Home Organization Habits & Cleaning Insights Survey

What Happens to Unused Items After 3 Years?

• 55% donate to charity
• 22% let items collect dust in closets
• 6% throw things away immediately
• 7% insist everything has a purpose
• The rest sell items or use storage solutions

Who Handles Most Household Cleaning?

• Shared responsibility with a neat-freak spouse often taking the lead
• Solo cleaners (sometimes with unhelpful pets)
• Community living (e.g., nuns sharing chores)

Biggest Space Hoggers in Homes

• 31%: Books
• 21%: Clothing
• 10%: Miscellaneous junk
• 4%: Kids' toys

Common Home Pet Peeves

People reported these top frustrations:
- Bad-smelling water
- Lack of luxury amenities (pools/hot tubs)
- Pet hair accumulation
- Paper clutter
- Cleaning fatigue
- Pet-damaged furniture
- High mortgage payments
- Poor bathroom lighting
- Car-dependent neighborhoods

How People Relax at Home Alone

• Reading marathons with comfort food
• Wearing ultra-comfy clothes
• Reality TV guilty pleasures
• Silent relaxation
• Kitchen dance parties
• Nudist living
• Conversing with pets

Decluttering Challenges: Hardest Items to Part With

• Backup electronics
• Specialty kitchen tools
• Sentimental cards
• Unfinished DIY projects
• Collectibles (like teapots)
• Gifts from relatives

Home Size Satisfaction

Survey participants shared whether their homes felt:
- Too big
- Too small
- Just right

Originally published in Mindful magazine (June 2016). For more lifestyle insights, subscribe to mindfulness publications.