@Home: Six Ways To Organise Your Living Room
By SUZZANNE COUSINS
For the average household, the living room serves as a multi-purpose space for everyone. It’s the den, lounge, office, game room, play area, relaxation space and even the gym. But how can you keep your living room organised and clutter-free? Here are our top six suggestions:
Create a ‘Place-Space’
A living room with things everywhere will always look untidy even if it’s well sanitised. It’s best to have a space for everything in your living room so you don’t have random things on every surface. You can use a box or basket to remove foreign items quickly. Also, encourage everyone in the home to keep their personal belongings in their proper place and out of the living room to help reduce clutter.
Have Shelving
In homes with lots of furniture, or even cosier homes, there may not be space to put another table or “whatnot”, and that’s where shelves come in. Different types include fixed, adjustable, corner, floating, and pull-out shelves – which all work great to remove items from surfaces. So you can place all the “Happy Mother’s Day” picture frames on a shelf and clear up the tables. Also, you can place decorative storage baskets on the shelves to hold keys, mail, remote controls and so on.
Storage
The main reason we may have cluttered spaces is because of a lack of functional storage. Think about getting multi-use furniture like storage benches, ottomans, coffee tables or couches that allow you to put away important items that don’t need to be on display. For instance, you can put extra pillows, blankets, books or toys in decorative baskets or ottomans for quick and convenient storage.
Straighten up
You’d be surprised how quickly your living room can look brand new when you simply straighten picture frames, fluff pillows and arrange books on a shelf. When you straighten everything out and line them up (also known as “facing”) you add organisation and structure to your space.
Designate a corner for toys and games
If you have children or a very active “games night” family, you may want to set aside space in your living room to store toys, board games and other items. When everyone, including your little ones, knows that there is a special place for those things, it makes cleaning up easier and promotes order in your space.
Toss it and stop buying more
A challenge many of us face is overbuying and hoarding. Our living rooms quickly become a storage area for old bicycles, broken furniture, old TVs and the list goes on. If you have no intention of repairing or using these items, just get rid of them. Also, try not to overbuy when you’re decorating. If you have a couch full of pillows, there’s no need to buy more to add to those. If you don’t need it, don’t buy it and if you aren’t using it, toss it or give it away.
Keeping your busiest room organised can seem like a chore, but if you follow these tips and get everyone involved you can maintain peace and order in your living room.
