Clear the Clutter! The 4 Biggest Secrets to an Organized Living Room in 2020
Anyone else’s living room feeling like a post-apocalyptic nightmare right about now? If it looks anything like ours, piles of laundry, stacks of unread magazines from last year, and even the Secret Santa gift you received from your co-worker (the one you’re still deciding whether to keep) are probably majorly clogging things up.
And that’s not OK! Our living rooms should be spaces where we can unwind from the stress of the day—not feel like magnetic fields for mountains of crap. That’s why we’re dedicating this edition of our “New Year, Clean House” series to making that happen. Ready to reclaim your living room? Keep reading for the four most essential things to focus on for a decluttered space in the new year.
1. Conquer your coffee table
The first place to start in decluttering the living room is your coffee table, says Melissa Groff, owner of Namastay Organized.
“When you sit down at the end of a long day, the last thing you want to look at are your bills,” she says. “Create a spot for important mail elsewhere in the home where you tend to get things done, then stage remotes, a candle, and a small plant on a serving tray—so you can truly relax at the end of the day.”
When it comes to what to do with all that mail, Ali Wenzke, author of “The Art of Happy Moving,” has a few ideas.
“For old mail, make two piles: recycle or scan,” Wenzke says. “As you go through the mail, toss any envelopes or additional junk mail, then scan the documents you want to keep or take a photo of them, and toss whatever you don’t need.”
How about old magazines? Nonnahs Driskill, owner of Get Organized Already!, has some solid advice: Throw them away.
“This can feel wasteful because you may not have read the magazine, but life keeps moving forward and having an old magazine on the coffee table is more likely to make you feel guilty or late, than accomplished and on top of things,” she says. “Try it. Throw away all the old magazines. What’s the worst that could happen?”
