Some TikTok tidying hacks make it seem like cleaning the house is sooo easy, but that’s not true for everyone. Sometimes, the task of decluttering, organizing, and cleaning is downright daunting. Luckily, not every CleanTok influencer is in the business of pretending not being able to clean is a character flaw, and if you’ve spent any time on the cleaning side of social media, you may have seen these more charitable sorts advocating for “doom boxes” to help you deal with your clutter.
Doom boxes are a solution seemingly tailor made for people who struggle with decluttering and organizing. Here’s what you need to know about the trend, and how to make it work for your home.
What are CleanTok’s doom boxes?
This technique works for anyone with a lot to clean or organize, but is especially recommended for individuals with ADHD or who may otherwise struggle with keeping track of everyday items or staying on task when it’s time to clean. More accurately, we should call them DOOM boxes, as the name is an acronym; it stands for “didn’t organize, only moved.” In short, this means that the stuff in the box doesn’t really belong there, but was moved there from somewhere else it wasn’t supposed to be.
Essentially, doom boxes are containers scattered around your space that hold random items with no apparent organization. They break the cardinal organizational rule of keeping similar items together, but uphold the second most important rule perfectly: They create a designated spot for everything.
When you follow the Organizational Triangle or another organizational framework, you put everything in containers, making sure each container is divided and all your items are stored according to specific categories. If you struggle with feeling overwhelmed by cleaning, remembering to put things away, or simply finding space for everything, a doom box can work similarly, minus the actual organization part. It keeps the clutter out of your open spaces and even if the things inside have nothing in common—though they sometimes might—they are still bound together in a category, simply by being part of your doom box.
How to use a doom box to declutter your home
If you find it difficult to stick to a cleaning schedule or regularly put away items that are out of place, a doom box could work well for you. Instead of committing to cleaning at a certain time or doing a particular amount of cleaning, all you have to commit to is putting all the clutter into the box. Seeing the immediate impact this has on your open space can motivate you, or make you feel less anxious about the mess, which means you have a better chance at finding the willpower to eventually go through the box and organize its contents. If the idea of organizing and decluttering the room all at once is too much, putting everything into a box, calmly enjoying the open space, and then organizing it all could be the move.
In other instances, the doom box can exist as is; there’s no rule against having a container that functions just to hold miscellany that doesn’t otherwise have a place. Frequently used items like keys, identification, outerwear, headphones, or the like could go in a doom box near your entry door, for example. Everything that is out of place in the living room, from kids’ toys to a discarded sweatshirt, could go in a room-specific doom box.
This might feel like cheating, but only if you let it bother you. It’s not “better” to organize in a different way, and it’s not “worse” to just hide random items away in a container. Everyone has a different cleaning style. For you, simply keeping things out of sight and making sure you’re not feeling stressed might be exactly right.
Find a doom box that works for you
You’ll need a semi-spacious box that fits in well with your home. Ideally, the doom box will be a little out of the way, stacked with other organizational containers, or will fit onto a shelf. Since the contents will be varied and the goal is to create a space free of clutter outside the box, look for something opaque and unobtrusive.
Something like this, which has a flat lid you can stack other things on, opens easily, and conceals its contents, could be a strong option:
