3 Secret Weapons for a Clutter-Free Home

We all know someone whose home is always mysteriously, maddeningly clutter-free. How do they do it? Maybe they just don’t have any stuff. Maybe they incinerate everything right before anyone comes over. Or maybe they have a few secret weapons. Here are three of your most important allies in the fight against clutter.

If you are trying to get rid of clutter, drawers are almost magical. Take something that is sitting out, on the table or the floor or the countertop, and put it in a drawer, and instantly it is no longer clutter. It is a thing, with a place. The problem is that most people don’t have enough drawers, and they devote all of their drawers to specific things instead of leaving one or two as catch-alls. Whenever you can add more drawers to your home, do it. Stacks of pretty boxes will also do in a pinch.

→ One Minute Tip: Embrace Your Junk (Drawer!)

If I had the wall space I would hang up every single thing I owned. It’s just so, so easy. Pick thing up from floor: place it on a hook: done. And while wall-mounted racks of hooks are not to be underestimated, you can also add hooks inside a cabinet door, inside a cabinet, hanging over the towel bar in the bathroom. The sky’s the limit. Remember that with hooks, as with drawers, it’s always nice to have a few more than you think you need.

A basket is like a drawer, but even better than a drawer because you don’t have to make sure it closes. These are great for kids’ toys or anything else that tends to get left lying around. Having one or two big baskets as clutter catch-alls, especially in major spaces like the living room and bedroom, can be a real lifesaver when you’re trying to straighten up at the last minute. Just stuff everything in the basket, tuck said basket into a corner or under a sofa or console table, and no one will be the wiser.

Re-edited from a post originally published 11.11.2015 – TW