4 Ways to Conquer Your Cluttered Living Room
It’s time to recognize the modern living room as the “heart of the home.” A dynamic space that supports daily waves of all kinds of activity, it’s easy to see why open concept floor plans are in such high demand. By replacing boxy floorplans with expansive grand spaces, key living space comes from blending the living room, kitchen, entryway, and dining room. And because your family’s traffic patterns pass through this “great room” from nearly every pathway possible, it’s the epicenter of activity, and can also become your ground zero for clutter. Despite your best efforts to declutter living room items, refold blankets, reshelve books, pick up video game controllers and locate lost remotes, it’s a struggle to maintain order in your family’s favorite living space and it quickly becomes a hotspot for disorganization.
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The great news is that with the help of our organization experts, you don’t have to purge, build an addition, or move into a bigger home. We’ll help you understand how to organize living room space to create an environment that not only supports those waves of activity but also complements the interior design of your home. Here are four ways to conquer your cluttered living room.
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Did You Know?
The NPD Group states homeowners rank lack of space as the number one reason why they are unable to improve their organization at home.
Step 1: Plan Out Your Family Room Storage Ideas
In any family, there is a daily dance of activity at home. Like the waves of the ocean, they come and go with a predictable familiarity that is why you call your house your home. A regular routine, there’s a good chance your family travels through one or more of these modes on any given day— relaxation mode, entertainment mode, hosting mode, and more. Look below to see what we mean.
Modern Living Room Modes
Mode
Mode
Mode
Mode
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True story. As much as you love your family and the time spent together making memories, the aftermath of all that activity makes it hard to know where getting organized even begins. Yet you strive to create a space that makes it easy to move from one mode to the next without the room returning to a cluttered living room. This is an attainable goal so let’s start by thinking about the purpose and challenges of this space.
EVALUATING PURPOSES & CHALLENGES OF THE LIVING ROOM:
What activities does this space usually host?
- Family game night
- Book club
- Kid’s sleepovers
What things keep ending up out of place?
- Remotes
- Cords
- Remotes
Does the space currently have solutions that accommodate these needs?
- Baskets
- Ottoman storage
- Shelves
- Toy storage for living room or great room spaces
What are the rush hours of the room?
- Kids coming home from school
- Evening movie nights
- Busy Saturday mornings
Step 2: Clean and Organize
Online or in print, at book club or the ball field, ideas for how to declutter living room spaces and get organized are plentiful. We’ve worked with thousands of families just like yours and here’s what we’ve found works best:
- Empty out each family room cabinet and storage fixture
- Sort and organize living room items by type (electronics, books, pillows, etc.)
- Review the inventory. What is currently taking residence in the space and is all of it necessary?
- Remove items that can live in a different area of the house and aren’t essential to your living room storage or room aesthetic. Encourage bringing any rarely used toys back to the playroom—we have storage solutions for that too!
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This can seem overwhelming, but trust us, it doesn’t take long and will feel really good!
It’s important to be able to clearly observe every available inch and take inventory of what is currently filling the space.
Once you’ve successfully tackled your cluttered living room, it’s time to talk about flexible solutions.
Step 3: Implement Flexible Living Room Storage Ideas
Remember when we said you don’t have to move? That’s because chances are you already have all the space you need; you just haven’t mastered how to organize living room storage yet. Don’t worry, we’re here to help! When you work with one of our custom organization professionals, they’ll help you take inventory and find new organizational solutions.
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For example, are you in need of electronic storage ideas? Cabinets with doors can secretly store gaming consoles and unsightly cords. Need to liven up the entertainment center? Floating shelves or a wall mount for the TV can clear up shelf space for your favorite decor. Need a solution to organize living room items that always go missing? Place “lose-ables” such as remotes in a tray or small basket. It’s okay to experiment during this step to discover what works for you.
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Imagine finally having a library living room with shelving and lighting that shines a spotlight on your favorite books. Picture a hidden area dedicated to organizing electronics so your memorable vacation photos and succulents can accent your space instead of gaming consoles. Think about adding hooks in your entryway or even entryway lockers to give the kids a place to put their backpacks so they don’t end up in this space. When you work with Inspired Closets, this is the kind of transformation you can expect.
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Did You Know?
The National Association of Professional Organizers (NAPO) reports that, on average, we spend one year of our lives looking for lost items. That’s over 8,700 hours looking for lost or misplaced things!
As you discover new ways to organize living room storage, look back to your outlined modes and ensure each is represented. You might even find some additional opportunities to declutter living room items and further customize the space. For instance, storing blankets in a Nordic-style woven basket for easy access or a cedar chest for storing pillows, extra coasters, or serving trays. When you identify your modes and find the right solutions for each one, there’s a place for everything and everything has a place. Implementing living room storage ideas that support the way you and your family live, makes tidying up at the end of the day quick and easy.
Step 4: Blending with Design
We understand the peace that’s felt when each room of your home naturally flows into the next. To find a solution that’s on-trend and helps make your “great room” feel both functional and beautiful, it’s recommended to evaluate lighting first.
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Think about how the room uses natural light and where additional lighting can help illuminate areas after the sun goes down. Perhaps your favorite reading chair has decent lighting in the morning, but you find yourself squinting in the evening. Shelf lighting, lamps, or a brighter center pendant might be the answer. Proper lighting can influence how the entire room feels by warming up or cooling down the space, and even impact the color of the walls.
Featured in this Vignette
Material Color
Hardware
Front Style
Hardware Finish
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Did You Know?
Psychology Today says it’s a scientific fact that color affects mood. This means your energy level can be affected just by the color on the wall.
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Finally, the most important step, and the likely reason you started this journey to learn how to declutter living room items, is to consider the design of your new storage solutions. Consider how your family room cabinet and entertainment center can not only enhance the space but become a focal point. Notice how incorporating warm wood tones or cool neutrals provides visual comfort to the eye and is a modern twist on classic storage.
Timber Grey
Murphy Bed
Arctic White
Book Shelves
Silver Plate
Wall Color
Rustic Hickory
Flooring
Let’s be honest, the demands on the modern living room are greater than anywhere else in your home. It’s hard to find a storage solution that can stand up to all that activity. When you need a space to pivot with you based on the task and time of day, it can feel like a never-ending cycle of picking up after others. By planning, organizing, and implementing new solutions, you’ll find that living room storage can be simple to master and easy to maintain. With years of proven home organization expertise, our team will work with you to offer design ideas to improve the function, flexibility, and style of your space. No matter what you envision for your family room, our sleek, on-trend and high-quality materials will transform your living area from cluttered and chaotic to calm and relaxing. Complete this form and we will reach out to you soon!
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