It’s hard to truly feel content and love your home when it’s cluttered. Like many people I asked on Facebook, you may crave more order and less clutter. To enjoy the autumn season and be prepared for the holidays, it helps to address what I call visual chaos in our homes.
When a room is filled with stuff—clutter, papers, laundry, unfinished projects, or simply too many accessories—your eye has nowhere peaceful to rest. That constant visual noise keeps you from appreciating beauty and often saps energy and creativity.
Visual chaos can show up as random piles or as a lack of cohesion in your decor.
Today we’ll focus on battling the clutter. Later, we’ll look at simple ways to create visual calm in your decor—without needing a muted color palette.
Start with one room. Notice I didn’t promise a clutter-free home; I said a clutter-free room. If clutter is an issue, break the problem into manageable pieces. Pick one room and commit to keeping it tidy. That habit will spread to other rooms. In my house I keep the family room, kitchen, living room, dining room and powder room as clutter-free as possible most of the time. I’d rather enjoy a few peaceful spaces than have clutter spread everywhere with no refuge.
Just so you know my home isn’t perfect—this is what I regularly find in an upstairs bedroom: a collection of items we brought to church, an errant sock, even a paint can. We often bring things back and don’t know where to put them, so they end up in a heap. We all have random stuff like that.
Even with the method I’m sharing, rooms will still get messy because people live in them—that’s a good thing. My rooms sometimes go out of order because we have kids and music rehearsals, but I can put them back quickly because I don’t let clutter accumulate. So what’s my secret? It’s not a revolutionary tip, and it’s a bit extreme, but it works for me.
The Grab & Box Technique
1. Pick a room that’s overwhelmed with clutter.
2. Grab some bags or boxes and move through the room, filling containers with anything that doesn’t belong there or that you can’t address right away. Don’t overthink it—if it’s random or out of place, put it in a bag.
3. For speed, toss everything into one bag or box. If you have a little more time and want a bit more order, use labeled bags: “GIVE AWAY,” “TRASH,” and “DEAL WITH LATER.” Set aside any bills or urgent items you need to handle immediately.
4. Don’t get bogged down in micro-organizing while you’re tidying. Make quick decisions so you can finish the room.
5. Schedule a specific time to sort the bags—put it on your calendar. If you’re ready to let go, toss the “trash” bag and move on.
You’ll be surprised how quickly you can transform a room with this technique. Instant results are motivating: you see a clean room right away, then you can deal with the contents of the bags as a separate project. Just don’t let the bags pile up—resolve them before starting another room.
By tackling this little project today, your autumn nesting will be more enjoyable.
Which rooms in your house need decluttering?
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