5 Organizing Mistakes That Make Your House Look Messy

We all dream of having a house that looks like it could be featured on the front page of a magazine. The reality is that despite our best organizing efforts, our home can still look messy!

In some cases, it can even cause your house to look even messier. If you are finding it difficult to maintain order in your home, then you may want to consider these five organizing mistakes that are making your house look messy.

Are You Making These Organizing Mistakes?

1. You never declutter your home

You can have the best organizing system in the world, but if you have too much stuff, that organization effort will be for nothing!

Whenever you have even a free 15 minutes, try decluttering just one space in your home. You will find that it will be much easier to organize and may also look nicer too.

2. Your organized spaces aren’t functional

Organized spaces look great until they are put to the test. If you are the type of person to throw things on the counter in a hurry, then having a complicated filing system won’t be the best organizing method. This will keep your home from staying tidy because you won’t use the systems you’ve put in place.

Instead, a bin where you can drop off mail and other items will help you keep the clutter from your counters, and make your space look less messy until you can sort through your mail.

3. You don’t have a home for each of the items in your home

If you own something, it should have a place to return to when you’re done using it. Homeless things look out-of-place and will cause your home to look out-of-place as well.

If you’re not sure where to put something, ask yourself where you use that item the most. Next, see if you can make room in that space.

4. You don’t allow space in your home

Empty space might sound like a challenge to get more stuff, but white space used to your advantage can make a space feel more open. It will also make your area look clean and tidy, even when you haven’t picked up for the day.

Whenever you organize a space, try to leave about ⅓ of the space open. This goes for the walls and even your drawers, as well.

5. You try to display every single thing you own

Book lovers and home chefs will know the difficulty of trying to get their stuff organized. When you have 100 books that you love, you may be tempted to put them all on display.

If you are trying to display every single thing you own, you may find yourself with a messy house instead of a beautiful display. Instead, focus on only the things that bring you joy and rotate them throughout the year.

Whether you are just starting to get your clutter under control, or you feel like your house will never look clean, I hope that these tips have helped you towards a cleaner home.

If you need even more help check out my friend Hilary’s FREE 5 Word Organization Challenge. She has all sorts of support for those of us who need to get our homes under control. Also, check out Family Routines to break down the steps to automate your life.

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