Elmer, I'm so sorry. I thought you were referring to Anglio's photo. Forgive me? :)

Scott, To me your rooms are not cluttered. They look cozy and comfortable.

Elmer. To quote what Lucy said to Ethel in the episode of I Love Lucy called Ethel's Birthday: your taste is only in your mouth. I decided to join this group because I thought the members were kind people. Apparently there is an exception.

I'm lost. I'm only considering this thread. Was there another, with other pics?

ETA: Disregard. I think I've found the other thread.

Scott - care to tell us more about yourself? Welcome to the KT.

Clutter is what I have right now on my dining room table as I have photos spread all over that I plan to scan to the computer. Hope to get that mess taken care of soon! :)

It is a subjective topic and that's why people are interesting. Scott, it's not fair that you become offended when people disagree with your personal aesthetic. I hate calamari, okra, and the smell of too much perfume. What about you?

I consider clutter as too much or too many of anything. Things make visual clutter in my head. I am inherently bothered by a room so full of tchotchkes, collectibles, and furniture that there's no room for me.....or air, lol. I get itchy!

In my mind, space is an essential design element, whether we are discussing interiors or landscapes. Can't tolerate crowded countertops in the kitchen or bathroom, or side tables so full of stuff on display that a person can't put a coffee cup down.

I've been to "period" B&Bs where every surface was so cluttered with doodads that I wasn't able to put a hairbrush anywhere. Sigh.

Laundry and piles of paperwork or newspapers simply need to be put away. The clutter stays put and takes up permanent real estate....every square inch of it.

Mind you, I have my own collections....rocks and stones from meaningful places, ancient sun bleached shells, pottery pieces from favorite artisans, baskets full of loblolly pine cones, sand dollars, and other artifacts that I alone appreciate.

But the most important element, as I said before, is space.

I think tonight he would get a big kick on the shins. Lol

This was just on my newsfeed on Facebook.

Clutter occurs when I cannot remember where I put things.

I have collections on shelves--books, pottery from the 20's, 30's & 40's, my wedding china. Clutter is mail and other papers on tables, small items waiting to be put away, toys my grandkids leave all over the floor.

Clutter is mail and other papers on tables

This made me think of my first ex and his Mom (she was a lovely woman). Instead of writing a grocery list, if they ran out of something (e.g. cereal) they would put the empty box on the dining room table as a reminder to buy more.

In my house, clutter is things waiting to be put away. We collect clutter. DH is Messy Marvin, he leave a trail in his wake. I'm guilty to a point, but I have lots of help!

I guess I'm a hoarder, i have plenty of plenty of visible clutter and 'piles". But I have drawn the line on dirt- nothing is dirty, smelly, damp, musty, maybe a little bit dusty but that's it, I don't like seeing piles everywhere, but i don't have the energy/stamina to put it all away.

I'm guilty of clutter. I have recipes that I'm making thru the week, on the table, some articles in the paper that caught my interest, hubby's schedule that the hospital sent us, etc.

I also have my empty jars on the counter that I use for my water kefir.

Lucille......what did your ex-MIL do?? Did she take the empty items to the store when they shopped? LOL Surely she made a list from the empty items on the table. What a bizarre habit, I can't imagine.

Except for the clutter of empty boxes on the table, it's not a bad system. The boxes are a visual reminder, rather than having a written list. Anyone in the house could do the shopping and know to pick up a box of cornflakes.

Clutter is when there's no room for me to put my stuff down. It could be caused by someone else, or it could be caused by me not putting my stuff away in a timely manner.

My definition is stuff piled so high and wide that things are lost in and even on them. I pile things but know what they are and where they are. As soon as I don't I put everything away

I enjoy my collections but they are clean and not large. As soon as they wouldn't fit I stop collecting.

I'm not offended by a clean home with a few things out that are pending. I dislike feeling overwhelmed by the stuff though so it gets dealt with before it gets like that. Luckily DH has the same aesthetic.

Anglophilia's photo is VERY well done!.....as was YOUR photo of YOUR space. Scott you've got the knack for putting it all together! It is a choice to design for a particular era or genre...say "Cowboy", "MCM" or "Rustic".

