Do you feel like you’re always tidying, but your house never really feels “organized”? You might not be doing anything wrong; you might just be using the wrong system for your personality. According to organizing expert Cassandra Aarssen’s The Clutter Connection, there are four distinct Clutterbug styles: the visual-and-detailed Bee, the visual-and-messy Butterfly, the hidden-and-detailed Cricket, and the hidden-and-fast Ladybug. Each type relates to clutter and order in a unique way. In this post, I break down each Clutterbug type, share my own organizing struggles, and explain how discovering I was a Ladybug changed everything. Which one are you? Read on or take the free quiz and find out!

I spend a lot of time tidying and cleaning, but there’s always stuff that seems to get left out on the counter. Cleaning experts call these places “hot zones.” Like the pile of books next to my bed that belong in the bookcase once I’ve finished reading them, but only get put away when I feel thus inclined. (Code for: “I can no longer get into bed for the stack of books, even cats are falling over the books, and/or company is coming tomorrow.”)

My mother is an organizer extraordinaire whose systems would make you weep. I did not inherit that gene, and it does not work for me. It’s easier to cram papers into a drawer never to deal with them than to organize them in a file cabinet. I tried a dozen times to “get more organized,” and never kept up with the system for more than a week.

It’s frustrating.

Then my mother handed me The Clutter Connection, in which the author suggests there are four kinds of people in the world, who relate to their material possessions in different ways, and each person needs a unique system to help them keep their living space to their taste and avoid “piles of stuff.”

I breezed through it in a night and found out something: my mother is the hyper-organized Cricket, and I am the “I love minimalism and not seeing my junk” Ladybug… who shoves what she doesn’t know what to do with into drawers, closets, and under beds. All I need to do to solve my problem is forget being organized in hidden spaces (that’s where Crickets excel) and purchase pretty, colorful storage containers to minimize my visual impact and that I can “toss” stuff into. Whew, problem solved! I did that, and I love it. I’ve also taken out any furniture I’m not using and uncluttered my shelves. I don’t like too much stuff; it makes me feel hemmed in, and now I understand why.

I’ll outline the different “Bugs” as she explains them.

Butterfly:

These people are defined by the desire and need to “see” their stuff. They operate out of a subconscious fear that unless their stuff is on view, they will forget about it. They become cluttered and disorganized since they would rather pile things and/or leave them scattered around the house than put them away in drawers.

If they wish to organize, they need ‘broad’ categories and clear plastic containers and/or jars to store their stuff in; that way they see what they have but know where to put it when they are done with it. (Broad categories can be: “Shoes,” “Misc items,” or “Electronics.”)

It’s important for them to keep visual abundance; not enough stuff drains their energy and creativity.

If you are a Butterfly, if your cabinets have doors on them, your stuff winds up outside the cabinet. You might love the open shelves in his kitchen; as a Ladybug, I hate them because what’s stacked on them looks disorganized to my eyes. But at a glance, you can tell what you own and where to find it. Some basic general containers (no lids, so you can toss stuff in there) will serve you well.

Bee:

Like the Butterfly, Bees love to see all their possessions… but they want things organized. They prefer to use all clear containers in their craft room so they can see the things inside, but might “sort” via color coding or object.

They like to see what’s in their closet and will put things away if they remove the doors and/or curtains so they can reach in and put things on a hook or a shelf.

Clear containers divided into subcategories work for them in the bathroom, bedroom, and craft spaces, although the Bees prefer less “general” and more “specific” categories. It’s important for them to have bins where they can store their current project (they usually have lots of things they dabble in) and get it off the table, but still have it in plain sight. It’s important for them to keep visual abundance; not enough stuff drains their energy and creativity.

Bees focus on wanting things “just so.” This may not know where to start on organizing or how to make progress and soon feel overwhelmed with their mountain of stuff, which makes them procrastinate about “beginning.” They, along with Crickets, need to sort into general piles first, then proceed to smaller containers and collections from there.

A Bee will love a super-organized collection and doesn’t mind the cluttered effect of book or movie cover spines.

Note: The title photo I used for this post came from here, a Bee for sure!

Ladybug:

Ladybugs hate visual clutter and feel anxious surrounded by too many things. They like clean surfaces. The more they add to a room, the less they enjoy it. They are fussy about having a clean house and tidy often, but their ‘dark secret’ is their closets, drawers, and filing systems are a mess, because they toss things they aren’t sure what to do with “out of sight.” They are disorganized, like Butterflies, so they need colorful solid containers they can put things in, sorted into general categories that do not clutter the eye. They hate lifting lids all the time, so these containers should be lidless. It’s important for them to avoid visual abundance; too much stuff in sight drains their energy and creativity.

Even before I found out I was a Ladybug, I decided my bathroom felt claustrophobic, so I wanted to remove the storage tower. I went through all the drawers, threw out a bunch of unused stuff, and put my hairpins and hair ties in plastic sandwich bags and tossed them into an open box with my makeup and brushes. Bliss.

Cricket:

The Cricket wants everything in detailed order.

You would cry to see my mother’s tool shed. Everything has a place on the wall, she has sorted and labeled screws according to color and size, she labeled all the drawers so people know where to find tools, and has an itemized laminated list hanging behind the door in case you still can’t find it.

A Cricket likes limited visual clutter, like a Ladybug. They want stuff organized, but out of sight in organized drawers, file cabinets, and systems. They too can be paralyzed with “where to start.” The solution is to sort according to broad generalizations, then move into categorizing  until everything has its place.

They need to learn that simplicity is best. You can label a box “lightbulbs” and put all kinds of bulbs in it, not just one. Too much sorting, too much emphasis on perfection, and too many bins take up too much space, and will prevent them from putting things away. It’s important for them to avoid visual abundance; too much stuff in sight drains their energy and creativity.

Conclusion: Cass has more tips in her book if you are interested in her stories about various clients, figuring out her system, and on how to compromise and live with a different “Bug.” (Can you imagine a Cricket married to a Butterfly? The organizational demands of the Cricket drives the Butterfly nuts; the messiness and visual clutter of the Butterfly bothers the Cricket!)

So, which Clutter Bug are you?