When thinking about your stuff it is easy to notice where clutter congregates. Often our homes’ entryway is the popular refuge for mail, shoes, backpacks, etc. It is the drop zone for all things abandoned upon entry to your home. An easy fix is to have a landing zone for these items where each thing has a home. Teaching your children and husband to use the organization system you have implemented is another story. Another clutter culprit to think about is what I call clutter collectors.
My personal clutter collector was a beautiful refurnished rolltop desk salvaged from a train depot from the early 1900’s. I always wanted a roll-top desk, or so I thought. My husband’s parents gifted it to us. This ginormous refuge for all things forgotten for another day had all the nooks and crannies that define a rolltop desk. It was the temporary, sometimes long-term resting place for all things I did not want to immediately deal with. This meant at least twice a year I had to take a better part of a day and declutter the desk from all the treasures it had amassed.
First rule in finding a solution is admitting there is a problem. I realized I never used this desk as a place to actually do work. It became a receptacle for all delayed decisions. I then developed a better system that involved dealing with the items rather than hiding them away for another day’s inquiry. I then returned the big beauty to my in-laws as it no longer had a purpose in my home but to collect dust. Now it is clutter collector in their home! So, keep an eye out for your clutter collector, you likely have multiple throughout your home.