10 Clutter Hotspots Everyone Forgets About in Summer—And How to Organize Them
Don’t let your home get out of control.
When school’s out and your kids spend their days running in and out of the house, it can be really hard to stay on top of cleaning. In between all the backyard hangouts and pool parties, you’ll probably find stray shoes, toys, and backpacks thrown across your floors and forgotten about. Plus, if you’re trying to keep your little ones occupied with fun summer activities, you won’t have as much time to tidy up and organize your home. Then, once you finally walk through the front door after a long day in the sun, you might just toss your purse and car keys aside at the first chance.
While it’s totally understandable that you’d overlook your household duties during the warmer months, continuing to put off the task will only exacerbate the mess. Sure, your kiddos might be right back to chucking dolls, basketballs, and books around your playroom tomorrow, but ignoring the chore will lead to an ever-growing pile of clutter that’ll get increasingly tougher to tackle the longer you neglect it.
That’s why we’ve compiled a list of the biggest clutter hotspots that most people forget about in the summer. These are the areas inside your house where mess accumulates at a rapid rate: the entryway littered with dirty flip-flops, the pantry overflowing with opened snacks, the garage piled high with lawn toys, and other high-traffic spots that see a lot of clutter. We’re also breaking down how to organize the disarray, so your house will look neat and tidy in no time.
Declutter these household areas next:
Entryway
Even if you have designated cubbies, hooks, and hangers to contain the clutter, your entryway can quickly get consumed summertime. Luckily, this issue is easily avoidable: With dedicated baskets for each family member and a little positive reinforcement, your floors will get back to their spacious selves soon enough.
Mudroom
If your house has one, mudrooms are another clutter zone in the summer. Odds are, the first thing your kids do when they get inside is ditch their flip-flops, pool towels, and water bottles, which leaves your mudroom in a state of chaos. To prevent this, designate kid-specific zones, where they’ll keep their daily items. The key is reinforcing the rule!
Garage
With bikes, balls, tools, and even old paint cans lying around, garages are a big dumping ground. You might even use the space for overflow storage, which just takes up valuable space. Decluttering this area entails discarding any broken objects, donating any unused items, and organizing everything you’re keeping.
Patio
During the summer months, the patio gets a lot of action: family dinners, your kids’ playdates, and gardening ventures, among others. The solution? Streamline your setup. Keep only the essentials (including furniture and decorations), clear any junk off the tables, and pick up stray toys and forgotten objects off the ground.
Playroom
When school’s out for summer, your kids will spend a lot more time in the playroom. That means clutter will pile up faster than you can contain it. To prevent the room from drowning in chaos, set up clear bins or cubbies, so your kids can easily find what they need. At the end of each day, set a timer and have your little ones put away their items as quickly (and neatly!) as they can.
Laundry Room
Since summer gives way to plenty of outdoor activities (bike rides, tennis lessons, sidewalk chalk) and messy foods (watermelon, ice cream, burgers), you’ll likely be dealing with a lot of soiled and stained clothes. Staying on top of the dirty laundry and sorting the garments in separate bins will keep your laundry room as clean as possible.
Refrigerator
During the summer, you probably stock your fridge with lots of snacks and drinks that the kids can grab at their leisure. In addition to the overflow, your shelves might be lined with forgotten leftovers and rotting produce. The fix is simple: Toss any expired items, transport bulk packages to the pantry or garage, and organize what’s left.
Pantry
Like your fridge, the pantry is usually a clutter hotspot in the summer: Open bags of food invite pests, melted snacks leave behind a sticky residue, and miscellaneous items get stashed on random shelves. After throwing out all the old and stale items, place the kid-friendly snacks on a lower shelf in organized bins, and scale back and sort the remaining shelf-stable objects.
Hall Bathroom
Chances are, your hall bathroom is the most-used bathroom inside the house, especially in the summer when the kids are home and friends and neighbors stop by more frequently. If your bathroom has towels thrown on the floor and toys abandoned on the counters, it’s in need of a refresh. After decluttering the surfaces, move unnecessary toiletries and linens to a storage closet.
Hall Closet
Your hall closet might be the place where you store pool bags, summer hats, extra linens, and other miscellaneous items that don’t have a home. While you might believe it’s out of sight, out of mind, the chaos can create mental clutter. Spend a few minutes rummaging through the objects, tossing or donating anything you don’t need and putting winter coats in storage.
Lilly Blomquist is the associate editor at The Pioneer Woman, where she writes lifestyle stories across a wide range of topics—including news, entertainment, holidays, food, and more.
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