If you’ve ever wondered how to declutter your home, you know that cleaning out junk can be a real bust. Where to begin? And how much to do? You may think that deep cleaning everything from the hidden space behind the blinds to reorganizing every single closet in the house is in your near future. But in reality, there are key areas to focus on to make a tidier space overall as opposed to clearing out every nook and cranny—because that can wait until official spring cleaning routines kick in.
To declutter your home room by room, zero in on the important problem areas. Doing so can make a major difference and render a breezier vibe in your home. For all the best advice, AD reached out to seven professional organizers for their best advice so you can crack down (and then tackle) the worst clutter zones in each room.
In this article
The mudroom
The mudroom is often a hot spot for clutter. “The clutter problem here is that [the mudroom] technically is where things like coats, backpacks, shoes, and grab-and-go items are stored during busy weeks,” says professional organizer and founder of Simply Dare Kenzie Harkey. According to Harkey, a lot of what she sees in her clients’ homes is that people tend to allow this area to pile up without resetting it weekly. “Eventually, there’s too much stuff stored in the space,” she explains. “One rule I have for clients with these spaces is to clean it out once a week.” All it takes is 5 to 10 minutes to clear out unnecessary garb as the seasons change—heavier coats, for example, can be packed away in the basement or garage once winter ends. If you can remove these items, you can then open up some space, allowing for more wiggle room for empty shelves and other areas. These can then become spots for mail, packages, or stuff you need to return or deliver elsewhere.
Elfa Wide Drawer Solution Platinum
Home offices and workstations
As many of us have switched to remote work or flex-work arrangements, it’s only natural if the home office has become one of the messiest rooms in your house. “Home offices are now likely to include both desktop and laptop computers with multiple monitors, docking and charging stations, and other electronics including TVs,” says Elizabeth Dodson, who created one of the country’s first digital home management platforms in 2012 as a response to the piles of paper clutter around her home.
Yamazaki Hidden Cable Box by West Elm
The living room
While magazines and coffee-table books tend to stack here, other items around the house can land on the coffee table as well, causing clutter. “The biggest way around this is to make sure you have a system in place,” says organizing expert Ashley Jones in Houston. But it doesn’t have to be a complicated one. “It could be as simple as purchasing a magazine rack to collect magazines into one area or setting up a mail collection drop zone.” If possible, choose a storage ottoman to place bigger items inside like throw blankets.
Lumi Storage Ottoman by West Elm
At the same time, place intentional decor on the coffee table to discourage everyday items from collecting. “Choose items that are bigger in scale and take up roughly 80% of the surface, rather than smaller trinkets to cover the entire surface of the table,” recommends professional organizer and organizational designer Lisa Eckerle of The Designer Organizer LLC in Indianapolis. “You shouldn’t use more than three or four items in total.” Stick to sizable pillar candles (like these fun Hay color-block candles), a bowl with decorative fillers, or even some nice tchotchkes.
The kitchen
The proverbial stuffed kitchen drawer. Sigh. It seems everyone has a drawer brimming with cooking and baking utensils that clink and clank whenever someone tries to open it. The solution? A decorative crock filled with utensils, cut in rustic wood tones to echo cottagecore and modern farmhouse vibes, is a great piece to have in the kitchen. It adds warmth and function to the heart of the home, Eckerle says.
Hawkins New York Wood Utility Canister
Turning back to the packed drawer, you can create a simple way to tidy this up too by employing kitchen organization techniques. “I love to use drawer inserts or dividers to keep the contents of drawers and cabinets organized,” says certified professional organizer Shannon Tamme of Life Synchronized in Saint Louis, Missouri. In fact, storage bins and other tools can help you create neat sections. “Categories are key to keeping order,” Tamme says. “Baking, snacks, pastas, canned goods—place these items together and try to keep the most used items at a reachable level.”
The dining room
The dining table: Where better for a family to assemble a puzzle together or loved ones to battle each other in Catan or Monopoly? And when you’re working on a long, drawn out board game or 1000-piece puzzle, you can’t exactly clear out these activities every time another meal or activity rolls around. Indeed, the one home organization problem Eckerle regularly sees is dining room tables becoming the hub for all things in progress, she says. “When this happens, a family can no longer eat together at the table without the fear of collapsing a pirate ship, city airport, or Star Wars head in the works.”
“While the long-term solution is a bit more complicated, involving carts, bins, and zippered pouches, the short-term solution is an easy one,” Eckerle says. Simply have your kids start their puzzle, board game, or Lego building on a baking sheet with sides, she says. “They can dump the pieces on it, build on it, and then simply pick it up and place it out of the way when it’s time for dinner.”
For a long-term solution, you can add some built-in cabinets along the wall around the table for easy organization. “Inside, the sideboard could have a tray for mail or other paperwork that usually ends up being placed on the dining room table too,” says Jonathan Culp, the design principal for Land Agency, a high-end residential design firm based in Denver. Finally, you can also reclaim the dining table and signify the intentionality of the space by adding a minimalist statement piece that sparks joy in the center of the table. “Having something like a beautiful vase with flowers makes putting stuff on the table feel wrong,” Culp adds.
The bedroom
Sometimes rehanging clothes feels like too much work. That’s why it is much easier to place them on the bedroom’s armchair than venture into the wardrobe war zone. Get to the root of the problem: Make your closet a cinch to get to (and keep it that way), experts say. “Place a basket on the floor of your closet to throw in ‘not dirty, not clean’ clothes, such as sweatshirts, jeans, and the like,” Eckerle says. However, remember this important tip. “Ensure the basket isn’t too deep or large that you have to rifle through it or forget what’s in there,” she adds.