Clutter, Clutter Everywhere!

I have two friends who have completely clutter-free homes. It doesn't matter what time of the day or night you pop in, the house is clean. It's clean because there's no clutter. Zero. Nadda. It's almost scary and a little too sterile. This is something I do not understand. My house has clutter everywhere. And when I say clutter, I don't mean junk or garbage. It's things that don't seem to have a "place" and are laying around. There's mail that needs to be looked over, coupons I have clipped that I may use before they expire, school papers the kids have brought home, grocery list, books, Christmas gifts that need to be exchanged, laundry that just came out of the dryer, items I've laid out to take to work, and some pictures, just to name a few. I had to select this photo because it's quite typical of what I'm talking about. You can see the person has tried to buy a basket and container to keep items organized, but clutter now overflows. Also, if you know anything about me you'll find the humor in the Clorox wipes!

Sometimes clutter overwhelms me. I can only look at it for so long, then I can't take it anymore. On numerous occasions I have put all the papers from the kitchen counters into a box to start fresh. Two days later, it all seems to be back and now I have a box to store! I like to consider myself a fairly organized person, but when it comes to clutter, I'm better at organizing it in to unsightly piles than eliminating it. Also, it's difficult when you share a home with three other people, because not all the clutter belongs to you. You can't just throw it out because it's not yours, and someone else may need it later.

It's even worse when clutter overwhelms my husband, because he gets angry and just starts grabbing things and throwing them into boxes, which makes me insane. Of course that's because I'm not in control of the de-clutterization!!

I always think if I had a bigger house I could eliminate the clutter. More closets, more rooms! But I know this isn't the case. As we begin the new year, I'll write some ideas about getting rid of this problem. Maybe I'll even be able to implement some of them!