People Are Showing Off Their Neatly Organized Spaces, And These 63 Are Extremely Satisfying (New Pics)

Tidying up is not just about looking at the fruits of your labor and admiring them aesthetically. The act of organizing brings us calm and a sense of control, helping us feel more relaxed and de-stressed. Seeing messes in our homes can seriously stress us out. A 2024 survey found that 48% of Americans say that the organization of their home impacts their mental health.

Interestingly, there is also a gender disparity when it comes to seeing messy homes. A 2010 study showed that seeing clutter resulted in a rise in cortisol that was higher for women than men. Essentially, women would get more stressed out when they saw clutter, unorganized spice racks, and laundry scattered all around the floor.

Some experts tie women's greater stress about clutter than men's to their carrying most of the mental load. Couples therapist Elizabeth Earnshaw, MA, LMFT, CGT, writes for Psychology Today that seeing a mess means something different for men and women. 

"When a woman sees clutter (yes, this is a generalization and might not apply to all), she doesn't only notice the mess but begins to actively process what she is going to need to do next and how she will do it." So, a woman gets stressed and annoyed because she has to either tidy up herself or arrange for someone else in the household to do so.

Have you ever had a particularly pressing deadline but felt enormously compelled to vacuum your floor instead of getting to work? I, for example, have a friend who can never start working until her room is squeaky clean and free of clutter; otherwise, she gets too distracted. That might be because the act of tidying up makes us feel like we're in control. And when it feels like time is running away from you, you grab at any straws that you can catch, including folding your laundry when you should be writing a thesis.

Eight in 10 Americans agree: organizing their homes during spring cleaning helps them feel more in control of their lives. The researchers of this 2023 survey estimate that it takes an average of four days and 19 minutes for a person to clean and organize their home. And if we really think about that number, it becomes clear that most people wait until the mess is unbearable before they finally tackle it.

Despite knowing that most people probably have clutter in their homes, most folks are ashamed of the mess in their abodes. A 2022 report from MoneyWise revealed that 51% of Americans feel embarrassed by the cleanliness of their homes. People also tend to tidy up more when they know guests will be arriving. As Business Insider reports, 91% of Americans make a concerted effort to tidy up before they have someone over.