Raise your hand if your house still has that good old steel almirah that’s been around since the beginning of time! I’m pretty sure a whole lot of hands just went up—because let’s be honest, this is who we are. We don’t throw things away easily. And even when we try, we somehow can’t hide them either. That’s exactly why the cluttercore trend fits us so perfectly.
Minimalism might be all the rage, but let’s be real—it just doesn’t make sense for us Indians. We have everything. Literally everything.
We're not minimalists. We’re sentimentalists. Every item in our homes has a story. Which is why when the world started obsessing over minimalism, it didn’t quite click with us. It’s not that we’re messy or disorganised. It’s just that we’ve always had a more layered approach to living.
Let’s know all about cluttercore and how you can slay this home decor trend without compromising on your ghar ki anmol cheezein!
Home Decor Trend: All About Cluttercore
Pexels
Cluttercore is basically the aesthetic celebration of an ‘organised’ chaos. It’s about surrounding yourself with things that bring you joy, comfort, and memories. It embraces everything that is there in your home.
Think shelves overflowing with books, walls full of art, family photos, souvenirs, quirky collections, mismatched furniture—and somehow, it all works together.
The best part about this home decor trend is that we’ve always been doing cluttercore—long before Pinterest and interior decor influencers gave it a name. Our homes are bursting with colour, texture, tradition, and yes, a healthy amount of “stuff” that is just there. But it’s beautiful. It’s functional. And most importantly, it’s ours.
So, let’s ditch minimalism for once and embrace something that actually goes with what we can afford and seems doable.
7 Ways To Nail The Cluttercore Home Decor Trend 1. Stop decluttering things that still carry emotion
Pexels
Desi households are museums of memories, aren’t they? If you visit my crib someday, you’ll realise we really don’t throw anything away—nothing at all! Well, that’s nothing to be proud of, but cluttercore taught me that it’s nothing to be ashamed of either.
That cracked glass Diwali diya, your dadi’s brass lota, or the 90s Bollywood poster your elder sibling had in their room—don’t throw it away, honour it. Put that diya on a stack of books. Frame that poster. Turn your mom’s old silk saree into cushion covers.
2. Wall? Nah. Memory maps? Hell, yeah!
Pexels
In cluttercore, your walls are not just for clocks, keyholders, and calendars you get as a ‘gift’ from Atta mills. You can actually curate your walls just the way you like. Got a childhood drawing? Frame it. A postcard from a long-distance bestie? Pin it. A quote from a Shah Rukh Khan movie that changed your life? Make it your wall art.
And, if somebody tries to be a judgemental person and asks you about the chaos, just say it's trending and move away.
3. Embrace desi maximalism
Pexels
Let’s be real—desi households have never really been minimalist. Our moms keep 11 dupattas for one kurta. Our grandmothers store every tin ka dabba that she ever gets her eyes on. So, if that’s always been the case, why not let’s try maximalism in home decor as well, right?
Let Bandhani prints be on your sofa cover or cover your couch with a rich shawl. Stack a Rajasthani box on a Gujarati stool. Flex your age-old jewellery boxes in the living room.
You have the items for it—all you need to do is just find the right place for it and you’re good to go!
4. Let everything coexist
Pexels
In our homes, there’s no such thing as things being in their 'proper place.' Open my dadi’s sewing kit and you’ll find her BP meds tucked in with the thread. Peek into the kitchen drawer for spoons and you’ll be greeted by a mountain of plastic bags no one ever uses but no one ever throws away either. It’s chaos, yes—but it’s the kind that feels oddly comforting.
So, in a house where there’s just too much to keep and never enough space to keep it, minimalism can only be temporary. Eventually, everything finds its way back out—because that’s just how real homes work. That’s why cluttercore doesn’t fight the chaos. It embraces it. Stack your books next to your Feng Shui frogs, place a diya beside a snow globe, and somehow, it all makes perfect sense.
5. Honour the corner where you emotionally spiral
Pexels
Let’s be real—privacy is a myth in desi households. Your room isn’t just your room. Anyone from your chachi to your sibling’s friend might come in unannounced. That’s why every house has a, kind of, unspoken universal corner. A spot where anyone—maa, bhaiya, dadi, you—can go and just sit when life feels a little too loud. So, honour that corner.
You don’t need a fancy reading nook or Pinterest-level decor. Just a mattress on the floor, cushions that look like they’ve been through things (because they have), fairy lights from Diwali 2020 that still flicker, and maybe a pile of half-read books or tarot cards.
Curate it like your safe space, because it is.
6. Revamp your kitchen
Pexels
No matter how many Pinterest boards you scroll or aesthetic reels you save, your kitchen will never look like those clean and white, marble-clad temples of minimalism. Open a drawer meant for crockery, and you’ll find hundreds of folded plastic bags and rubber bands saved from god knows when, and probably a torch that doesn’t work. Open a biscuit tin expecting biscuits? Nope—thread, needles, safety pins, sometimes even cash.
To revamp the chaos, you can use old pickle jars for storing lentils. Label them with stickers. Create a “snack station” with namkeen tins, protein bars, and whatever you like. Hang your colourful mugs from a wall hook.
Cluttercore doesn’t ask you to clean up your emotions. It just asks you to let your surroundings reflect your journey. And if your journey smells like burnt toast, fried onions, and elaichi chai, then your kitchen is doing just fine.
7. DIY through the trend
Pexels
Desis invented DIY long before Pinterest made it cool. We’ve been recycling, reusing, straight-up reinventing things for generations. That cracked ceramic plate? Maa turned it into a plant base. That bottle of Nescafe? Now holds haldi. That wedding card from 2010? It’s used as a bookmark, a doodle pad, and a coaster, too.
So, to DIY some of the extra items that you already have, you can, for instance, turn your old dupattas into boho curtains or bed runners. Or, even paint over tin boxes and use them for storing stuff. You can also paint old glass bottles and put fairy lights inside.
So, how are you transforming your house?
