4 Decor Items That Are Adding Visual Clutter to Your Home
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Who doesn’t want a home filled with pretty decor? All of our spaces should be outfitted with beautiful things that bring us joy, and that process is a fun one that seemingly never ends as your home and tastes evolve. The problem with this, though? Eventually, you start to accumulate too many decorative pieces that turn into dusty clutter—and no longer bring you joy.
Professional organizer Meera Sharma agrees. “Just as too many cooks spoil the broth, an excess of decorative accents ends up defeating their very purpose!” she says. To revitalize your home, you may need to part with a few things, rotate which ones you display, or at least be more mindful when you’re shopping so you’re not introducing more excess to your home.
If you’re unsure where to start, here, pro organizers and designers reveal the decorative accents that are the most common clutter culprits in people’s houses.
Candles
The pros we spoke with agree that candles are a huge clutter trap. “Because they are small and affordable, candles are a common impulse buy and a very common gift,” says Mindy Godding, a Virginia-based professional organizer and founder of Abundance Organizing. “Half-burned candles get stashed away all over the house and accumulate in the nooks and crannies.” This is how a candle collection goes from curated to out of control.
Angie Kreller, an interior designer at Yabby, seconds this, adding that “candles will easily show any dust that’s collected because of their white or creamy surface.” They’re not the easiest to clean either, which will only make your home look dingy. “Several candles in one room will become disorganized clutter rather than decoration,” Kreller says.
To combat this, Kreller suggests limiting candles to one or two per room. For any partially used candles you want to get rid of, consider recycling or refreshing them. Godding suggests melting down the old wax using a double boiler or by placing the candle in a pot of simmering water, then pouring it into a new container with a fresh wick.
If you have no interest in keeping the wax, just place the jar in the freezer overnight, and the wax should pop out. Toss the wax, and then reuse or properly recycle the jars.
Personalized Decor
Monogrammed items can add a custom touch to any space, but they’re hard to get rid of when they’re worn out, because, according to Godding, once you put your name on something, you have essentially eliminated its usefulness for anyone else.
“Possessions have a natural life cycle: You bring that item into your life and then, once it’s no longer serving you, you can put it back into the community to serve someone else by gifting or selling it,” she explains. “Monogramming turns that circle into a straight, dead-end line—we’ve seen people hold onto unused items for years, feeling obligated to keep them simply because they have been personalized.”
Opt out of personalizing your decor whenever possible unless you’re certain the piece will stay in your home for a very long time. And skip monogrammed presents, too, which Godding says is a common gifting habit. Sure, it’s a sweet detail, but it doesn’t increase an item’s function or usefulness. “Give gifts because they are meaningful and purposeful, not because they are customized,” she says.
Pillows
Cushions are another sore spot for our pros. “I’m all for layering pillows and bolsters, but sometimes they just contribute to an overcrowded bedroom or living room,” Kreller says. They’re beautiful, but too many can create a cluttered, uncomfortable bed—and also become visually overwhelming.”
Sharma confirms this is a common pain point in many of her jobs. “I often see clients holding on to so many that couches and beds are crowded to the point of being unusable, like three-seater sofas with hardly enough room left for one person to sit!” she notes. “Let decorative accents remain accents and not take over the stage!”
Instead of concentrating your mountain of pillows in one room, spread them out across different rooms and rotate them periodically. You can also switch out the covers seasonally when you want a fresh look without adding more to the mix. Keller says the sweet spot is one or two extra pillows for decoration and extra support, rather than constantly adjusting your pillows when you’re trying to relax.
“Ultimately, a good rule of thumb is to keep a mindful number—enough to spark joy, but not so many that they get in the way of comfort and function,” Sharma adds.
Donate pillows you no longer love (as long as they’re in good condition), or if they’re too worn, Sharma suggests finding a textile recycling facility so the fabric can be repurposed instead of ending up in the landfill.
Decorative Signs
You know those “#blessed” or “live, love, laugh” signs that blew up nearly 15 years ago all over the blogosphere? Well, it’s a trend that’s still hanging on pretty strong in many spaces Sharma works in, and according to her, having a bunch of them doesn’t actually help the vibes. In fact, they can hurt the vibes in your home.
“Too many signs can quickly shift from being inspiring to overwhelming,” she explains. “Your brain is constantly processing the words, even if you don’t notice—and many read like commands: Relax. Just Breathe. Be Happy. Instead of soothing, they can feel like background noise or pressure, mental clutter.”
She recommends keeping just the ones that truly resonate with you, donating the rest, and being mindful of any new ones you want to buy.
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