The Living Room is probably the most used room in the house, so it can get cluttered fast!
Here’s how to take your living room from cluttered catchall to a streamlined seating area in time for your holiday visitors.
- Prepare — Before you begin, do a quick 5-10 minute sweep of the living room. Toss the trash and put things where they belong. Next, gather four bins/baskets or an area for each one of the following: Keep, Donate, Trash/Recycle, Other Room.
- Sort — Sort through everything in the room. Yes, every single item on the shelves or the floor, in drawers, on tables, and so on. Get rid of as much clutter as you can.
- Clean — I’m talking a DEEP clean of the living room. Clean the windows, blinds, frames, and any mirrors. Wipe down doors, baseboards, doorknobs, and switch plates. Wipe down and dust/polish all the furniture. Remove couch cushions and vacuum underneath. Fluff pillows and wash them if needed. PULL the couch away from the wall, and vacuum under and behind it. Vacuum and polish/mop the floors. Clean the light fixtures and ceiling fan. BONUS points for using a lint roller on your lampshades to pick up lurking dust bunnies.
- ORGANIZE — Yes, I know this is what you thought you were doing to start with, but you NEED to do Steps 1-3 before you can organize. Deal with the “Trash,” “Donate,” and “Other Room” bins/baskets. Now, is the time to go through everything in the “Keep” basket. Remove one item at a time, categorizing it as you go. You can use a different shelf, basket or drawer for each category. Keep like items together. When you’re done categorizing, put everything away where it belongs. Here are seven categories to consider:
- DVDs and CDs
- Candles, lighters, essential oils
- Throws/Blankets
- Remote controls
- Magazines/Books
- Toys
- Framed pictures