How to Embrace Clutter Without Creating Chaos
If you’re drawn to a look of abundance, here’s how to keep it looking good
Amanda Pollard
January 15, 2022
Senior Editor at Houzz UK and Ireland. Journalist and editor specialising in interiors and architecture.
Senior Editor at Houzz UK and Ireland. Journalist and editor specialising in interiors... More
Since the start of the pandemic, we’ve begun to look at our homes differently. They’ve become a place to linger for longer, rather than just at the start and end of the day, and we’ve come to see them as a restorative space.
As a result, many of us want to inject more of our personality into our rooms and surround ourselves with objects, paintings, colors and patterns that bring us joy. But how do we display an eclectic collection of treasured furniture and items without making our homes feel messy and stressful?
Read on to find out how designers have created homes that incorporate collections of artwork, textiles, vintage furniture and decorative items while still looking stylish and cohesive.
As a result, many of us want to inject more of our personality into our rooms and surround ourselves with objects, paintings, colors and patterns that bring us joy. But how do we display an eclectic collection of treasured furniture and items without making our homes feel messy and stressful?
Read on to find out how designers have created homes that incorporate collections of artwork, textiles, vintage furniture and decorative items while still looking stylish and cohesive.
Shelve It
For a cozy kitchen that nourishes your eyes as well as your stomach, shelving is key. Incorporate as many surfaces as possible to ensure you can display treasured pottery and old recipe books.
In this kitchen designed by Stephen Graver, an eclectic mix of vintage and custom shelving adds personality to the walls and provides storage for the owner’s collection of tableware and reading material.
It’s vital to plan ahead if you want to achieve a seemingly casual look like this. If you’re clear about the objects you’d like to have on display, a professional can help you combine open areas with closed cabinetry to ensure your kitchen looks curated rather than cluttered.
Find a local interior designer on Houzz
For a cozy kitchen that nourishes your eyes as well as your stomach, shelving is key. Incorporate as many surfaces as possible to ensure you can display treasured pottery and old recipe books.
In this kitchen designed by Stephen Graver, an eclectic mix of vintage and custom shelving adds personality to the walls and provides storage for the owner’s collection of tableware and reading material.
It’s vital to plan ahead if you want to achieve a seemingly casual look like this. If you’re clear about the objects you’d like to have on display, a professional can help you combine open areas with closed cabinetry to ensure your kitchen looks curated rather than cluttered.
Find a local interior designer on Houzz
Consider Color and Layout
A home that’s full of keepsakes, artwork and color doesn’t have to feel overly busy. This bedroom designed by Brooke Copp-Barton Interiors shows how interesting objects and textures can actually bring a calm, harmonious feel to a space.
The trick here is the clever use of color that goes beautifully with the artwork. The designer has picked out the blue, green and pink hues in the paintings for the walls and textiles. The interesting palette is both bold and balanced, and the mix of velvet, pattern and wool brings tactile character to the room.
The artwork is also cleverly positioned. It appears to be hung in a slightly haphazard way, but in fact the bottom of the central painting is lined up with the base of the artwork on the left, while the painting on the right is lined up with the bottom of the central frame.
Shop for home decor and artwork
A home that’s full of keepsakes, artwork and color doesn’t have to feel overly busy. This bedroom designed by Brooke Copp-Barton Interiors shows how interesting objects and textures can actually bring a calm, harmonious feel to a space.
The trick here is the clever use of color that goes beautifully with the artwork. The designer has picked out the blue, green and pink hues in the paintings for the walls and textiles. The interesting palette is both bold and balanced, and the mix of velvet, pattern and wool brings tactile character to the room.
The artwork is also cleverly positioned. It appears to be hung in a slightly haphazard way, but in fact the bottom of the central painting is lined up with the base of the artwork on the left, while the painting on the right is lined up with the bottom of the central frame.
