These 10 Resolutions Will Keep Your House Clutter Free This Year

It doesn't matter if you have just 10 minutes to spare or an hour, here are 10 steps you can take to clear the clutter.

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Clean Up the Kitchen

No one likes a messy kitchen. Not only can it be a distraction when you’re trying to cook, but coming home or waking up to dirty dishes won’t help your anxiety when it comes to clutter.

Make a resolution to do the dishes before bed and wipe down the counters every time after cooking a meal. Follow this simple cleaning checklist for a kitchen that shines.

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Sort Mail Every Day

Don’t let mail pile up. Jeanne Taylor, a professional home organizer, says mail can be a major source of clutter in many homes. Make a resolution to sort through your mail each day and toss or recycle pieces you don’t need.

Create a space to keep bills so you don’t lose track of them. Better yet—go paperless! You can build a DIY mail organizer from a repurposed closet door!

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Recycling
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Take Out Recycling Regularly

It doesn’t matter if you keep a recycling bin in your kitchen, on the back porch or in the mudroom, take the recycling out more often.

When it piles up, recycling can quickly clutter up your space. Stay organized by building a stacked recycling tower.

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Purge Often

Lifestyle blogger Chloe Ciliberto believes a good resolution to curbing clutter is to purge more often. Set aside sometime a few times a year to get rid of things such as clothing you don’t wear, kitchen items you no longer use, and old toys your kids have outgrown. Struggling with decluttering? Learn more about Swedish death cleaning; it is a practical approach to help you deal with your possessions.

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Take 10 Minutes Each Day

If you take 10 minutes each day to tidy up a room, that’s more than an hour a week to clear clutter throughout your home. While some rooms such as the kitchen and living room may take a little more time, rooms such as the bathroom and guest room may take even less.

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Give Everything a Place

This year, make a resolution to give everything a place in your home. It’s simple—make sure you have a space to store all those clothes. Use bins to hold remotes, chargers and small electronics.

Have a designated spot for winter gear in the mudroom or entryway.

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Go for Experiences Over Items

Take a cue from millennials and go for experiences over items. According to CNBC, millennials give more importance to experiences such as going on trips, concerts, festivals and even hikes rather than buying items.

This will help you keep your resolution of cutting down on clutter around the home—fewer things = less clutter.

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Adopt the One In/One Out Philosophy

Whenever you buy a new item, consider getting rid of an old one. This philosophy will help you keep clutter out of your closet, off counters and even your child’s toy room. Build a low-cost custom closet to stay organized.

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Laundry
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Organize Your Laundry Room

Laundry rooms are often cramped spaces and clutter from them often makes its way into other parts of the home. To keep the laundry area clutter free, set up a drying rack to hang items.

Take it a step further with these tips from Martha Stewart and add a shelf unit for laundry products and, if you can, create a spot to fold and iron items.

Also, check out these 20 small space laundry room organization tips.

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Set Up Your Entryway or Mudroom

Designate space in your entryway or mudroom for items such as hats, mittens, bags, shoes and boots. Use baskets and bins for smaller items, a boot tray to collect all that mud and snow and hooks for hanging jackets and bags. An effective way to organize stuff better is by having a combined mudroom laundry room space.

Up next, consider these 15 ideas for an organized mudroom.

Rachel Brougham
Rachel Brougham spent years working in newsrooms, for television and newspapers, and has won several awards for her writing. In 2015, she left her full-time job as a newspaper editor to focus on freelance writing and editing. She has been a Family Handyman contributor since 2017.
In 2019, Rachel lived through a major remodeling project on her home, and she uses that experience to inform her Family Handyman content. She's also an avid gardener (both native plants and vegetables), enjoys keeping up with decor trends and spends a lot of time traveling, cooking and hanging out with her family and their giant dog.