What Causes A Room To Be Stuffy? (Reasons & Solutions)
Ever since I’ve taken an interest in minimalism, I’ve learned how too much stuff and a lack of organization can severely impact your living condition and life as a whole. You’re not going to be feeling good and thriving in a stuffy, cluttered and poorly lit room. But, what causes a room to be stuffy?
Typically, what causes a room to be stuffy is too much clutter and unnecessary furniture, lack of air circulation and fresh air, uncleaned surface areas or mold and fungus growth which can be extremely detrimental to your health.
If we really examine the reasons for a stuffy room, it becomes apparent to me that most of the problems in this situation can be resolved with a bit of effort and time.
You don’t have to buy really fancy equipment or hire people to clear out a stuffy room.
A strategic shift in furniture, a cleaning schedule, removal of unnecessary and useless goods and daily airing could drastically or completely fix a stuffy room.
Be that as it may, let’s take a closer look at what causes a room to be stuffy as well as quick and effective solutions at your disposal.
Table of Contents
1. Too much clutter
It may not seem like it but having too many things in a room can contribute or even cause stuffiness.
There isn’t enough room for air to flow freely or for it to be sufficient enough to overpower the stuffiness.
I’ve seen homes with so much clutter and unnecessary furniture that they feel cramped and stuffy.
Remove 30% of the items from these homes that are unnecessary or unused and they suddenly have a significant amount of open space.
Keep in mind that most things have a scent to them.
Whether it’s curtains, beddings, desks, carpets, clothing or other stuff, they all have a scent that can overpower clean air.
A room that isn’t stuffy usually is devoid of scents, odors and smells.
2. Lack of air circulation
It’s only a matter of time before a room gets stuffy when there isn’t adequate fresh air entering it.
Recently I wrote an article about how to get fresh air in a bedroom without windows and there are some excellent solutions that can be used to clear a stuffy room.
Getting your hands on an air purifier is a worthwhile investment.
Get this Levoit Air Purifier That Removes 99% Dust, Pollen, Allergens From Amazon
Even a small improvement can make a difference in improving your living environment.
Installing air vents, opening lined curtains during the day, rearranging furniture that blocks doorways can resolve the problem of a stuffy room.
For this reason, I encourage you to open your windows during the day, even for an hour.
Closed doors and windows prevent old air and bad odors from escaping a room, especially without vents.
3. Uncleaned surface areas
In a room with many shelves, cupboards, desks or storage units, it’s paramount that you dust regularly.
Dust will inevitably accumulate and you’ll find that the room feels stuffy and your sinus issues flare-up.
I’ve noticed that it’s a lot better to dust before you sweep a room daily than it is to let dust accumulate.
Prevention is better than cure in this case. And I can say with certainty that uncleaned surface areas will lead to a stuffy room.
I should also mention that carpeted floors come with the disadvantage of accumulating dust, dirt, and liquids.
This is absolutely contributing to why a room is stuffy so you have to implement a regular vacuum cleaning to your carpeted floors.
4. Mold and fungus growth
Of this entire list of what causes a room to be stuffy, this has to be one of the worst of them.
Mold and fungus grow in uncleaned, dark and damp rooms which usually look like a typically stuffy room.
The problem with allowing mold and fungus growth is that it can be harmful to your health and cause a host of issues.
Temporarily opening a window or spraying aerosol isn’t going to eliminate the problem.
You have to identify the spots that are growing mold and fungus, clean and disinfect that area and make changes to prevent it from returning.
5. Low moisture levels
I’ve noticed that when the air in a room isn’t moist, it can create a constantly stuffy feeling.
Think about it, when you’re in a dry and hot area, you’re not feeling cool or hydrated because all that heat is sucking up the moisture.
Similarly, a room with overheating issues will suffer from low moisture levels.
This will create or contribute to the stuffiness you feel in a room.
For this reason, an air humidifier could make a world of a difference in improving moisture in your air which will directly reduce the stuffiness you’re dealing with.
In conclusion
It’s quite evident that what causes a room to be stuffy can easily be remedied by making some changes to your furniture arrangement, frequent cleaning, opening all entries of airflow and investing a bit of money into equipment that will clean and add adequate levels of moisture to the air if required.
Personally, implementing minimalism as much as I can into my life and home has been a tremendous way of preventing cluttered or stuffy rooms.
There have been phases when we dealt with this issue and it’s always when we as a family aren’t in a good mental space.
This has made me realize that my mother was right when she told me that our environment is a reflection of our minds.
Unfortunately, there will be times when we struggle with problems and our minds will be perplexed with these issues.
But, if we can make changes to our surroundings and intentionally create a more minimalistic or functional environment, we wouldn’t have to worry so much about our rooms and homes turning stuffy or messy during those tough times.
With that being said, I hope you found this article on what causes a room to be stuffy to be insightful and helpful. If you have any questions or thoughts, please feel free to share them with me in the comment section below.
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