Shop for home decor and artwork
Repeat an Accent
If you get it wrong, a cluttered look can cause the eye to dart from place to place, not knowing where to stop. If you do it right, like the team at Studio Fabbri did here, your eye will glide along the space in a relaxed manner.
The disparate selection of objects has, of course, been arranged in a beautiful composition by the designer, but there’s another trick at play here. Note the numerous objects that are all a particular shade of vibrant salmon pink. The color crops up at intervals around the room — in the mannequin, on the graffiti artwork and on the flamingo, for example.
The repetition of a single shade adds a subtle rhythm to the space that gives it a cohesive feel.
If you get it wrong, a cluttered look can cause the eye to dart from place to place, not knowing where to stop. If you do it right, like the team at Studio Fabbri did here, your eye will glide along the space in a relaxed manner.
The disparate selection of objects has, of course, been arranged in a beautiful composition by the designer, but there’s another trick at play here. Note the numerous objects that are all a particular shade of vibrant salmon pink. The color crops up at intervals around the room — in the mannequin, on the graffiti artwork and on the flamingo, for example.
The repetition of a single shade adds a subtle rhythm to the space that gives it a cohesive feel.
Embrace Symmetry
Want to fill your home with pattern, color, vintage furniture and artwork? It’s perfectly possible to create a room full of mismatched designs without it feeling disjointed. This room, designed by Pineapple Interiors, illustrates how to do it beautifully.
At first glance, nothing seems to match, yet the space feels calm and balanced. The cohesive color palette helps, but equally important is the symmetry in the room. You don’t have to achieve perfect symmetry, just a feeling that each side of the room is balanced in some way by the other side.
The armchairs are placed opposite the sofa and also help to balance out the console on the left. The lamps are also imperfectly balanced, and all of these objects are grounded by a central artwork, coffee table, rug and pendant.
Want to fill your home with pattern, color, vintage furniture and artwork? It’s perfectly possible to create a room full of mismatched designs without it feeling disjointed. This room, designed by Pineapple Interiors, illustrates how to do it beautifully.
At first glance, nothing seems to match, yet the space feels calm and balanced. The cohesive color palette helps, but equally important is the symmetry in the room. You don’t have to achieve perfect symmetry, just a feeling that each side of the room is balanced in some way by the other side.
The armchairs are placed opposite the sofa and also help to balance out the console on the left. The lamps are also imperfectly balanced, and all of these objects are grounded by a central artwork, coffee table, rug and pendant.
Find a Theme
If you can arrange your objects, finds and furniture around a theme, you can create a collection rather than random clutter.
In this New York apartment, Jessica Shaw of moment design + productions devised ways to display the owner’s collection of interesting objects and artwork so they feel calm and ordered.
Similar objects are arranged on custom storage to form a balanced display. There are a lot of pictures, ceramics and baskets in the mix, but by grouping them together, the designer made them look beautiful rather than untidy.
If you can arrange your objects, finds and furniture around a theme, you can create a collection rather than random clutter.
In this New York apartment, Jessica Shaw of moment design + productions devised ways to display the owner’s collection of interesting objects and artwork so they feel calm and ordered.
Similar objects are arranged on custom storage to form a balanced display. There are a lot of pictures, ceramics and baskets in the mix, but by grouping them together, the designer made them look beautiful rather than untidy.
Measure Up
It’s worth being detail-oriented when it comes to designing display storage for an eclectic mix of objects and books. If you take the time to measure the pieces you’d like to show off, you can create open shelving that puts each piece in its own frame.
That’s what Exploit Space has done here with a creatively designed shelving unit. The cabinetry is a feature in itself, but because the shelves have been painted white to match the walls, the owner’s treasured finds come to the fore.
Tell us: Do you like to surround yourself with your possessions? How have you arranged them? Share your tips and photos in the Comments.
More on Houzz
Read more decorating guides
Find a home professional
Shop for decor
It’s worth being detail-oriented when it comes to designing display storage for an eclectic mix of objects and books. If you take the time to measure the pieces you’d like to show off, you can create open shelving that puts each piece in its own frame.
