the pile

A pile of mundane but indispensable items that often builds up in a certain spot of a room/apartment/etc, such as the tchotchkes piling up on a desk/dresser, a pile of laundry (both dirty and clean), or a pile of boxes that exist when moving between 2 or more places in a short period of time. It is worth noting that these piles, although manageable, are often really hard to remove completely, especially as they are quick to build up again, quite commonly in different places. a variation of this term is the "college pile" which is essentially a pile of boxes, luggage, etc that piles up at a person's home before or after moving between college dorms/apts