Where is your clutter hot spot?
 

Today I tackled thoroughly cleaning our kitchen counters of clutter. Seems that is our hot spot in the home. Hard to believe how little time it takes till we almost can't see the counters themselves. I found phone numbers to enter in address book, a screwdriver, bottles of olive oil, veggie seeds, a set of unopened hot sauces (we don't have a pantry), Stevia packets, small glass bowls from an estate sale, ketchup/honey/soy sauce/strawberry jam take-out packets, jotted down recipes, etc. My best strategy might be to clear it before bed each night. What is your hot spot and how do you control it?

The same as yours!!!
My husband likes everything "handy" which translates into messy!
We are constantly trying to figure out how to handle all that little stuff you're talking about.
I notice when things are tidy I feel a lot calmer first thing in the morning entering the kitchen :)

My kitchen area is always a hot spot. I am trying to declutter more often. Hate going into a messy kitchen first thing in the morning.

Same! I couldn't stand it one.more.day! So today was the day. Decided I don't even want my large Cuisinart coffee pot any more because it takes up so much space, has many parts to operate/fill/clean for the little bit of coffee I consume. Then there's the mail. Oy vey, the mail. Coupons, bill, flyers, junkjunkjunk. I try to pitch the crap as soon as it comes in, but my lazy streak kicks in. Then there are twist-ties which my guys leave on the counter instead of throwing in the trash when the bread is gone. (Why??) And rubber bands which belong in the drawer, a mere 3 inches from the top of counter. Ahem. And dirty dishes in the sink when the dishwasher is empty. Does not make one scintilla of sense. I got so fed up last night that I dubbed this Kitchen Day. If I did nothing else, I would get those dang counters clean, the fridge cleaned out, the floor swept and mopped. I took before photos in case I needed to see progress.

I'm happy to report that the counters are 90% clear now, the old science project food is now in the garbage instead of in the fridge, the floor has no more clumps of dog hair/loose change/post-it notes/onion peels/receipts from 1985 on it, and it is shining hardwood once again.

You ask "Where is your clutter hot spot?". My answer is The whole bloomin house. It is very difficult for me to discard anything, and I am a recycler from before it was a word. For those of you who feel better after you have tossed something, good for you, but hands off my stuff.

My dining room table is our "dumping spot" when we enter. Impossible to keep cleaned off sometimes.

My husband has a slogan, "Two things I hate, clutter and cleaning up clutter." I have a hard time with stuff on the dining room table. We do not eat there often anymore. So the table gets stuff dumped there coming into the house. I try to deal with it every morning (I am an early morning person) and put everything in its place. The key, I think, is to be sure that there is a defined place for all categories of stuff. I have small baggies for rubber bands, twistie ties, etc. When the bag gets full, it gets emptied into the trash. I set aside an hour every morning to deal with paper of all kinds-filing, paying bills, recording receipts of things we keep track of, sending cards, etc. It works pretty well because it takes less time to do daily than to let it stack up and do all at once. That is overpowering to me.

every horizontal surface in my house is a hot spot! :shock: :hunf:

ditto...kitchen counter is where we drop mail, magazines and such and currently my dining table is cluttered with old lap top, new computer, camera and cords as I get ready to update and move documents and photos onto new system. Hopefully, I'll have it cleaned up by the weekend.

Thanks, Zozee! I'm glad to hear I'm not the only one who struggles to keep the kitchen clean! You have inspired me to clean mine today!

I must be the odd one out....our counter is only cluttered on grocery day. 30 minutes later it's cleared off again. Now the pantry is another place....too much stuff left in there from previous wives!! Working some on that today...little by little I'll whittle it down to the items I use and want to keep.

Any flat surface in the house! It makes me absolutely crazy. Granted, I tend to drop things myself at times but then I do go pick up after myself and somewhat deal with the papers, etc. DH on the other hand.... you get the picture. He's like an 8 yr old boy with pockets full of snails and puppy dog tails. It's never ending. And, like zozee, why is the used paper towel still lying on the kitchen counter next to the garbage can?!?

I try to keep the clutter in the public areas of the house down to a dull roar on a regular basis. The upstairs office (my domain) and the sewing room (again, mine) are a different story. I get to those areas when I feel like dealing with them. Or when I can't see the top of the desk or the cutting table, lol.

I'm not sure where my biggest clutter spot is. My DH never puts anything away. Anything he uses he leaves out. I am looking at the coffee table in the living room right now. There is a weeks worth of newspapers, 3 flannel shirts and leftover parts from him fixing the toilets on it. I am sure there are a couple of coffee cups there etc, etc. He does the same thing to the kitchen table. He will try to claim it it all my stuff. He will clean it up if I complain to him.
The worst mess that I make is my sewing room. I have run out of space for fabric. I do seem to think better in a somewhat cluttered space. right now it is pretty bad. We are having an auction at retreat in March and I plan to take some of the things I will probably never use there. The money from the auction goes to the deposit for next years retreat. Last year I made up a couple of kits that brought a good price. My guild is having an auction in September. I will clean out more stuff then.

Hahaha, all I could say is “me too!” as I read everyone’s posts. My husband hates clutter......but he means my clutter......his clutter isn’t called clutter. It’s called convenience. His hot spots are the top of our bedroom dresser and the kitchen counter. I started using a large sewing bowl to move his clutter off the counter. But I can’t get him to go through it. It is overflowing now. My hot spot is my sewing room/bill paying room. I have one desk used for both purposes. Gets kinda crazy sometimes. Fun thread, LavenderBlue!

what Patrice said

Rob

Thank goodness my husband is a very organized person who regularly clears, sorts and ‘deals’ with those pesky piles that accumulate throughout the house. (I come from a long long of ‘I might need that someday’ accumulators.) Right now our problem areas are the ‘extra’ bedrooms - it’s just so easy to put things on the bed or stack them on the floor - sort of out of sight, out of mind. I’m actually glad we are expecting company soon so the rooms will have to be cleaned up in order to use them!