That’s what Exploit Space has done here with a creatively designed shelving unit. The cabinetry is a feature in itself, but because the shelves have been painted white to match the walls, the owner’s treasured finds come to the fore.
Tell us: Do you like to surround yourself with your possessions? How have you arranged them? Share your tips and photos in the Comments.
More on Houzz
Read more decorating guides
Find a home professional
Shop for decor
Related Stories
Housekeeping
Choose Your Own Spring Cleaning Plan
Instead of trying to do it all, pick one of these six cleaning approaches that’s right for you now
Full Story
Home Offices
How to Create a Joyful, Clutter-Free Home Office
Follow these steps to get rid of the paper piles and make room for beauty and better organization
Full Story
Decluttering
How to Create a Joyful, Clutter-Free Living Room
Make this a space you enjoy by paring back and filling it with things you love
Full Story
Feel-Good Home
How to Get a Joyful, Clutter-Free Dining Room
Some tidying tips — and a focus on what makes you happy — will help you get a handle on the dining-room drop zone
Full Story
Decluttering
How to Create a Joyful, Clutter-Free Bathroom
Streamline your bath and your bathing routine to create a place of renewal
Full Story
Kitchen Design
How to Create a Joyful, Clutter-Free Kitchen
Give yourself room to cook and relax by assessing how you use your counters, cabinets and corners
Full Story
Decluttering
10 Decluttering Projects You Can Do in 15 Minutes or Less
Try these ideas to get organized at home one small step at a time
Full Story
Feel-Good Home
15 Simple Organizing Tools and Where They Work Best
You’ve created clutter-free zones at home. Now choose organizing products to help keep them that way
Full Story
Home Offices
How to Set Up Your Home Office on Nearly Any Budget
Control clutter in your workspace with home office ideas that address your storage needs and work with your budget
Full Story
Decluttering
How to Form New Habits That Keep Your Home Clutter-Free
Tired of an untidy house? Try a new approach by adopting habits that automatically keep your home orderly
Full Story
We have art and some knick knacks all over our house from our travels. These pictures are just a small sample. Practically every piece displayed around my house is from a different state or country we’ve visited. I love telling people where we bought something and from whom. I also love to look around my house at a certain piece and think back to that trip, that city, that day and remember it fondly. Some of the items pictured are from Caribbean islands, Mexico, French Polynesia, Peru, New Mexico, Catalina Island, Palm Springs, Oregon, Puerto Rico & Germany. I move art around and rearrange if need be when we get new pieces. I have tried to arrange them by color and theme. There are many more in my kitchen as well as the bedrooms. My master bedroom is beige and aqua and contains most of my beach theme art and items from different islands and trips to the coast. Our home office is where you’ll find all of my cat statues and pictures together, along with pictures of Ernest Hemingway (one of my husband’s favorites) from our trip to Key West. Our other bedroom has about 10 framed Disneyland ride poster art along with many other statues and baubles from Disneyland. I can’t stand clutter, so I usually try to purchase souvenirs that can be hung on the wall. I will gladly ”clutter” my walls with memories of all our wonderful travels!
Wonderful..great article! No minimal for me...so pleasant to see ideas for people with well loved items! I want more homes that are lived in!!
Great article. One thing I love to do with my pictures is to rotate them. If they hang a long time in one place, people stop "seeing" them, and they become background rather than center stage. Most of my frames are wood, with a few black and gold. I haven't purchased new art in a number of years, but after I rotate, a visitor will remark, "Oh, I like that. Don't remember seeing that before," when the picture had been in the bedroom or down the hall and moved to the living area. They are larger size, and all hung. Lots of paintings of nature, birds, and water. Also, some sketches. I even have a few I only bring out for holidays or seasons. Keeps thing fresh for all of us. I do have multiple nail holes behind the pictures, so I can hang each one at the proper level for viewing. Only have to store the 3 holiday pictures. I am lucky to have the wall space.