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Are you a collector? Is your collection starting to grow out of control? If lately you have been struggling to find an empty surface anywhere in your home, you may be wondering about the differences between clutter vs. collecting vs. hoarding. More importantly, you probably are asking yourself how to organize collections in your home so that they do not turn into hoarding or clutter.

Following are a couple of tips for organizing collections so that your collections do not cross the line into hoarding or clutter:

1. Keep to a theme.

Try and keep the theme of your collection as narrowly defined as possible. The broader your collection becomes, the more likely it is that it will start wandering into the territory of “hoarding.” This reflects the DSM-5 definition of hoarding, which maintains that hoarded objects are, “usually unrelated or marginally related.”

Indeed, some hoarders actually start narrowly defined collections in order to control their hoarding and turn it into something positive. Doing so creates a sense of discipline, and helps to limit the urge to acquire. A simple rule can be used to decide whether to bring new objects home: “If this item falls under (theme), I can get it. Otherwise, I cannot.”

So for example, let’s say that you collect old magazines. Perhaps you can further refine the theme of your collection and only collect old magazines from the 50s, or old issues of a magazines in a particular niche, or so forth.

2. Do not let collections intrude on areas of the home you need for other functions.

When collections start disrupting daily life, that is when they again may skirt the definition of hoarding. DSM-5 mentions that hoarded items pile up “in spaces designed for other purposes.” The same is true of generic clutter.

It is certainly possible to have a collection which is scattered throughout your home, lending your entire living environment a theme. In fact, this is a great way to unify your décor and express your personality in every room.

But if you have a hard time keeping your collections from cluttering up functional spaces, you may want to instead designate just one room or shelf in your house to host your collections. This should preferably be a part of your house which you visit on a regular basis. That way, your collection is less likely to fall into neglect.

A cabinet with glass doors or a display case may be ideal, since it functions as a literal “barrier” between your collections and the rest of your house. It also provides them with some protection against dust, children, pets, and so forth.

These tips should help you to keep your collections organized and under control. You also should now have a stronger understanding of what delineates collections from clutter hoarding.

I do have a few more suggestions which should help you to manage and organize your collections. Read on to Tips for Keeping Collections From Turning Into Clutter or Hoarding, Part 2.