Just the other day, a friend told me my space looked "fancy"...my interpretation.....I need to take everything out & add a microfiber pit group . lol

Oh...and ...."Organized clutter" is the definition of decorating. :0) if ya hang out with THOSE people and I do...

I actually think you are THE Scott aka Pawprint. I don't understand asking for an opinion, and if that opinion does not agree with yours, taking offense.

I am not that Scott. Look at my profile. Also I did not take offense at everyone who disagreed. It was the rhetoric of that one person that I found offensive.

To me, clutter is 'stuff' you don't particularly like sitting around in plain sight. Could be legitimate, actual collections of something, or papers, etc. If you don't care for it, it's clutter. If its an item, or group of items you really like, taking up an entire table top, or shelf, etc., its not clutter.

Some would call Anglophilia's picture above 'cluttered'. Some called your pictures on your other thread 'cluttered'. I love them!

Personally, I am most uncomfortable in a room that has no or very few knick knacks, pictures, books, whatever, in sight anywhere. That minimalist style of decorating is, to me uncomfortable, cold, harsh, unfriendly.

Rusty

Scott, is Elmer the only one that used strong negitivity about your 40's style? I'm the last one to stick up for Elmer, but he did voice his opinion about a **look** not everyone has the same likes which makes us all unique. If your going to post on any forum your going to have to toughen up your skin (ask me how I know this lol) Opinions run the show here and we all have them.

Welcome to the KT

I am much too lazy to polish the silver and dust all the items in Anglo's living room -- or entrust precious items to help -- as pretty and cozy as it does look. I'm asthmatic. I would need the room dusted and vacuumed daily. I'd have to forgo the plush sofa and skirted table.

The Pembroke tables flanking my living room sofa are 'leaves down', each holding a lamp and a single 'pretty', plus a coaster. My nesting table is merely ajar, with one dish and two coasters on top. The room is light and bright, with a south wall of 8-foot French doors. We read there.

Our 'cozy' is what the architect grandly called The Library -- where we watch TV! The north-facing archtop window has shuttered casements. The room is 13 X 15, 'cozied' with glossy chocolate brown walls. Shelves of (dusty) books and cabinets surround the TV.

One person's 'clutter' is another person's 'cozy'. It's not necessarily mess. It's not hoarding. It can be *deliberate*, yet feel claustrophobic to another person. One person's 'space' may seem to lack personality to another person.

Realtors go overboard removing 'clutter', because most buyers want to buy 'space'. (Then they can 'clutter it up' to their own taste.)

My husband is from what I call the "doctor's office" school of decorating....enough chairs to sit on, a coffee table and an end table and maybe one picture on the wall. Knicknacks (to me - decorative items and collectibles) are clutter to him. I had a small arrangement of old pictures in tiny frames on a table in the living room and he said it reminded him of a "shrine" so asked me to just line them up on a shelf somewhere if I insisted on having them out. I have collections of cobalt blue items ( bottles, pitchers, etc) as well as Blue Willow plates, some on plate stands and some arranged on tabletops or shelves. The things I have out are things I enjoy seeing all the time, and I don't consider them clutter. Clutter to me is things that end up on either the dining table or entry table which stay there for more days than they normally should, like eyeglasses, keys, books, mail, magazines, pill bottles, etc. My children will have the "pleasure" of having my things some day. I said I'll come back to haunt them if they dare call me a "hoarder!" LOL

Clutter is stuff that belongs somewhere (in a cupboard, closet, garage, drawer) but just sits out so long that soon people don't even notice it. There was a joke once about a woman who redecorated her living room by taking down the ironing board.

I fight clutter almost on a daily basis.

I didn't realize that I liked things neat and tidy until after I retired because until that point, I didn't have the time or energy to keep after the house during the week. Saturdays were spent cleaning and putting away all the things that had piled up around the house (mail, newspapers, shoes, coats, etc.) during the week. Now that I have the time and the energy, I deal with these things immediately and the house stays pretty uncluttered as I like surfaces that are open. In my kitchen, the only appliance that is on the counter top is the toaster because it gets used almost every day. There is one small bookcase in the living room that holds little mementos of trips we've taken, a few family photos and some books.

