If you’re having trouble with over-flowing clutter in your house, then maybe you haven’t adequately defined the function of your rooms.  Every room, closet, nook and cranny of your home needs to have a well-defined purpose.  When I go to a client’s house for the first time, I ask what the room is currently being used for.  Then I ask what they WANT and NEED the room to be used for.  My job is to get the room from it’s current state to the clients desired vision.  As I’ve mentioned before, everything needs a home.  But do you have well defined “homes” set up?

Often, the rooms in our homes are multi-functional. For example, a kitchen’s purpose is for food preparation but may also be used for eating, homework, socializing and mail sorting.  Kid’s bedrooms are for sleeping but may also serve as a play area or study area depending on the age of the child.   

The guest bedroom tends to be our “catch-all” space.  Stress sets in when house guests are expected and the bed and floor are taken over with clutter.  Define the purposes of this room and set it up accordingly.   Ask yourself if you need this room to serve as storage.  If so, then create desirable storage solutions.  

Another consideration is under-utilizing a space.  We don’t use the room for it’s intended purpose such as formal dining rooms and living areas.  This isn’t a problem if there’s enough space in the rest of the house. If not, consider breaking away from the traditional use of the room and converting it to serve a different function such as a home office or a play room if you have small children.  

Ask yourself these questions:  What do I want this room used for?  What activities do I want/need to take place in this room/ area?   It’s important to assign the purposes to a room.  Keep this vision and don’t allow the defined areas become over-taken by clutter that belongs elsewhere.