Clutter is what you haven't tidied
It's the piles you forget about
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The balanced approach between minimalism (which will lead you astray) and clutter (which will overtake your mind, paralyzing you) lies in reasonable tidiness. The housewife attends to corners and under things.
Clutter is the piles you make (often “to deal with later” “because I don’t have anywhere to put these things”) — and then forget; they become part of the landscape of furniture or closet. I’m not saying you don’t have others contributing to the issue!
When you tidy the stacks of things by pulling them out or off, wiping the surface or area they were in, and then straightening whatever they are, eventually you will question what it’s all about.
It’s putting things back that gives you the opportunity to make decisions and stave off entropy.
Even straightening the objects on the table is an action that calls out for decision-making, but your storeroom can use this treatment as well.
That shelf under your hall table with the magazines, newspapers, and stray books? When you wipe it down, that’s the moment to sort through those things and only replace what makes sense, tossing the rest into the recycling (or returning to the library, or what have you).
The top of your dresser? Take things off, wipe it down, and then replace only what you wish to be there (also wiping them off). I recommend having the horizontal surfaces be for pretty things only.
Consider baskets, trays, and closet shelves for items you do wish to keep but don’t have a designated container for. For instance, children really do need a supply of paper and colored pencils. Time to brainstorm where they could go. The bottom of the hutch is better than messily perched on your desk.
Even if you don’t get rid of or hide anything, at least the pile will be straight! And that will be nicer.
Joyce Lankester Brisley
As with everything here at the SFH, the best thing is for you to take my ideas, which come from my experience of escaping feminism to enjoy the gift of 45 years of marriage, seven children, and more than a score of grandchildren, and apply them to your situation with discernment, prudence, and confidence — and a sense of humor!
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For the longer version:
My book on how to live with the Liturgical Year: The Little Oratory
Sometimes it seems like all I do is household logistics. Move this here. Donate this there. However, a well dusted and pretty horizontal surface is a beauty to behold.