For the most part, I try not to judge anyone’s personal home decor preferences. After all, at the end of the day, it’s really just subjective. What might be more functional or preferred by my family and me isn’t a one-size-fits-all all style that’s perfect for everyone else. However, when it comes to design trends, I think the motivation behind following them may be misguided. Styling your home the same way you saw someone online do it doesn’t make sense if it isn’t the right fit for you and your needs.
One style that has really gone overboard is over-decluttering. Eliminating clutter is far from a new phenomenon. Designers like Marie Kondo have been telling you for years to embrace a minimalist home. Recently, I’ve noticed many homes are going to extremes. There’s even a name for it: maximal minimalism.
Here’s why I think more people need to shy away from an over-decluttered home.
Why Extreme Decluttering Can Actually Be Impractical
Extreme decluttering always looks good online. I get why people like it. In real life, though, it mostly just irritates me.
The more stripped back a space gets, the more effort it can take to keep it that way. That calm, empty look only really works in still photography and if nothing is happening in the house. Once people actually live there with work, eating, hanging out, etc., it starts to feel like this place you spend so much of your time and income to be in isn’t actually yours at all.
I think we’ve all been in a home like that (maybe even our own at times) where everything is overly tidy and organized, and it feels like we’re in a hotel lobby.
And maybe this is just me, but those spaces can feel oddly cold. No books lying around. No half-finished things. Nothing that hints at taste or history. They don’t really feel tidy so much as unfinished.
I don’t want my house to look perfect. I just want it to feel like someone actually lives there. I’d recommend you try the same for your home, too.
The Emotional Cost of Removing Personality From a Home
I don’t want my house to feel careful. I don’t want to feel like I have to watch where people sit or what they touch. I’ve been in places that look great on paper, but you’re weirdly aware of everything around you. The furniture, the surfaces, the fact that you’re supposed to behave a certain way. It’s not relaxing.
When I first became a parent, the toy pile in the living room really bothered me. It kept showing up no matter what I did. I tried baskets, bins, and moving it out of sight. It felt messy, like I was slowly losing control of the space. But those things that used to bother me just don’t anymore.
What feels off now is when everything personal disappears.
If you’re wondering whether your home is too decluttered, I’d suggest taking a few seconds to look around and ask yourself if there are any signs it’s YOUR home. How many family photos are on the wall? What about souvenirs from your favorite vacation? Family heirlooms?
Sometimes I think the easiest way to tell if a home’s gone too far is to look around and ask whether there’s any proof it belongs to someone.
What a Balanced Approach Looks Like
Social media, our friends, families, and neighbors are a huge influence on how we think our home should look. If you’re like me and spend many nights doom-scrolling Pinterest or Instagram, you’re probably seeing someone else’s home when it’s been perfectly posed for a photo-op. It isn’t what it looks like while actually lived in.
And other people’s homes you see for visits? Well, if they’re anything like me, they probably did a quick speed clean before they had guests over.
Trying to keep your home at all times, what someone else’s looks like at its best, isn’t an attainable goal. Decluttering for the sake of decluttering and trying to replicate someone else’s space often means stripping away personality, comfort, and practicality just to match an aesthetic that was never meant to be permanent.
I strive to find a balanced approach to making my home homely without being cluttered. That means letting some of the kid’ toys live in the living room, but also making a concerted effort to pick them up and put them back in their baskets at the end of the day. It’s having artwork and personal items on the wall, but leaving space to breathe so the few items that are up there show just how important they are.
What it boils down to is creating a space that supports your life and reflects who you are and how you live. And not being guilty of following a trend that isn’t really that cool anyway.
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- 14 Traditional-Style Home Decor Ideas That are Still Cool
The post Over-Decluttering Doesn’t Make Your Home Look Tidy— It Just Makes It Look Sterile appeared first on Family Handyman.
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