You just have too much stuff
If the drawers and closets and garage and storage areas of your home are busting at the seams, your stuff has nowhere to go but everywhere. Once the clutter is out in the open, it attracts more clutter, piles begin to form and your daily power tidy becomes a futile mission.
A room is going to be cluttered – for real and visually – if there is too much furniture for the size of the room. The same goes for if the room has the wrong scale of furniture. If your furniture is too small for the space, you will feel like you need to fix it by adding more pieces, which will clutter up the room.
Having a messy house is very normal and common, even if it doesn't seem so. Mess can be found in every house.
Surprisingly, we found that half of American homes are always clean, while just 1% of Americans never lift a finger and do the dirty work. In between these extremes, about 1 in 4 respondents clean once a day and another 23% make at least some effort but let their duties slip on occasion.
Signs You Need to Declutter
You're stepping on things often: If you find yourself constantly stepping on stuff on the floor or having to walk around certain areas to avoid stepping on things, that's a sign you need to take care of that cluttered room and free up more floor space.
If you don't clean your house, it might mean you are busy and have little time to clean and organize. It might be a sign that you have too much stuff. Or it might be the result of having young kids in the house who are usually not motivated to clean up after themselves.
While the physical stuff is obvious, most of our clutter is invisible, says Barbara Hemphill, author of Less Clutter More Life and founder of the Productive Environment Institute. “There are four types of clutter: paper, digital, emotional, and spiritual,” she says.
When Stress Causes Clutter. Sometimes, living with anxiety, depression, or stress brings on clutter. If you're overwhelmed by sadness or other negative emotions, you might not have the energy to clean and organize. Or, you might use shopping or accumulating things to manage your feelings.
The less mess and stuff they see, the more they can focus on picturing themselves in your home. Messy homes look like they need work. If someone does make an offer, they will come in lower anticipating cleaning, painting, and updating the home. Your messy home could sell for less money.
If you or a loved one has ADHD, managing things and stuff can be overwhelming. Cindy Glovinsky, psychologist and author, explains that clutter is caused by impulsive actions that don't do a good job of compensating for a better solution.
Most often, a house that is so messy that it is unsafe or unlivable is a sign of an underlying mental health issue. While you might judge others for “laziness” when their homes are messy, they often do not want to live this way. They likely have no support to treat their mental illness or any family members to help.
Clutter in the living room might suggest blockages in your social life, as well as your relationship with yourself, while a cluttered bedroom might relate to issues surrounding your sexual self, fears of intimacy or gender roles.
'Mess can mean different things to different people. A messy space could indicate creativity or someone who is too busy but a messy space could also indicate further issues like anxiety or ADHD.
The kitchen and bathroom usually require special attention, as they are known to be one of the germiest places in any house. Another good reason to keep your home neat and orderly is the possibility of tripping, or residents accidentally hurting themselves if there's too much random stuff lying around the house.
Clearing the clutter means clearing away distractions, so an organized home enables you to focus on yourself, your senses and the present moment, more easily. In short, a clean house can make for a happier, healthier, more sociable and more mindful household.
White and bright colors tend to give off a cleaner vibe. The obvious reason is that a clean, white wall looks quite clean as you can see its texture clearly.
I call this the 5-5-5 rule: Pick 3 rooms where you hang out the most, set a timer for 5 minutes, and straighten up one room. Repeat twice, and you're done. The key to this strategy is quick, light cleaning; essentially, your lowest decent standard for neatness.
“People with neat homes tend to have a cleaning schedule and routines so dirt and laundry don't have time to pile up,” says Higgins. “For example, they set a designated day to vacuum or do laundry every Monday so those big tasks don't get skipped.” Sometimes you may need to do something small every day.
Professional cleaners don't circle a room more than once. Taking their place before the bathroom sink, they'll spray and wipe the mirror, scrub the sink, wipe down counters and polish fixtures before they move one inch to the right or left. Don't get physical with your cleaning sessions—make every movement count.