Are you over-organizing your home? Experts share the 4 signs you've fallen victim to 'the cult of storage' – and how to walk it back

Great home organization is often touted as one of the best ways to make everyday life smoother and less stressful – but it's always possible to have too much of a good thing.

Over-organizing your home can be just as detrimental as not organizing it at all, professional organizers warn. With the viral draw of home organizing videos on social media creating a so-called ‘cult of storage’, it might be time to reconsider your home's level of order.

To work out if overdoing it is the reason you can’t stay organized, our experts share the four main ways people take it too far, and how to walk it back to something more manageable.

Four ways you are over-organizing your home

Over-organizing is an organizing mistake everyone makes at some point in their home organization journey. Creating the perfect system takes a lot of trial and error before you find something that just clicks with your routine.

These are the four things you can skip right past, however, to save yourself some time and money.

1. Decanting everything

Decanting food goods has a time and place. Items where the original packaging is not robust enough to last or keep food fresh, or has been damaged, are a great example of this and will help pest-proof your pantry. However, not everything needs to be shifted into a new container, so it may be time to de-influence this space and revert to zero waste pantry restocks.

Cori McDougald, professional home organizer and founder of Meat & Potatoes Organizing says, ‘While a fully decanted pantry might look beautiful on Instagram, this is more than likely not practical for most busy families. You will need to decant all food items every time you get home from grocery shopping to keep this look maintained.

‘If you cannot imagine yourself doing that each week or multiple times a week, I would highly recommend avoiding these types of canisters and bins in your pantry. Instead, opt for general bins [like these large reach-in storage boxes from Walmart] with generic labels such as grains, snacks, bars, cans, cereal, etc. for a pantry organizing trick to transform your kitchen.’

That way, you'll still keep those open packets from going stale or being exposed to pests, but won't need to decant everything. Food bag clips available at Amazon, will help securely re-seal even the most awkwardly opened bags of goods. In a pinch, clothes peg will do the same!

All prices correct at time of publication.

2. Trying to organize toys aesthetically

Aesthetic organizing tricks are usually just that, aesthetic and often, not as functional as needed. This is especially true when it comes to organizing toys and organizing children’s rooms, Cori continues.

She says, ‘Just like having a specific container in your pantry for every single food item, having a specific place for every single toy – or needing to color code every time the toy room needs to be picked up – can lead to frustration, overwhelm, and protest from your children to help you put toys away.

‘Instead, we recommend that every toy has a home, but make your bins or organization system very basic. Single-word labels with pictures work great! Examples would be dolls, dress-up, Duplos, Magnatiles, and books.’

This trick for organizing a home with kids in mind will encourage your family to declutter and tidy up along with you, and make it easier to maintain in the long run.

3. Overdoing drawer systems

Drawers offer some of the best home storage, keeping items tucked away but easy to access. However, when organizing deep drawers especially, it is easy to overdo things warns Amy Berryhill, professional organizer and owner of Spiffy Chicks.

She says, ‘Folding underwear may look beautiful, but for many, tossing it into a drawer is just as effective – and much faster. The trick is to edit down your belongings so they fit neatly, no matter the system.’

We still like file folding clothes to save space and organize a dresser, but adding too many containers will only complicate things. All you really need are some expandable bamboo drawer dividers, from Walmart, to split a drawer into two to four sections and keep items clearly divided.

4. Labeling everything

This might sound sacrilegious, as labeling is one of the home organizing golden rules, but labeling everything is a one-way ticket to trouble Amy Berryhill warns.

She says, ‘Clear snack containers with specific labels are visually pleasing but can become limiting. If you switch to storing something else in that space, the original label will no longer be relevant. Clear containers already let you see what’s inside – sometimes simplicity is more functional.’

Keeping your organizing systems simple is the easiest way to fall in love with organizing and commit long-term. No one will want to maintain a space that zaps all of their time and energy. Like creating an achievable cleaning routine, you should break organizing systems down into their most basic form, doing it every day to stay on top of things.