What is cluttered is my desk where I'm sitting at the moment. There is mail/paperwork waiting to be filed, my camera and its case, jewelry that I took off yesterday and haven't put away yet, an extra pair of reading glasses, a couple of pens, an emory board, a bottle of lotion and a bottle of vitamins. It is really starting to bug me and will be taken care of today. It's not dirty, but it's messy and all of the items I mentioned above have homes other than sitting on my desk. That is my definition of clutter.

Things like collections, artwork, pottery, books and so on, while they may not appeal to everyone, aren't really clutter in my mind because they have been carefully and purposefully placed where they are. That could also apply to things that a person uses every day, so they want to have it handy rather than keeping it in a drawer or a closet. It's the day to day things that start piling up because no one bothers to deal with them that make a home/room look cluttered to me.

Clutter to me is an over abundance of too much stuff. How much is too much is a personal thing.

Graywings, I'm not sure if I'd remember to pick up a box of cornflakes, by having the empty box on the table as a reminder. When I'd get to the store, I'd have to remember the empty box. I can't imagine having an empty jar of peanut butter, an empty box of cereal, an empty mayonnaise jar etc on the table instead of a shopping list. And trying to remember all of those items at the store wouldn't work for me.

My late husband used to take a bag of all the empty boxes/jars with him to the grocery store, as he found it very frustrating that there were so many varieties of, what to him, were the same thing. Think canned tomatoes! There are a jillion varieties - Fire Roaster, diced, with garlic - the list goes on. I'm sure other shoppers thought he was VERY eccentric (he couldn't have cared less what they thought), but it worked for him. We did NOT leave them on the DR table - I just put them in a grocery bag as they were emptied.

Anglo, I envy you having the variety. We get diced, whole, crushed sometimes with basil if the companies get real exotic! LOL You can't find a fire anything, much less Ro-Tel. It's not easy finding San Marzana, in fact it's near impossible.

Whenever we run out of something I often put the empty box or can on the kitchen counter or kitchen table and leave it there as a reminder to buy more. That way works much better for me than a list. I go to the grocery store often, so it's never more than one or two things. I don't think it looks messy or cluttered to have just that one box out.

There are reasons why I don't make a list instead. The boxes or cans I leave out as a reminder are always containers for staples that I keep in my pantry. If the meals I'm making that week are my normal recipes then I don't need a list when I shop for groceries. So I'm not in the habit of grabbing my grocery list when I head out the door to grocery shop. Or I might stop at the grocery store on the spur of the moment while I'm running other errands and don't have my list with me.

For whatever reason, I will remember that empty box on the counter but I won't remember that item on a list, probably because I really want to get the empty container off my counter.

When my kids were living at home I used a grocery list and simply added whatever I used up to the list. Now they're gone, I cook simpler meals, I don't run out of things nearly as often, the way I run errands has changed, lots of things I do differently. The box method is working for me now. And as someone mentioned above, it is very handy to have the empty box to hand my husband. Chances are 95% he will get the wrong thing at the grocery store if it's written on a list. Changes are 100% he will get the right thing if I hand him the empty container.

Well, the 2017 version of taking empty containers to remind you of what you need to shop for is a picture taken with your phone. I'm so happy I learned that trick, esp when it's a great bottle of wine I want to buy again in the future. I keep a running shopping list in my cell phone (I just text myself, but I suspect there are apps that do a better job). It's so easy to just look at your phone (assuming you have a cell phone) while in the store to make sure you have everything on your list.

LOL Oly! I do that exact thing with certain things like vitamins, specialty foods, etc. Works like a charm and if I still can't find what I'm looking for I can show the pic to a store employee!

One man's clutter is another man's treasures.

Clutter is when you can't use an item of furniture for its intended use due to STUFF in the way. Could be a couch with too many pillows, an end table with no where to put a coffee cup, a counter you can't COOK on...

If I would have done this hubs would perhaps came home from the store with the correct things lol...I once sent him for a box of Tide I wrote it down and explained it is just plain Tide..he came home with Tide with fabric softener. .back it went..he came home with Tide with Bleach back it went..he came home with Tide with febreze.....this time I went...plain Tide came home with me. Honestly this man can't read.

