10 Mistakes That Stop Our Homes From Looking Ideal

Disorder is our enemy, and we need to recognize it when we see it. That’s why we at Bright Side are offering you this list of the ten sources of mess that prevent our homes from feeling pleasant and tidy.

1. Amateurish attempts to hide bad spots



It might seem that simply covering over a cupboard overflowing with junk with a curtain is a great idea. However, this really isn’t the case. More often than not, a temporary solution to the problem looks amateurish and clumsy.

The solution:

It’s a much better idea to actually sort out the junk on your shelves and establish some kind of order. That way you won’t encounter the awkward moment when a guest unexpectedly looks behind the curtain in expectation of looking out the window but instead sees a far less attractive sight.

2. Storing all your cleaning items in one place



From time to time the thought occurs to store all the things we need for cleaning in one cupboard. It just seems like common sense. However, if your home has a number of rooms or more than one floor, this might be more inconvenient than convenient.

The solution:

Keep at least one emergency sponge or cleaning fluid in the bathroom or the kitchen. This will allow you to get rid of stains that appear straightaway, rather than put them off until you do a general clean of your house/apartment.

3. Storing things in plastic containers where they can be seen



Transparent containers offer a great solution for storing things. But placing them on open shelves is not the best idea. Firstly, everything they contain will be visible. Secondly, the jumble of different colors of the objects these boxes contain will create a feeling that the room is filled with junk.

The solution:

Transparent containers should be used in closed cupboards. You should place only baskets or boxes that you can’t see the inside of on open shelves. Wherever you can, always try to store things in closed cupboards.

4. Putting up shelves in hard-to-reach areas



There’s nothing wrong with shelves. But if you’ve got shelves that are meant to store everyday objects, yet they’ve been placed somewhere close to the ceiling, the chances are you won’t bother using them and instead just keep things scattered about for convenience.

The solution:

Leave hard-to-reach shelves for things that you very rarely use, while the things you need on a daily basis should be stored in a place that’s much easier to access.

5. Too many hooks and hangers



Hooks attached to the walls can often be very handy for hanging things up. They can easily replace a cupboard, and they take up far less space. It’s perhaps for that reason that much of what should really go in your cupboard ends up hanging off them, covering the walls.

The solution:

It’s not worth putting up additional hooks if you can get by without them. Remember that they can be just as much a source of mess and disorder as they can be one of convenience. The more you have of them at home, the harder it will be to find the thing you’re looking for. Force yourself to hang things up in their proper place: in the cupboard.

6. Storing seasonal items in non-transparent containers and bags



As you might have guessed, the problem here is that you can’t tell what’s in a non-transparent box or bag. As a result, searching for that warm scarf you need in the plunging temperatures might turn into a long quest that involves needlessly unpacking many other things.

The solution:

The solution here is very simple: keep seasonal objects in see-through bags or containers.

7. Ignoring family members’ opinions



Have you ever been in that situation where you think you’ve established perfect order in your closet, but then the next day you find your husband has overturned everything looking for his tie? That’s probably because you neglected to tell him about the perfect storage system you’d devised. What might have seemed intuitively understandable to you might not necessarily be the same for other members of your family.

The solution:

You should remember to not only let family members know about any new ideas you have for storing things but also seek out their opinions on these matters — especially if it concerns an item that everyone in the household makes use of. Not all of the solutions you devise may be as convenient for others as they are for you.

8. Replacing disorder with cleanliness



Cleanliness and order at home go hand in hand. But one doesn’t necessarily follow on from the other unless you make it so. If you clean the floors but leave things lying around the room, or wash the dishes but then leave them to dry in a mess rather than on the rack, then you’re clearly not covering all the bases. You might have got things clean, but your home will still look untidy.

The solution:

Don’t forget to put things you’ve cleaned back in their proper places. That way your home will be not only clean but also tidy.

9. Mixing together items that clash in style or color



Many of us buy things for our home impulsively and on a whim. But we often find that these things don’t combine in terms of color or style by any stretch of the imagination. The result is that they end up turning your home into a strange mix of Eastern bazaar and antique shop.

The solution:

Select several items for your home that are meant to go together or that at least have been made in roughly the same style, and place them in a prominent place. Other items can be stored away for the time being — but don’t worry, this doesn’t mean some of your most beloved household decorations have to be confined to storage forever. Instead, you can swap one set of similar objects for another every so often to help freshen up the appearance of your apartment.

10. Using only one source of light



Even the tidiest apartment won’t feel very cozy if the only source of light in the evenings is an energy-saving bulb attached to the ceiling.

The solution:

Add a table lamp, a lamp on a wall bracket, or at the very least some fairy lights. An additional source of warm soft light in the evenings can add a whole new mood to a room in an instant, whilst at the same time offering you the chance to vary the degree of light depending on the situation and time of day.

Preview photo credit hemmahemma, stagetecture

Based on materials from inmyroom

SOURCE: BRIGHTSIDE