The living room is frequently referred to as the center of the house. People gather there to unwind, mingle, and spend time with their loved ones. The living room, one of the most often used rooms in a home, is essential to establishing a cozy and welcoming ambiance for both the residents and guests.
In addition, the living room plays a crucial part in a home’s overall beauty and design, in addition to serving as an area for socializing and entertaining. It frequently serves as one of the first rooms visitors see while entering a home and can influence the style of the house’s interior.
Moreover, not only does a well-organized living room look nice, but it also gives the space a feeling of calm and order. When everything is in its place, it’s easier to find what you need, and you’ll feel more at ease in the room.
Hence, if you’re living in a mess or just looking for ways to get more organized, read this. Here are five living room organization secrets for maximum organization.
For some people, organization comes naturally and keeping a tidy home is part of everyday life. For others, it’s a dreaded chore and a never-ending battle.
Whether you live in a big home or a small apartment, your living room is the spot for entertaining, hanging out with your family or roommates, and enjoying some downtime. Of all the rooms in your home, it’s the one that feels most comfortable when it’s organized at all times.
If you’re living in a mess or just looking for ways to get more organized, keep reading. Here are five living room organization secrets for maximum organization.
1. Declutter on a Regular Basis
Before you can even think about organizing your living room (or any room for that matter) you’ll need to declutter. The more stuff you have, the harder it is to organize. If you can whittle down what you own and get rid of things you don’t need, organizing will be a whole lot easier.
Getting rid of clutter on a daily basis is an important part of keeping a living room in order. Over time, it’s easy for papers, books, toys, and other things to pile up in the living room. If this mess isn’t taken care of, it can quickly take over the room and make it feel chaotic and disorganized.
Regular decluttering, whether once a week or once a month, can help keep the living room clean and useful. It is essential, to be honest with yourself about what you need and what you can get rid of when you’re cleaning. Donate or sell things you don’t use or need anymore, and only keep things that are really important or useful to you.
As difficult as it may seem, you’ll need to do a thorough living room purge. Old CDs and DVDs, books you never read or will never read again, magazines that are six months old … they all need to go. Go through every nook and cranny of your living room and get rid of things you don’t need. This doesn’t mean you need to throw things away; you can donate items that are in good shape, or you may even decide that certain things would serve you better in other rooms.
Once you do a big declutter the first time, keep up with it. A quick sweep of your living room once a day or once a week is a great way to make sure that you’re not cluttering your living space with items that aren’t needed or don’t belong.
2. Invest in Dual-Purpose Furniture
Anyone wishing to make the most of their living room’s space while maintaining organization should consider purchasing multifunctional furniture. Because it serves numerous functions, dual-purpose furniture is an excellent option for compact living areas where every square inch matters. It might also be a fantastic choice for people who frequently have guests stay overnight.
Depending on your needs and preferences, there are numerous varieties of dual-purpose furniture to choose from. For instance, storage chairs let you keep blankets, pillows, and other goods close at hand while also serving as seats. Another popular choice is sofa beds, which serve as both a cozy seat during the day and a bed at night. The next time you buy a piece of furniture for your living room, don’t just think about how it looks — think about how it functions.
Instead of buying cabinets and entertainment units with open shelves, look for pieces with doors and drawers. That way, you can organize and conceal everything from audiovisual equipment to video game consoles, video game boxes, and DVDs (if you still have any).
Some ottomans, end tables, and coffee tables also offer hidden storage compartments. You just need to buy ones with lift-top lids or drawers. Use these hidden spaces to store and organize everything from throw blankets to magazines to remote controls and chargers for your phone and other devices.
Furthermore, investing in high-quality multipurpose furniture can assist you in furnishing a living space that is practical, well-organized, and stylish. Consider the materials and craftsmanship when purchasing dual-purpose furniture to be sure the items will withstand daily use. Consider your necessities, lifestyle, style, and aesthetic preferences while selecting the best furniture for your home.
3. Keep a Basket Handy to Stash Things That Belong in Other Rooms
You paint your nails while you’re watching TV. You check your mail when you relax on the couch after a long day at work. You eat snacks while you’re watching a movie late at night. You kick your sneakers off under the coffee table when it’s time to put your feet up.
It’s soooo easy for the living room to become a dumping ground for dozens of different items that don’t belong there. But there’s an easy way around that:
Keep a basket or a catchall in the corner so you always have a place to put all of those items that don’t actually belong in your living space. At the end of each day, carry that basket with you from room to room and put items back where they belong.
By having a basket or bin in the living room for things that belong in other rooms, you can keep these things together and stop them from taking over the room. If you find something in the living room that doesn’t belong there, just throw it in the basket. Then, when the day is over, or the basket is full, spend a few minutes putting things back where they belong. This helps keep the living room clean and organized and makes it easier to find things when you need them. If you can’t find something in the living room, you can check the basket to see if it got there by accident.
Moreover, choose a basket or bin that fits in with the rest of your decor and is big enough to hold a few things. A decorative box or bin can even make the living room look better as a whole.
4. Add Storage Boxes and Bins to Bookshelves
Speaking of storage baskets, it never hurts to have an assortment of storage boxes and bins on hand. Adding storage boxes and bins to bookshelves is a great way to keep a living room neat and tidy. Bookshelves can be both useful and beautiful, but it’s easy for things that don’t belong there to pile up on them. By adding storage boxes and bins to your bookshelves, you can keep things orderly and out of sight while still keeping your shelves looking nice.
One good way to use storage boxes and bins in bookcases is to use them to make parts or compartments. For example, you can put all your board games in a bin or keep all your DVDs in a box. This makes it easy to find what you want and keeps the shelves clean and uncluttered.
In your living room, make them decorative. Display them on bookshelves to make them double as hidden storage containers and decorative objects. Bookshelves may be intended to hold books, but you can create a much more interesting display by mixing books with storage boxes and other decorative elements.
Storage boxes and baskets come in all shapes and sizes. Use a small open-top tray as a catchall for keys and wallets. Buy a small box with a lid to hold phone chargers and earbuds. Buy larger boxes or square bins to hold children’s toys, pet toys, and other miscellaneous items.
From your bookshelves to empty corners, you can decorate your living room and create organizational areas with just a few storage boxes or baskets.
5. Assign a Space for Everything
The only way to truly organize a room is to create a designated place for everything in that room.
From the mail on your entryway shelf to the remote controls and coasters on your coffee table, the best way to organize a living room is to give every single item a specific home.
Mount floating shelves or build a shelving unit to hold books and papers. Get a magazine rack to hold magazines that you haven’t yet had a chance to read. Get a small bin to hold incoming and/or outgoing mail.
You should also set up a single charging station for all of your electronic devices.
Some people prefer to do this in their kitchen or home office, but you can also do so in a living room. All you need to do is designate a specific shelf, a certain cabinet, or an end table as your all-in-one charging station for phones, tablets, laptops, and portable gaming devices.
Ready to organize your living room in a way that makes it easy to keep it neat and tidy? There are a few easy ways to do so right now:
- Purge unnecessary items and declutter on a regular basis.
- Invest in dual-purpose furniture that doubles as storage.
- Keep a catchall or basket to hold items that belong in other rooms.
- Organize items in stylish storage boxes, baskets, and bins.
- Assign a place for everything and keep everything in its place.
Put these tips and tricks into practice and you won’t just change how your living room looks — you’ll also change how it functions.
Client Bio
Caitlin Sinclair is the property manager at Harmony 3900, a luxury apartment community in South Salt Lake.