. . . he didn't want it cluttering up his room vs. . . . he didn't want it to clutter up his room

[shootingstar]

What is the difference between
" 'When he and Ravi decided they wanted to be rock stars, Mum and Dad bought Joe a guitar and then an electric piano.'
'How did that go?'
'The guitar bit went well. He could play "Smoke On The Water" within a week of getting it, but he wasn't into the piano and decided he didn't want it cluttering up his room.' (The Midnigt Library by Matt Haig, episode Someone Else's Dream)

and

'. . . He could play "Smoke On The Water" within a week of getting it, but he wasn't into the piano and decided he didn't want it to clutter up his room?'
Are both the sentences grammatically correct? If so, how do they differ in meaning?

 

[Skrej]

Both are grammatical. No difference in meaning.

 

[jutfrank]

I would certainly consider the difference in form to be a difference in meaning.

Using the to-infinitive form after a prior verb carries a sense of what some people call 'orientation' from the first verb/action (want) to the following (clutter up). Typically, as is also the case in this context, the orientation expressed by using a to-infinitive points forward in time.

a) I don't want you to call me.

The speaker here is almost certainly talking about calling in the future. The wanting is now and the calling is in the future. You can say the calling follows from the wanting.

b) I don't want you calling me.

This is probably not about the future at all. The calling here is in a general present time—or in other words the past, present, and future all rolled into one, so there's no orientation.

In the context in post #1, the speaker uses the -ing form to say that the piano was already in the room and that he was displeased with its presence there and wanted it out. If you changed it to the infinitive form, the speaker would be suggesting the piano wasn't yet in the room and that he didn't wish it to be moved there at a future point. That doesn't make sense given that the piano is already there.