netmouse: (Default)
netmouse ([personal profile] netmouse) wrote2002-11-24 08:48 am

(no subject)

Have you ever noticed how having additional clear surfaces can help make a room look less cluttered?

I recently added two standing trays to the side wall in my office, to relieve my desk of opperational clutter. One is for incoming things I have to process, the other is just for things to file. There used to be a pile of stuff to process where the trays are standing now. Now there is stuff under them - mailing prep for MidFanzine - but that section of the room looks much more tidy. I think it's partly because the "to be filed" tray is empty - having the clear surface makes the whole space look better.

Possibly my sense of "cluttered" has to do with affordances. A floor with piles of papers on it looks cluttered because it doesn't afford walking. Since trays or a table already don't afford walking, putting stuff underneath them looks less cluttered - and the two trays with one clear looks less cluttered than one tray looked by itself, when full. Because it affords putting stuff on.

It's a theory. :)

[identity profile] minnehaha.livejournal.com 2002-11-24 05:30 pm (UTC)(link)
I think your definition of clutter is accurate. Clutter consists of things not where they belong. If everything is in its place, even a room crowded with stuff doesn't look cluttered.

B