declutters my routines and takes much less mental energy than trying to attain uncluttered perfection all the time.