The following was written by contributing writer Angie.
It is my sincere hope that you would read a title like that and think, “What does she mean by that? I don’t have an area like that?” If so, then kudos to you on your organization and housekeeping skills. However, if you’re anything like me, the very mention of hot spots in your home or an area that is always messy immediately makes you shake your head knowingly, as you picture that area in your mind.
In my home, we have several of these areas, unfortunately. The two that are of the most concern to me are the kitchen counter and my craft room. I believe this is because they are the areas that I know I hold the most culpability in their messiness.
If you also have these kinds of issues, I suspect you hope that this is where I will come in and share my life-changing organization strategy or maybe even the product to buy that will solve all of your problems. We’ve all thought that we’ve found those things before, haven’t we? It’s that one product that will change us from disorganized creative-types into Suzie Homemaker.
I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but while you might find a product that will help and you might find a method that will make things better, a product or method probably isn’t the answer. If you have the same area that gets messy time and time again despite all of the new baskets and organizers, despite every new method you’ve read about on blogs, it’s likely that you need to look at that area in a new way.
Things to Consider about Your Habitually Messy Area:
1. What is my purpose with this space? What goal do I want to accomplish that I need this space for?
If you are habitually letting an area get too messy, it might be that you just haven’t clarified what you really want to do in that space. Maybe you need to reconsider how you’re using that space. Or, perhaps thinking through it it will just bring you some clarity on what your goals are for the space.
In the case of my craft room, my goal is that I would like to be able to use the desk area to work on a variety of projects. I would like be able to use it at any time, and not have to clear off an area to work. In addition to this, I would like my daughter to be able to sit and work with me, which means that my goal must include keeping most of the desk area clear of supplies.
Cementing your goals and purpose in your head puts us in the right mind set for our second consideration.
2. What things are in this space that don’t add to the purpose of this space? Or even worse yet – what are things that are in this space that take away from the purpose of this space?
This should be used as a trigger to look around and ask yourself, “If my purpose is (X), then why do I keep this item here?” Not only do extra items add to the mess, but it keeps you away from meeting the purpose of this area.
Let’s use my kitchen counter as an example for this one. My purpose is to have a space where I can do food prep, as well as to serve as a home for some of my small appliances. While this would seem to be obvious, I need to ask myself why we have a chess board sitting at one end of it. Does that help me meet my goals for the space? Is there anywhere else the chess set can go?
3. Is there anything I need to add to this area to help meet my purpose?
I know that a lot of us want to skip right to this step. You might see a set of baskets in a store and then you think, “This set of baskets will be the answer to organizing my office!”
Don’t do this! Clarify your purpose first, then clear out items you don’t need, and then (and only then) should you add more items. Ideally, you have thought through your plan of why it is going to be helpful to add these things.
In my craft room, I once added a set of drawers that could hold 12×12 paper. While I already had trays for paper on my desk top, they took up too much room. They took away from my purpose of being able to work any time I wanted to with my daughter next to me, because there just wasn’t enough room. When I moved them out, then I was able to put in one tall tower of these 12×12 drawers and opened up a lot of work space.
These three, simple steps can help solve almost any problem spot in your house. However, it’s also vital to keep in mind that if you have a habitually messy area, then it will be a constant battle. It won’t be something you do just once. Be prepared to constantly reconsider your goals (in case they change), look for things that aren’t meeting that goal (or are getting in the way of the goal), and (only every so often) consider if there is something you want to add to the area to help you better meet your goal for the space.
What are some of your favorite tips for keeping problem areas clean?
Angie, a contributing writer at The Happy Housewife, is a homeschooling mom to three children and writes about everything that happens in their lives between all the loads of laundry at >Many Little Blessings. She is also the founder of The Homeschool Classroom, Catholic Mothers Online, Tiny Owl {Designs}, and Just a Tiny Owl {Etsy shop}.
Cynthia (It All Changes) says
That place is my dining room table. It’s right inside my front door and everything gets thrown there. If we actually want to use it or eat there it takes at least 20 minutes to clear it off. I need more options for storage and sorting so we know what we are doing with what. It’s a work in progress but at least we are working at it.
Thanks for the tips.
Angie says
Do you find that a lot of the same types of things end up on the table, or is it a variety of things? Are they things that just don’t have a home?
Dan says
That is such great advice to find a purpose for a cluttered space. I think cluttered spaces in my home don’t have a purpose.