I say we have flat surface syndrome. Any flat surface in the house apparently must be covered with stuff, doesn’t matter what the stuff is, it collects on flat surfaces, I am convinced it does this all by itself! Inviting people over often is my only solution. Only then do I clean it up!

Mine is the same and quite a challenge. However, he doesn't like to make work for my cleaning ladies, so when I point out the need to tidy up for them, he does it. I figure their twice a month visits for half an hour are worth every penny!

Flat surfaces become “lumpy” fast! Hubs doesn’t help. If it’s not out on the counter, it doesn’t exist. Like bread, butter, peanut butter, etx. My problem is paper. Anything paper...hard for me to get rid of it. I have no idea why. Tried the Fly Lady and it made me crazy, so we just have messy counters. I hope people come to see me and not my house.

I also have one counter in the kitchen that gets messy. Right now it’s covered with bills and day calendars. Today has been planned to clean up all the bills etc that need to be filed. I need to redo some of my kitchen cabinets soon.

My DH is an Engineer. "Clutter" is a four letter word.
The only clutter in our house is in my sewing room, which pretty much makes up for the rest of the house.

Watson

I'm glad I'm not the only one in this boat. Kitchen counter and just about every other flat surface. lol

The kitchen counters get cleared of all clutter almost daily. But my desk - another story. Of course in the sewing room it isn't clutter, it's supplies, right?

It really bothers me to have "flat surfaces" cluttered. Therefore I cram everything into the nearest drawer, cupboard, or closet. I have actually had stuff rolling out at me when I open cupboard and closet doors. I have difficulty finding things b/c who knows where I stuffed them. Different circumstances, but still so frustrating!

Mine are the closets. I have a bad habit of cleaning and putting things in them. Then I later have to clean them out.

PatriceJ nailed it! My husband teases me about needing more "horizontal surfaces!" Right now, my house is on the market and everything is tidy. Hubby said we should keep the house on the market permanently! Hoping to move to a bigger place where I can have a dedicated sewing studio and my son can have his own workshop. That should help...hopefully...but not counting on it.

For me it's also every flat surface unfortunately. It's like that in my quilting area as well as the rest of the house. My husband and I are just collectors I guess. As soon as I pick stuff up, it accumulates again.

I thrive on organized chaos! Once put away I can't find anything. Bills always go on the china hutch, junk mail gets recycled immediately. Kitchen gadgets are on the counter, one junk drawer, one utility drawer. House is a split, and steps are DH's catch-all. The garage is his domain, and I enter at my own risk. Lower level currently stores 3 different household's treasures, which we are working our way through. I have the ability to locate almost anything at a moments notice. (Except for seam-rippers!!)

It used to be the kitchen table because in that house, it was the place closest to the door we came in. In this house we come in a different spot and Mr. Stitchnripper has a place tp put his keys/wallet right by the door. I put my purse on a small table in the hall, out of the way. Counters are not cluttered. We decluttered a lot when we moved and this house is arranged differently, with a basement so really no need. I tend to open the mail by the recycle bin. And for some peculiar reason I haven't figured out, this house gets much less dust than the other one. It continues to be a mystery to me. We also went sparse with the decorating, so it is much easier to clean and keep clean.

How dare you describe my kitchen, haha, sewing room is just as bad.

I'm also glad!

I have been known to "clean" by shoving stuff in to a bag and then not remembering where it is!!!

me too Patrice. :wave:

The spot on the floor between the recliners in our Den is the hot spot at our house. I can never figure out if it's DH's "haven't read yet" pile or "I've read it and want to keep pile" or "Read it throw away pile". Every time I bend over to scoop it up the DH says' "Wait...don't throw that away because......." Once a week, I dust and clean this room. I have learned to notify DH of the day I am cleaning to give him fair warning to clean up his piles, throw away, store in the many tidy boxes, cabinets etc. I've purchased for him for just this purpose. If it's out when I clean...its tossed. Rules to live by. Lol!

Any flat surface in the house is likely to become a hot spot of clutter! My DH has even balanced stuff on rounded surfaces, because, of course, nothing could ever happen to unbalance whatever he put on the rounded surface.

Our kitchen is generally clean, sink has to be clean or I go nuts! I do allow a small amount of messy sink when my 4.5 year old grandson comes to visit and tells me, "That sink needs a SERIOUS cleaning!" (Code for I want to play in the sink.) He really works at cleaning the sink, though.

He also takes the cushions off the couch and gets the dust buster to vacuum all the lint, crumbs, etc. up. I might have to put him on the payroll!:thumbup:

I have to clear the kitchen counter before cooking...wash any dirty dishes (dishwasher broken) because I have very little counter space. But my desk is a gathering place for to do lists, things to file, payments etc.

My dinner table is what my DH uses as a desk..mail, newspaper, his medicines and he uses the salt and pepper shakers as mail holders :mad:. Every time he misplaces something he asks "where did you put this or did you throw it away..then I dig through the stuff and usually find it. We have just enough place for 2 placemats but I clean it up every week when I change the tablecloth.

Same here. I live with my 91 year old mother in her mobile home, we both have too much stuff. I have managed to reduce some of my sewing room, but still have a considerable amount, I have had walk-in closets bigger than my sewing room. We manage somehow.

My sewing table is the worst place in the house. If the kids want something to get attention, they put it on my sewing table so I will be sure to find it.

That was my answer too.