Organize your living room in 30 minutes

Living room organization is a challenge because the living room (or family room) has so many functions. Are you supposed to use the same space for relaxing, entertaining, playing games, eating, and possibly exercising? Given the number of things they are used for, it's no wonder that living rooms often end up full of clutter. Walk into any living room and you can see piles of mail, unread magazines, strewn toys and exercise equipment.

Eliminate extraneous items

Take a basket or a wastebasket and walk around the room. Pick up anything that doesn't belong in your living room that is contributing to an obvious state of clutter and put it in the basket. Return items that belong in another room to their storage spaces, then return items from the living room to their proper storage spaces. Pillows that have landed on the floor can go back on the couch; boots can go back through the front door or in the closet, and so on. Also, take this time to toss those dying flowers in the vase on the mantel, or any other trash you find.

Creating a home for lost items

If you find something that belongs in the living room but doesn't have a suitable place, create one. Then, if there are several remotes scattered around the room, choose a convenient place to gather them each time. The coffee table, the TV cabinetIt doesn't matter exactly where, as long as the location works for you. What matters is from now on, the remotes will have a constant home.

Likewise, make sure books, magazines and cushions have a home so they create piles of clutter. If you process your mail in the living room, keep a garbage can or file folder handy for that task.

Clean up the "disaster area

Most rooms have a corner or a piece of furniture, which functions as the designated disaster area, even when most of the room is fairly well organized.

If you have major centers of clutter in your living room, such as a side table that is loaded with random stray items, it can now be eaten. It will make the whole room look cleaner.

Obtain Nitpicky

A very simple step in organizing any room that requires no money, no products, and almost no time, is to simply straighten everything out and line it up. This is called "facing".

This applies to smaller items such as books on your bookshelf. bookshelfornaments on the mantel and folded blankets on a chest, as well as chairs and tables. When everything is askew, it can make a room look much messier than it really is, and when your space looks out of control, it can start to feel that way too. But while it may seem obvious, quickly straighten up everything from the pencils on your desk to the couch cushions, can have a big impact.

Thinking about function

Is there something about being in the room that always bothers you, some action that you always find inconvenient? For example, maybe every time you sit in the living room and watch TV, you remember something you need to buy at the drugstore and have to go to the kitchen to write it down on your shopping list or risk forgetting it forever. Solve this now by taking a notebook and pen and placing them on the coffee table. the coffee tablewithin easy reach.

Make a plan

If the problem is something you can't fix now, make a note to fix it another time. You might spot some problems like this while you're organizing-perhaps stacking your magazines made you see that a magazine rack would be a convenient addition to the room. Or maybe you realized that having a recycling garbage can for newspapers or a basket for cat toys would help keep your living room organized in the long run. Take a few minutes now to make plans for future organization.

Getting rid of something

Now that you've tidied, faced and straightened your living room, it's a good time to pick something out (an old, broken chair that you'll never have time to repair? A rug that wasn't your style at first place?) and get rid of it. Let it go and free up some space in the living room. If you have kids, a good place to start is with their toys. Is there anything they're okay giving up? Ask them to help you pick out some items to donate.