At our house, I'm the one who can't read labels. I'm constantly coming home with the wrong thing. The last one was hubby's request for roasted, salted peanuts. I came home with raw, unsalted peanuts. Oh, and before that I meant to buy a fitted queen sheet and ended up with a flat double sheet. My excuse for the sheet is that the flat double sheet was on the shelf marked fitted queens. Hubby just shakes his head. It's gone on for so long now that it's become a running joke between us.

My late husband would have loved the idea of taking a picture and comparing it! Of course, he would also have balked at spending money for a Smart Phone or any kind other than the very most basic prepaid flip phone. The man was a true Luddite!

I'm not sure but I know it when I see it. I have been to homes with loads of things that are ordered and seem to fall into a decor classification--these homes do not seem cluttered. I've been to other homes and been overwhelmed by stuff.

Awhile back I commented that I had seen pics of Anglos home and how lovely it is...its still lovely. I could sit in their having tea and feel very comfortable and enchanted.

A little ot, but re: sending hubby to get something and coming home with the wrong thing. We were having guests for dinner and I'd forgotten to buy a loaf of bread. The local supermarket has a decent bakery, so I asked him to run and get a loaf of French bread. He came back empty handed because he said they didn't have French bread. Turns out they called it Italian bread...they also have a loaf called Batard and one of our friends once asked if she could bring the ba_tard bread (insert an s). She's highly intelligent and well educated, she'd just always misread the label. So from then on we all called it Ba_tard bread.

I had THE CUTEST mustang when I married. Fast forward a few years and two babies and DH ended up using it for his commuting vehicle. At 6'3" it was too small for him. One visit at his mom's off he went to the local car dealer--two towns over--rural Iowa, to trade for a four door. He called, found one, UGLY he said, but he fit so did I want to see it first. WHY--ugly is ugly. I should have gone. He got it home--TWO DOORS!!!! So much for a second vehicle we could get car seats in!!!! No he hadn't noticed!!

There are two kinds of clutter IMO -- the clutter from not putting things away -- that's untidy and messy but it is still clutter. And when I mean put away -- not necessarily the second it gets put down but if it's still there 4 hours later -- it's clutter! Then there are people that have "cluttery" homes -- LOTS of tables and chairs, LOTS of stuff on those tables and chairs. It may be expensive stuff, it may be things they love but TOO much is TOO much!

If it looks like a display room in an antique mall or thrift store.....it's clutter! If you enter a room and it feels like a retail opportunity and you expect to see little round price stickers on the bottom of each item, it's too full of things!

I was brought up on the rule of three. No more than three items per table. Lamp, coaster and one ornament for example. Or an occasional table could be a vase, framed photo and a tray. Collections of glassware were organised in cabinets or bookshelves.

I'm a minimalist. Most rooms seem cluttered to me.

As I look at the wall across from me where I sit on my sofa, I see one (large) picture and a small chiming clock. That's all that's on the wall. The wall is about 30' long and has two windows. It is painted one solid color (opposed to patterned wallpaper, which would drive me nuts).

Clutter to me is anything on surfaces. I like cleared off tables, counters, shelves. No knick knacks or picture frames or candles anywhere on surfaces. Pictures go on the walls. All other "stuff" is tucked away in closet or other unseen places. I can't stand rooms where there is stuff everywhere, even if it's tidy.

Taking a picture of my empty box with my cell phone doesn't work as well for me, I've tried it, although I know it's a great way for most people. I don't often need a grocery list anymore and I don't run out of things that often, so I wouldn't routinely check my cell phone for things I need to replenish. I don't know why I remember the box on the counter. And it's a silly thing, I know, but I love coming home, putting my groceries away and throwing away that empty box. Deleting the picture off my cell phone just wouldn't be the same.

Anyway, Lucille, I chuckled a little when I read that about your MIL having that habit in common with me. I hope your MIL and I have/had 2 traits in common - keeping the empty boxes as a reminder and having DILs who think we're lovely women. ;)

I wouldn't be able to do that, save the empty box. My table isn't big enough to hold all the empties. Lol

Isn't it funny how different we are? To me, an empty cereal box on the counter would be like a kitchen cabinet door standing open! Arg! I couldn't stand it.

(The empty box or the cabinet door wouldn't bother my DH, though. When I ask why he doesn't close the door, he says 'but I'll just have to open it again tomorrow!')