Spring Cleaning, Part V: Living Room Clutter

If you missed Part I (intro), Part II (kitchen), Part III (closets), or Part IV (paper clutter) make sure to go back and read them before reading about minimizing your living room clutter.

I took a few weeks off from our spring cleaning in fall series because the burnout was real.

I mean, after putting off Elsie’s closet for what felt like forever, I finally knocked it out two weekends ago. And believe me when I say it was draining. We were lucky enough to be gifted many hand-me-downs from a family friend, so we had piles and piles of clothes to sort through! I managed to get it all done – but it took a solid two or three hours of work.

Now that I finally caught up with all of the cleaning tasks, I’m ready to move onto the next space.

If you caught my old post about keeping things tidy with a toddler, you’ve seen what my living room looks like. Or rather, what it looked like before I moved furniture around again. (Side note: I’m a little nutty about rearranging furniture every few months. I get antsy and bored, so I like to switch it up a few times a year!)

It looks relatively the same. What you don’t see in the pictures on that post is our chair and ottoman that match the couch, my bookshelf, and a desk that Seb uses for gaming. But overall, my living room clutter is just as cleaned up as it was back then!

Related Post: Keeping A Clean House When You Have A Toddler

Some things that have changed in our living room…

My bookshelf has approximately 10-20 more books than it did last year (one of the few things I hate to get rid of is books). We’ve also swapped the Xbox for a PS4, and Cappy the Caterpillar has been relocated to Elsie’s bedroom. The biggest “mess” we have in our living room is Elsie’s toys when she drags them out from her room. And of course my bookshelf. As far as living room clutter goes, ours is mostly under control.

Here are some tricks I use that will help you with minimizing your living room messes:

Keep storage bins and shoe piles elsewhere.

One of my pet peeves is when people leave piles of shoes by the doorway. I understand the whole “take your shoes off when you enter” concept, I really do. But it causes such a mess and can be an eye sore to have shoes tossed all over the entry way. Same goes for storage bins that are placed in a corner for toys, blankets, etc.

Solution: Re-home your shoes to a shoe rack in your closet or bedroom. Place storage bins in the bedroom or closet as well, only to be brought out when in use. If you have a table with hidden storage, tuck away extra blankets in there, or fold them neatly onto a closet shelf.

Take five to ten minutes each night to pick up any messes from that day.

I know it can be tempting to go straight to bed after getting the kids down for the night, but trust me when I say you will feel so much better if you clean up first! A cluttered house leads to a cluttered mind. You will sleep easier if you take a few minutes to put things back in their place. Doing so will also prevent messes from building up, so you won’t have to do as much cleaning later on.

Keep personal belongings in the bedrooms.

Similar to the shoe pet peeve, I personally get bothered by people leaving their personal belongings lying around shared living spaces. On one hand, with a family it is a little different. Elsie leaves her toys out and we put them away for her, Seb has his gaming equipment out, and I might leave my bag on the chair. But roommates who leave their stuff scattered everywhere? The worst.

Throw out or donate old magazines, newspapers, or books.

I’m being slightly hypocritical here because I refuse to get rid of my books; someday I will have a wall to wall bookshelf in my office. But if you don’t use them and they’re simply taking up space, it’s probably time to let them go. If you’re keeping a magazine or newspaper for a single article, tear it out and toss the rest.

Cut back on excessive decor.

One thing that is a blessing and a curse of renting? Decor. I can only hang so much up on the walls before it becomes an issue with landlords. I’ve taken to only having a little bit of decor on the walls. My living room, for instance, only has a clock and a wooden elephant head on the walls. Pictures and figurines are on the bookshelf, side table, and TV stand. By limiting the space available for decorating, the room feels lighter and more open.

What other actions do you take for cleaning up your living room? Tell me in the comments!