Is Your Home Safe from Clutter Damage?

Clutter can cause negative issues in many forms, including dangerous and damaging conditions within your home. Not only does clutter and unmade decisions cause stress in your life, it has the potential to wreak havoc in your home.

One obvious hazard when there are piles and stacks and maybe even narrow pathways through your home is the potential for tripping and falling. When floors are not clear, it’s easy to step the wrong way or bump into something causing a fall with potential for an injury. If you’ve ever had an injury that kept you down for a while, you know how frustrating it is to not be able to do what you want to do when you want to do it. Another possibility for harm is having items fall from piles causing a bump or injury to an adult or even to a child who doesn’t see it coming.

Clutter piles can cause unsafe conditions within the home for pets to comfortably move around and maintain a healthy lifestyle. If conditions become bad enough, such as in hoarding situations, animals can be in danger and taken away from owners which is always a sad situation all the way around.

Recently, I was witness to damage in an apartment where a water leak had gone undiscovered. The water had seeped into a wall, the carpet and into a cardboard box holding family photos. I think I was sadder than my client was over the photos that had to be thrown in the garbage. Not only that, my client has asthma, so having a room with water damage and mold creates a toxic and unhealthy living condition for her. Rooms and spaces need breathing room and airflow. Having stacks and boxes, piles and no visibility of walls and floors can also lend a hand to mold issues.

What loves to run around in stacks and piles and poop and pee? Rodents, rodents do! You should not be sharing your space with wild rodents, nor should you want to. We’ve had pet rats in our home, so I know domesticated rodents can be friend and not foe, but you shouldn’t have wild, furry friends taking up residence in your home or garage.

 It’s worth the time, energy and effort that is will take to conquer clutter and protect the belongings that are meaningful to you. Even more importantly, it will help ensure your safety, your family’s safety and the structure of your home.