8 Ways to Identify Clutter in Your Home So You Can Easily Eliminate Them

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Want to declutter your home to make it more functional, comfortable, and peaceful? Or maybe you are already working on decluttering but still feel like there are more stuff you need to get rid of, but not quite sure what! It’s important to know how to identify the clutter in your home so you can declutter the right stuff and make room for the things that you love, value, use, and enjoy.

There is a certain kind of freedom that you get to enjoy when you get rid of the clutter in your home. But clutter is not always easy to recognize and it’s often subtle. While some stuff can be easily identified as clutter such as the things that are old, worn-out, not in great shape or condition, or something that you don’t like, there are still many things that apparently look good but don’t add any value to your life. People often struggle to determine whether some of those items are clutter or not.

Clutter can be deceitful, because it can be almost anything – from obvious junk to expensive antiques. Also, the same object that may be clutter for one person, can be treasure for another person. As the proverb goes: “One man’s trash is another man’s treasure.”

8 Ways to Identify Clutter:

“Have nothing in your house that you do not know to be useful or believe to be beautiful.” ~ William Morris

Before you can be a clutter buster in your home, you need to know what clutter is. To most people, clutter is simply trash and cheap, old junk that fills our homes, and that we don’t care about at all.

But clutter can be more than that. It can be beautiful and expensive, too!

In most cases, clutter is basically an accumulation of random, unnecessary stuff that need to be removed. But if something is both useful and beautiful, that’s not clutter. If it adds value to your life and improves your lifestyle, holds special meaning, or has some sentimental value, keep it without any second thought. Things become clutter when they are no longer used, loved, or appreciated. The purpose of decluttering is to live with the things you need, value, use, and love.

So, how to identify clutter? Try these proven and simple ways to figure out what clutter is in your home, and then get rid of them one after another.

1. If you don’t use it, it’s clutter

It often happens that we buy and use an item for some time, and then our needs, tastes, circumstances, and lifestyles change. Then, it’s no longer quite as useful to us anymore. That’s when the item begins to collect dust in one corner of your home – gradually becoming clutter.

If you have stuff in your home that are not used anymore, or you no longer need that to serve any purpose, you need to get rid of them. If something is nice to look at but doesn’t get used at all, you should let it go because it’s clutter.

No matter how carefully and neatly a thing is stored or organized, if you never use it and have no plans to use it in the near future, why keep it?

2. If it doesn’t add value to your life, it’s clutter

Sometimes we buy or collect items thinking it will give us some kind of joy. But often it turns out that we derive no pleasure from using or looking at that item after a while. There are days when we don’t even notice that it exists.

If you have stuff in your home that doesn’t make your life easier or more enjoyable, but you still have to store it, clean it, organize it, or maintain it, then it’s clutter. You don’t need to hold on to that thing any longer.

3. If it’s a duplicate item, it could be clutter

Owning duplicate items or multiple items that can serve the same purpose or do the same job is a quick and sure way to add clutter to your home. If you have a few of a particular item, such as clothes, shoes, or kitchen tools, that’s a good thing since you have choices, variety, and appropriate things for different occasions.

However, when you start to collect too many of a particular item that you really don’t need or never use, it becomes an overwhelming pile of clutter taking up your valuable physical spaces and creating mess.

Anything in your home that you have a large selection of should be questioned and evaluated.

Related post: The Real Cost of Clutter in Your Home

4. If you don’t have a room for it in your home, it’s clutter

Items without a home are what tend to create clutter around your home because they have nowhere to go. You could have some really awesome stuff but if it doesn’t have a proper place in your home, you need to identify that as clutter.

This kind of clutter is tough to get rid of as you may feel somehow attached to that item. You may love something and hate to let it go. However, the fact is that if it sits out collecting dust or becomes a tripping hazard for you and others, it just doesn’t belong in your home anymore.

But if you can get rid of other stuff (that you don’t need, or use, or love) to make room for it, it’s not clutter.

However, sometimes you have to let things go since you only have so much space available, and you want to create a cozy and peaceful environment in your home. If you can’t easily make room for something in your home, it just doesn’t belong there.

5. If you forgot you had it, it’s clutter

When you are trying to declutter your home, you may come across things that you didn’t know you had. If you didn’t know it was there or totally forgot that you even owned it in the first place, it’s most likely clutter.

If you didn’t even remember you had it, it can be safely said that it’s not something you love or use regularly. Why keep it then?

6. If something doesn’t work anymore, it’s clutter

If you have something that is broken, or doesn’t work, or you don’t have all the pieces together to make it work such as kid’s toys, you can be confident that it’s clutter and needs to be gone.

Also, if something can’t be fixed or you don’t bother to repair, you can easily identify that as clutter.

7. If you don’t love something, it’s clutter

The whole purpose of decluttering is to surround yourself with the things you need and love. If there are things, particularly decorative items or clothes that you don’t like or enjoy anymore, you should get rid of them and make room for the things you love.

It’s easy to keep things in your home that you don’t like just because over the time you get used to them, and don’t even notice them anymore. Take time to look around carefully and see which items don’t make you feel good about them. And then, put those in your decluttering list and get rid of them.

8. If something triggers stress or evokes negative emotions, it’s clutter

You may have some great stuff that you love and use sometimes, but it requires great care, too, to maintain the item. The mere thought of caring for it causes stress and anxiety. If you feel it’s too much to maintain, and an easier option for that is available, then it’s clutter.

Further, if an item evokes a negative emotion such as guilt, regret, or sadness when you see, use, or think about it, it’s probably not something that should stay in your home.

You may like to read: What are Negative Emotions and How to Control Them?

Parting words

Before you start your decluttering process, it’s important to identify the true clutter in your home. Now that you have a pretty clear idea of what clutter is, you can imagine your home without it. Once your home is clutter-free, you’ll enjoy a sense of accomplishment and freedom like never before.

Decluttering is liberating, and it can change your life for the better. Hope the list I have mentioned above will help you enjoy all the benefits of living in a decluttered home for a long time.