15 Ways To Reduce Visual Clutter In Your Home

I spend a lot of time chatting about how to maintain clutter-free spaces and how to get the clutter out but one thing that I haven’t shared before is how to reduce visual clutter with belongings you’re keeping.

There are tons of things that we use daily that can make a space look cluttered. So, today, I’m sharing 15 ways that you can reduce visual clutter in your home!

1. Shoe rack at the entry

One of those things that we all need- and that often get left in the middle of the floor- is shoes. It causes a visual mess and an annoying tripping hazard. But this can be easily fixed by putting a shoe rack at the entryway. 

It’s convenient and keeps the shoes isolated at the door, which makes sense since that’s the point of entry and exit. Ideally, you’ll find a rack that looks nice and goes along with your decor, making it an accent piece as well. 😊 This has the added benefit of preventing you from losing your shoes throughout the day. 

2. Hide hanging cords

Many belongings nowadays require cords. You’ve probably found this to be the case with more items than you’d like. Here in Oregon, most houses don’t have central AC (which drives me insane). I’m not a huge fan of window units, but when it was 113 degrees outside- like it was recently- I happily popped them in.

I place decor- like lamps or plants- in front of outlets and unsightly cords. It’s a natural thing to do, and it works really well.

3. Minimize

When you have less stuff, you have less clutter! Even with items that you need and use regularly – if you have fewer of them (i.e., minimize to a manageable quantity), it’s a lot easier to reduce visual clutter.

For example, having a few pairs of shoes is easy to maintain. They fit seamlessly into a slot in the entryway. This is true of everything you own.

I have free training on how to do exactly that! So, if you’re struggling with getting things down to a manageable amount, then I recommend you check out my holistic clutter-free formula, where I share information about how to do this.

4. Create a central hub

You don’t necessarily want to store some things away in drawers or cabinets. Things like coasters, salt and pepper shakers, and other things that are used regularly. A great way to keep these things out and easily accessible while not looking cluttered is to create a central hub in each of these locations. 

You can use outside pieces that store these things or a plate or serving tray to bring the items to one hub visually. One example of the former is a utensil holder for spatulas and cooking utensils.

5. Creating stations

I’ve always been a huge fan of creating stations. Since I’m such a big coffee drinker, I have a small station holding my Keurig and espresso maker, plus a little dish my daughter made me that contains my Splenda packets. All of the ingredients that I need are kept right in this station.

You can use this same concept for smoothie supplies, tea, or anything else that has a variety of items that go with it. This has the added benefit of using groupings, which is an excellent design strategy for grouping things together. It increases that space’s functionality.

6. Blanket collector

I’ve used this for years, but I think that regardless of what you have, it’s great to have a single location to put all of your throw blankets. Most of us enjoy having throw blankets that are at least somewhat readily available.

Rather than just keeping multiple blankets draped on the couch, having one location to toss all of them is nice. Sometimes, we’ll even toss a few throw pillows in ours if we have extras on the couch. It makes the living area look more appealing and less visually cluttered. 

7. Use bins

Similarly, bins can be used for items like these. For example, we have a bin that we use for all of our sushi supplies 🍱. The bamboo wraps, the seaweed, sushi rice, and all of the different pieces that go along with making sushi go in this bin.

We use this concept throughout our home for things like cords, games, you name it!

8. Limit colors and patterns

Not to scare anybody away from bold design (I know it’s already scary for many), try to stick to 3-5 colors and patterns if possible, or make sure they’re at least cohesive. Multiple bright poppy colors will feel more visually cluttered. The same is true of patterns.

I mention this in my article about creating a cozy, minimal space- you can check that one out here!

Try to get down to a semblance of a color pattern using 3 to 5 colors and/or patterns that work well together. Doing so will feel more cohesive and less cluttered. 

9. A space for each appliance

I know establishing a space for each appliance can be challenging, especially if you have a lot of stuff inside your pots and pans cabinets. First, make sure to keep only the appliances that you have a space for and are using.

This is one of those things that’s much easier to maintain if you already have a minimized amount. Then, have a designated location for each of your appliances, from the toaster to the blender.

Trust me; this will save tons of time and headaches in the future and make the cabinet space much easier for others to help keep up with.

10. Cord box

Using a cord management system, particularly cord boxes, has been revolutionary for my visual clutter reduction. Cord boxes are just what they sound like- simple elongated boxes that hold electrical cords and power strips. They keep everything contained beneath a visually pleasing facade aside from the organized stream of cords feeding into the box from the plug. 

I have 3 of them in use currently and intend to get more. The ones I'm currently using are white with a childproofed bamboo lid.

11. Small groupings and negative space

Having things spread across the table will make it feel more cluttered. This is true, even when it’s only a couple of items- such as displayed jars or bottles. You can group them and space the groupings to add a bit of white space in between. (Tip: Use odd numbers because studies have shown that our brains prefer them.)

We have a few displayed bottles above the sink in the kitchen. They’re spaced to each side of the window above the sink with a different number of items on each side because it feels more natural that way- not too “matchy-matchy.” Negative space helps to create a feeling of spaciousness and interest.

12. Remove Knives From The Counter

I prefer to keep the knives out of a knife block and in a drawer to reduce visual clutter. It’s something that I’ve been doing for a couple of years now and love. We have a drawer with a knife rack dedicated to holding knives, and it’s definitely my favorite drawer in the house!

I love that this drawer has a purpose: to hold the knives! It’s not collecting other kinds of junk, and the knives aren’t taking up space on the counter. Knife blocks take up quite a bit of space on the counter.

13. Consolidate like items into one container

Take, for example, dish soap. If you have a couple of dish soaps almost empty, consolidating by pouring one into the other saves at least 50% of the space.

If you have two things, you’re saving even more than 50% of the space if you consolidate, and it’s a quick and easy way to reduce visual clutter. 

14. Lift items vertically

Start thinking of how you can store or place your items in more of a vertical nature- lifting the eyes up. Horizontal takes up space on surfaces, right? It generally causes more visual clutter because of the space it’s taking up. Whether using a coffee mug tower to lift the mugs or small wall shelves that stack vertically, keeping things lifted off of the surfaces and going upward will reduce visual clutter.

This helps make the spaces feel more significant and gives you more of your surface space. 

15. Use artistic and visually appealing counter pieces

A friend of mine pointed me in the direction of a man named Don Norman, an American researcher known for his contributions to design- specifically “emotional design.” One of the things that he says is that items that are pretty or fun to use actually work better. 

Not only that, but we also register things that look more visually appealing as being less cluttered than something just using its branded plastic store bottle. It’s the same thing, but one looks less cluttered than the other.

How do you reduce visual clutter?

So, there you have it! Those are the 15 techniques that I use in my home to reduce visual clutter. Let me know what’s been working well for you in your own home in the comments below!