4. Use "Chunking" Instead of Constant Decluttering
A room can look cluttered even when you genuinely use everything in it. The issue is not the number of objects but how your brain processes them. Ten small items scattered across a surface register as ten separate things. Group those same ten items together, and your brain can read them as one visual unit. This trick is known as chunking.
Try it on any busy surface. Instead of leaving hand cream, glasses, a remote, tissues, and a notebook spread across a side table, place several together on one tray. On a kitchen counter, group oils and seasonings beside the stove rather than spacing them along the worktop. On a bookshelf, keep three small decorative items close together instead of placing one on every shelf.
Chunking works best when the groups make sense. You are not creating piles for the sake of it. You are giving related objects a visual boundary. A tray, basket, bowl, or section of shelf can do the job. The room still contains the same things, but it looks less visually fragmented. Before deciding you have “too much stuff,” try grouping what you already own. You may find the problem was scattered attention, not excess belongings.