It is also important to act as a get-together place or socializing area for us and our family, us and our friends. Each time they come to our place, living room is a place they would usually stop by and most of the conversations (and gossips) take place there.
With the importance it holds, it is understandable why our living room gets cluttered easily and frequently. Being an important area in the house, it is also significant to ensure it gives the right...or almost right impression of you to the people it attends.
It is tiring to constantly put things to their place back and to clean up the area because it gets a lot of use. The only solution you can opt for is to keep it minimalist in your living room. It is best to have only a few items in your living room.
Before we go to that part of keeping it minimalist, let’s go to the very basic step in decluttering your living room.
1. Clear out your bookcases, console, and side tables.
Just like how you clear out these spaces in other areas, the same step needs to be done for your living room. This is for you to realize what are the things you have hidden all this while. Time to throw your items!
2. Assess your electrical devices and equipment.
Assess all items have not been used for such a long time; figure out whether they still can be used or not. Consider throwing away the dysfunctional devices if you do not want to keep it or you may keep away what can be fixed but not in your living room.
3. Go through your decorations.
If you think it is too much to keep, you should only keep what’s best (you define BEST). Remember, the more items you have, the more time you need to clean.
4. Sort all your items.
Sort all of your items that you took out and categorize them according to their deserved category. This step is the same but an important step for all every space that needs to be decluttered. Sort them into: KEEP, STORE AWAY and THROW. You decide which item falls in which category because after all, it is you who needs to clean up the mess.
Tips: Be as minimal as you can. It is okay if you do not prefer minimalist concept but you have to be minimal in keeping items for your living room. Holding to Marie Kondo’s principle: If it doesn’t spark joy, get rid of it!
5. Get organizers.
Get as many as you can! This will give you more storage space but practical, neat and minimalist at the same time. Drawer organizers are best to be used for a better way of organizing things neatly. Pocket organizers that can be attached to your sofa, for instance, are also useful for you to keep your commonly used items such as magazines, remote controls.
6. Rearrange.
Rearrange everything back to its preferred place. This step decides whether you have successfully decluttered or otherwise. If you think you have lesser items, neater and more organized living room, then congratulations! But, if you don’t, all the best and go back to the start!