15 Common Things That Make Your House Look Cluttered

This blog post is all about things that make your house look cluttered!

Have you recently decluttered and organized your space, but it still seems to look messy and chaotic?

This situation is very frustrating!

We’ve worked hard to clean, tidy, and go through everything and yet, we can’t seem to reap all the rewards.

If you’re in this situation and are wondering “What makes my house look cluttered?”, you’re in the right place.

In this article, I share with you 15 things that make your house look cluttered and what you can do with them to reduce that visual clutter.

After reading it, you’ll be able to identify them and determine whether they’re a problem in your home or not.

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Why you need to be aware of the things that make your house look cluttered

Identifying the things that make your house look cluttered is essential if you want to live in a peaceful, clutter-free home.

Sometimes, without realizing it, we allow certain items to be in our space, yet they cause unnecessary visual clutter and mess.

They prevent us from having a home that not only looks good but also feels good.

Getting to know which items make our homes look chaotic is key so we can take action and declutter them.

Or at least, we can go ahead and store them somewhere else, somewhere that’s out of sight.

Once you’ve hidden or gotten rid of them, you’ll be able to enjoy your home more, be more productive while doing your chores, and relax in a calming environment!

Read more:

15 things that make your house look cluttered

1. Overfilled shelves

If you have shelves that are filled with all kinds of things, from books to decorations, they might cause visual clutter in your home.

Try to simplify them and remove some of the items.

Consider creating some empty space on them so that they don’t look so full.

Also, avoid stacking books on top of other books that you’ve stored vertically.

Those contribute to that cluttered look!

2. Too many decorations

To make our homes homey and more welcoming, we’re often tempted to add decorations to the space.

However, we can easily overdo it and buy a ton of decor that doesn’t add anything to the space.

Worse, it makes it look cluttered and messy.

This is even more true when the decorations are mismatched and don’t go together.

So if you have too many decorations and knick-knacks in your home, consider decluttering some of them.

Avoid hanging decor on every wall in your house and prioritize quality over quantity.

Choose your favorite decorations and make them stand out!

You might also want to avoid having too many small decorations and instead opt for bigger but fewer ones.

Read more:

3. Toys everywhere

If you have kids, you may have toys scattered all around your house.

While we want our kids to enjoy their toys and have fun, their toys can be a huge cause of clutter and stress in our homes.

Consider downsizing your kids’ toy collection (with them if they’re old enough).

See which ones they play with all the time and which ones they never touch.

Get rid of the ones they don’t like anymore, as well as broken and outgrown toys.

Then, decide where their toys will live: choose a specific room or a specific piece of furniture.

Create a rule for your kids that their toys need to be put away and stored there at the end of each day.

Toys are some of the things that make your house look cluttered.

4. Too much furniture

Furniture pieces are usually the biggest items in our homes and they’re very bulky and take up a lot of room.

They’re some of the things that make your house look cluttered when you have too many of them.

So go to each room in your home, and reassess all the furniture you have.

Do you need and use each one of them?

Can you remove some of them?

Decluttering extra furniture will make your space look bigger and less cluttered!

5. Storage solutions that leave the clutter visible

If you have furniture pieces without doors or transparent storage bins, you may be able to see everything that’s inside.

While it makes finding things easier and quicker, it also creates visual clutter.

Keep your items out of sight in closed furniture such as closets with doors instead of open closets and bookshelves.

Also, opt for storage bins that aren’t clear and that actually hide their content.

Baskets with lids are another great option you may want to get!

Read more:

6. Cords and cables

In our modern times, our homes are filled with all kinds of cords and cables.

And let’s be honest, they’re quite ugly and annoying to see everywhere!

They make our houses look cluttered and messy, particularly when they’re entangled.

While eliminating some of our electronics might be the simplest solution, it’s not realistic for most of us.

One thing we can all do though is to organize them in a neat and tidy way.

We can hide cords and cables behind furniture or using a cable concealer system.

You may also want to use a cable management box in those places where you have lots of them.

7. Items with labels or sayings on them

Items that have labels or sayings on them can be visually distracting.

Whenever we enter a room that has items displaying words, our brains unconsciously read those words.

While it might not bother most people, for some of us, it can be tiring and annoying.

Those items can also make our houses look cluttered and busier than they actually are.

So I always try to avoid displaying decorations with quotes on them or miscellaneous items with labels of any kind.

An example of things that make your house look cluttered is decorations with sayings on them.

8. Collections

If you’re a collector and actively collect a certain type of item, be careful and keep your collection under control.

