Here are all the reasons why you have a messy home and how to deal with the chaos!
Let’s be honest here. Life happens, and as much as you try to keep your home tidy, that’s not always possible. Maybe you have little ones running around and turning your place upside down, or you’re so busy that you sometimes have a hard time putting everything in order.
However, the more clutter you have, the harder it is to tidy up, and that’s an easy way to end up with a messy home. Even if you vacuumed, dusted, and mopped, the simple fact that you have lots of things lying around makes your space look cramped and suffocating.
I’ve never liked owning too many things, simply because the more I see, the more crowded my mind is, but since I don’t have a lot of storage space, I had to come up with ideas on how to avoid having a messy home.
There are some common reasons why your home isn’t looking exactly as you want, and once you know these things, it’s easier for you to keep it neat. If you want to say goodbye to your messy home, I have some tips on how to take care of it. It’s time for a change, so let’s get this tidy-up party started!
1. You might have some bad habits
Bad habits can make your life harder in many ways, and when it comes to keeping your house organized, the simple things you’ve been putting off can also harm your mental health.
Believe it or not, you’re more likely to do things that cause clutter, even if you don’t think about it. Seeing clutter in every space and admitting you have a messy home can put a lot of pressure on you because you’ll have to set aside extra time to put your belongings in order.
Do you ever come home, change your outside clothes, and instead of putting them back in the closet or tossing them in the laundry basket, you just drape them over the back of a chair? Guilty here.
Or maybe you grab a bite, drink coffee, and don’t do the dishes immediately. You just let them go in the sink, waiting to have more, and do them all at once.
Try to think about those tiny habits that give you a messy home and do little things to get rid of them, like doing each chore the minute you have to. Coming home? Put your clothing in the closet or the wash?
Have some dirty dishes? Do them quickly, or load them in the washing machine for later. This job will take you a couple of minutes to tackle, but if you let it pile up, you’ll have a messy home in no time.
2. Not everything has a place
This one is very important because it’s one of the things that makes your home messy, but people don’t pay too much attention to it.
If you don’t know where to store something, chances are it will be thrown somewhere. You’re just going to place it in any drawer, cabinet, or open surface since you don’t know what else to do with it.
Solution? Find a home for whatever you have. It doesn’t matter how small it is; it needs a place to sleep (metaphorically speaking).
3. Invest in drawers
I don’t like things to be in plain sight, especially trinkets or small objects, and I prefer drawers or cupboards instead of shelves. It’s easier for me to dust, and my home looks polished and more organized thanks to the fact that I don’t have many things on display.
If you don’t like to have crowded shelves or belongings sitting on every open surface, investing in drawers and cupboards will make you feel better.
4. You don’t put things back
Another reason that causes a messy home is laziness. How many times have you taken something from your closet, cabinet, or bookshelf, and instead of putting it back where it belongs, you left it hanging on a chair, let it sit on the coffee table, and forgot about it?
I understand that there might be times when you can’t be bothered to put everything back, but do you know what happens if you constantly neglect this? You get a messy home.
If you’re in a rush and can’t spend a couple of minutes tidying up, make sure you tackle this thing the moment you get home, so that you don’t end up with too many things to do at once.
5. You don’t maintain
When I first moved in with my now-husband, we lived in a small one-bedroom apartment. We were both working a 9-to-5 job, so we weren’t that excited to deep clean our home every week.
We came up with this thing called a 15-minute blitzkrieg cleanup session, in which we did everything that was needed, whether it was vacuuming the living room, doing the dishes, taking the trash out, or putting things where they belonged.
If that activity ended up taking more than 15 minutes, it was fine because we wanted to move as fast as possible. You can try this technique too because it gives you a good feeling like you did something good for your home and yourself, and I promise you’re going to have such a better night’s sleep.
Keep reading to discover other reasons why you have a messy home!
6. You have too many belongings
Another reason you have a messy home is the fact that you have too much stuff. Unless you’re blessed with a lot of storage space, chances are that you will have a hard time putting everything in order.
If everything in your home is bursting with things and you can get another item in there, you’re more likely to find alternative ways to store your items. For instance, if your closet is full of clothing and fitting another thing in there is a struggle, you might be better off putting it on the back of a chair or folding it somewhere.
You might not like this tip, but if you no longer want to live in a messy home, it might be time to think about letting go of any unwanted things and making the best of what you have.
I guarantee that when you start decluttering your home, you’re more likely to find things you didn’t even know you owned anymore. And if you’ve forgotten about them, do you really need them?
7. You want to do everything at once
Unless you don’t want to be stressed in vain, I suggest you don’t wait for the perfect time to transform your messy home into the neatest home ever. You might be putting off little organizing chores around the house simply because you want to take care of everything when you have more time.
But here’s the thing: the more you maintain, the less you have to work during your deep cleaning session. Take a few minutes at the end of the day, pick up everything that’s not in its place, put it where it belongs, sweep the floors, wipe the counters, take everything in its room, and you’ll be good.
Speaking of deep cleaning sessions, if you want to get some incredible supplies that leave your home fresh, sparkling, and great-smelling, here are my top products from Amazon.
If you enjoyed reading this article and you’d like to check out something else from Wipe and Organize, here’s an amazing post for you: 11 Items You Should Never Store on Top of Your Fridge