Angie says
My house is small-ish, so I have to have a purpose for every spot in my house. 😉 This could be why I also have a treadmill right in my living room. LOL
Camille says
We used to have the same problem with our dining room table (and like the comment above, our dining room is right in the front door – first thing you see). My solution was to keep it set all the time. I found cute bamboo placemats and bright red cloth napkins that I pull through napkin rings and set on top of the plates. We don’t use the cloth napkins for everyday meals, but it’s easy to set those aside when it’s time to eat. My dining room table has been clutter-free for MONTHS (huge accomplishment for me) and a side bonus is that it’s one less thing to think about when it’s time to get dinner on the table. My daughter re-sets it as I’m cleaning up from dinner so it’s ready to go for the next day.
Thanks for the ideas (especially for the kitchen counter – my new clutter magnet). Great site!
Angie says
What a great idea for kitchen table clutter! Congratulations on keeping it clear for so long now.
Emily G says
For me, my closets and garage are soo cluttered 🙁 I look at them, shake my head, and walk away. Don’t even have the strength lol
Angie says
LOL – my sad sorry truth is that I often do the same thing, until I just get fed up and absolutely have to clean it up.l
Nena says
that is my dining room table…. or the hutch by the table … so i know your pain.
Allie says
Our kitchen counters are twins. I have a counter that has turned dumping ground. I think part of the problem is that it is so close to the entrance of the garage. It’s the first flat surface as we come in the door. I think maybe I need to do some thinking and planning about what the purpose of this counter is. I think part of my problem is that I don’t have a purpose for it. I put stools at it, but we have never used them. I only put them there because we had the stools and used them in our house before this one. I think I’ll go get rid of the dumping ground right now, while I’m still thinking about it.
Angie says
That’s exactly it — our counter is also the first flat surface as you come in from the garage. Plus, we measured it once, and the main open area is almost 30 square feet. It’s just like it’s inviting stuff to gather there. 😉
Good luck!
Somebody's Mimi says
I hate clutter! I LOVE drawers! So that is where my mess goes and no one can see it. My dining room is also to the right of my foyer. I keep my table picture perfect and decorated like a magazine photo… To keep my clutter down I try to imagine what it would look like in a photo. I also like to have most of my public areas looking neat… you never know who might drop in for a visit…
Bella Michelle says
It is my kitchen Island to be sure! I have to keep a firm hand there or it gets all kinds of out of control.
Rosalyn (RosalynPricenglish.com) says
Love this article! As I was reading it, I was looking around my ‘office’ thinking – she’s RIGHT, what is THAT doing here???
I’ve struggled with piles now that our three year old can reach ‘up’. I’m looking at my office space with new eyes, thank you, and am going to start looking around the house for items I can repurpose that will help me define this space…
There’s nothing worse than being ready to write and sitting down to a huge pile that needs to be moved. I’m designing a folding table top that I can attach to my desk, that will fold out of the way when I’m dong writing – if there is no surface there, I can’t put anything on it, can I?!
Thanks again,
Rosalyn
Angie says
I hope that you’re able to clear out that office area. It’s such a struggle, isn’t it? I know it is something that I will have to work on all the time throughout my life.
Regge says
My mess areas change a lot. When the kids were little I did the picking up but now that they are older and leave their own messes, now they are cleaning up. So the kitchen table tends to stay cleared off (one of my previous messy areas) and the desk area of the study is a constant reminder for me and the kids to pick things up that belong to them. We seem to leave a paper trail somehow…
Maryann says
We definetly have this problem in several areas of the house, i was wonder if you had any suggestions for how to get your spouse and kids on board with this new routine? I think it will become a major area of nagging, and reminding and eventually lead to me/us giving up. Also I don’t know how to tempt them into caring and helping the process along. Also do you have any suggestions about storage containers for things that need to go up and down the stairs, big piles of stuff sit and clutter at the top and bottoms of the steps and I’m trying to find something that will be easy to take up and down and will still look nice enough… Thanks!
Angie @ Many Little Blessings says
Maryann – I have an advantage that I’m the free spirit (aka “messy one”) in my marriage. My husband will leave things around, but he also loves order. So, it doesn’t take a lot to get him to come around to working on this. I would have a heart-to-heart with your husband about it. But, I also have to admit that I’m not above nagging.
With the kids, we just do a lot of reminding. I try not to make it sound like nagging, just friendly reminders. We talk some about how keeping the house clean is part of their job (and our job) as being part of our family. I have pretty compliant kids, so it doesn’t take a lot of convincing, though it does take a lot of reminders.
Is there a reason that things at your house have to sit at the bottom and top of the stairs? Is there anywhere else those things could go as a more permanent home?
Sharon says
I love your craft room. I want to do something similar, but am not sure if I can in the small space I have for it. Would you share the dimensions of your craft area? Thank you!