The Ultimate Challenge

Photo by M.Markus

If you're like me, you have days where putting up the caution tape just makes the most sense!

I'll be talking about clutter busting all week here on the blog--managing those areas in our homes where clutter springs up like weeds. And--also like weeds--these clutter spots can threaten to take over the whole house if left unattended.

Here are 5 facts I'd like you to consider when it comes to clutter:

1. On average, we spend about an hour a day looking for items that we have misplaced.

2. Experts tell us that eliminating clutter--those items that are not useful, beautiful, or sentimental--would cut back on roughly 40 percent of our housework.

3. The number one reason clutter exists is because we don't give things a place. Contrary to what we may believe, it has nothing to do with the size of our house.

4. Since the 1970s, houses in the U.S. have grown substantially. The average new home is 80 percent larger than homes built 4 decades ago--yet we have less usable space than ever before.

5. Ultimately, clutter is costly to our health, our wealth, and our happiness.

I hope you'll come back to the blog this week to take part in our ultimate clutter busting challenges!

[And yes, that photo at the top of this entry is real. I took it over the weekend when visiting someone's home.]