Collections can be things that make your house look cluttered if they’re something you display.

So if you want to reduce visual clutter, avoid displaying all your collected items or at least, display them all in one place.

Make sure the items aren’t scattered all around your home and keep them contained.

If you still want to display your treasures, consider only displaying your favorite and keep the rest out of sight in a nice box or cupboard.

This will make them stand out so you will enjoy seeing them even more!

9. Shoes everywhere

Shoes, particularly when we have kids and a larger family, can make our houses look really chaotic and messy.

They might be scattered all around our entryway or might even find themselves in other parts of our house.

Have a designated space where you keep and store your entire family’s shoes.

Whether it’s on a shoe rack or in a shoe storage cabinet, make sure everyone puts their shoes away whenever they come back home.

10. Too much stuff on your kitchen counters

The kitchen is where most of us spend a lot of time so we want this space to be as beautiful and tidy as possible.

However, when there’s a ton of stuff on our kitchen counters, everything looks much more cluttered.

So see if you can remove some of the things you store on your kitchen counters.

Can you store some appliances in a cabinet?

Do you really need to have cooking utensils next to your stovetop or can they live in a drawer?

Can you declutter some items?

I recommend that you only keep things you use at least several times a week on your kitchen counters.

The rest can either go in your cabinets or be decluttered if you don’t need them.

Get rid of the stuff you don't need on your kitchen counters.

11. Things on flat surfaces

Just like kitchen counters, all the other flat surfaces in our homes are clutter-catchers.

Whenever we don’t know where to put something, we usually end up leaving it on the coffee or dining table, our nightstand, or our bathroom counters.

This truly creates a messy and cluttered look!

To avoid that, dedicate 15 minutes every night to collecting all the items that are on flat surfaces and putting them back where they belong.

That way, you’ll wake up the next day to a clutter-free home and will be able to start your day right away.

12. Too many throw pillows

Throw pillows can truly make our homes cozy and more comfortable.

However, those are also things that make your house look cluttered when you have too many of them.

This is even more true when they’re a mess and scattered everywhere, even on the floor!

Whether you like to have them on your couch, bed, or both, try not to keep too many of them.

I choose not to have more than three at once on the bed or the couch, but usually only have one or two.

It makes tidying, making the bed, and preparing it for the night so much easier and faster!

13. Too many busy patterns and colors

If you like patterns and colors, this one might be tricky for you.

But the thing is, having too many colors and busy patterns in our home can make it look cluttered and chaotic.

Consider keeping the patterns and colors you use to a minimum.

Stick to a color palette with colors that go well together and look harmonious.

If you want to add some visual interest to the space, use a few patterns, such as on your bedding or a rug, but opt for simpler ones.

Stay away from busy patterns, and prefer more discrete ones.

Stay away from busy patterns on bedding and home textiles.

14. Things on the fridge doors

The fridge is one of the bulkiest appliances we have in our kitchens.

Displaying too many things on the fridge doors can really make our kitchens look cluttered and messy.

So if you like having your kids’ drawings, magnets, or coupons on your fridge doors, try to keep them at a reasonable number.

Make sure you love everything and organize them so that they look beautiful and neatly displayed.

15. Dishes in the sink

I’m sure we’re all guilty of this one from time to time!

But let’s be honest, dishes in the sink, whether they’re dirty or clean, don’t look good.

They add a lot of visual clutter and make using the sink more difficult.

Get into the habit of putting dishes away when they’re clean or directly into the dishwasher after using them.

If you hand wash your dishes, try to wash them right after dinner.

I know that sometimes, we feel lazy and don’t feel like doing it immediately, but procrastinating makes our lives more complicated down the line.

Our future selves want to come into a tidy kitchen and don’t want to tackle the dishes from the previous meal.

Final thoughts on things that make your house look cluttered

I hope you’ve found this article helpful and that it has helped you become aware of the things that make your house look cluttered.

Now that you know what causes visual clutter in your home, you can take action and either declutter those things or store them out of sight.

I have an entire article with 22 easy and effective ways to reduce visual clutter at home, so make sure to check it out if you need more guidance.

If you liked this article, you might enjoy the following ones too:

What are the things that make your house look cluttered?

Please leave a comment!

Don’t forget to share this blog post with your friends so they can identify what creates visual clutter in their homes too.

15 COMMON THINGS THAT MAKE YOUR HOUSE LOOK CLUTTERED

Why you need to be aware of the things that make your house look cluttered