Free Your Life from Clutter: Organize and Maintain Your Living Room

By the nature of the space, a living room is where you live. Your living room can get cluttered in just a few minutes unless you take time to keep it organized. First thing, remove foreign objects from the room. Make your family put things away every night. Clean up any trash in the living room. Make a plan to organize. You don’t have to do everything at once. Consider how you live, not what you think is the way it should be done.

Here are some ideas to get your living room organized:

Keep flat surfaces free of clutter. Don’t use your coffee table for mail, magazines or newspapers. Keep a bin or file where you can sort paperwork that you need to save, such as instructions, warranties or receipts.

Get a wastebasket for trash. Find one that coordinates with your decor to make it less obtrusive. Don’t put food waste in that trash can unless you use a deodorizing trash bag. Empty it when it gets full.

Wrangle cords. Use accessories to tame electronic cords and keep them out of sight or at least neatly tied up. Get a caddy to keep your cables. While you’re at it, find a small caddy that fits under an end table to store remotes.

Hang up clothes and coats in the closest. Make a point to always put your briefcase, handbag and kids’ backpacks in the appropriate place, not the living room. Keep shoes in your bedroom or closet.

If you have a bunch of pet toys that always seem to be laying around, get a basket or other organizer to keep them contained when you want to clean up.

Keep pictures and knickknacks clean and dusted. Straighten books on the bookshelf. Fold the blanket on the sofa, rather than just throwing it anywhere. Being nitpicky about what’s in the room can make it appear less cluttered without actually removing anything.

Get rid of things that don’t belong in the living room. Donate that chair you hate because it’s not your style. Throw away the broken table that you haven’t gotten around to fix. If you hate dusting your knickknacks, pack them away or give them to someone who really would appreciate them.