Comments on: Five steps to reclaim your living room

By: Darla

Darla — Sat, 19 Feb 2011 19:34:28 +0000

And I agree with you Erin! I say the home and everything about it speaks volumes about the ones who live there. So, if your home is as cluttered as a dumpsite, people may have a negative impression of you. But, if in the other hand, you have an immaculately tidy and pleasant house, your visitors will likely view you in a positive manner.This article is refreshing ! Nice!

By: Mandy

Mandy — Fri, 04 Feb 2011 13:32:04 +0000

GREAT tips! My husband and I just gave the living room an overhaul and it is much more pleasant to be in there when i’m not looking around at the clutter!

By: laura m.

laura m. — Thu, 03 Feb 2011 01:31:52 +0000

My living room is “perfect”. We are retirees and my kitchen is the only room I have problems with. I do my bill paying and check balancing in the kitchen. My small dining room off from the kitchen is full of exercise equip. and a gun safe, and shelving for storage; since we have an eat in kitchen.

By: Adam Snider

Adam Snider — Wed, 02 Feb 2011 20:59:40 +0000

What do you think about exercise equipment in the living room? I’ve got a small exercise bike (that I actually use) in the living room. I live in a one-bedroom apartment, so the only other space for it would be in the bedroom, which I think would be less than ideal.

Limited space sometimes limits our options.

That said, I like the post and will likely take up many of the points (I really, really need to get back to “everything has a place”).

By: ninakk

ninakk — Wed, 02 Feb 2011 11:06:17 +0000

re kids toys in living room. My sister and I were welcome to play outside of our shared room, but when we were done playing we were taught to take our toys back to the kids’ room. Worked for us, can work for others if they wish for this to happen.

I think #3 is the most important of them all.

By: Amy

Amy — Tue, 01 Feb 2011 23:07:14 +0000

@Neenaj, I keep my magazines in a basket between two armchairs in my living room. When I’ve sufficiently read through them I usually recycle them. The ones I want to keep get kept at the bottom of the basket until it gets full and I realize I really do not need them anymore. My husband likes to keep a lot of his periodicals for future reference so I have gotten magazine files so that they can be stored neatly on our bookshelf. Luckily my kids are no longer interested in dumping them all out!!

By: Amy

Amy — Tue, 01 Feb 2011 22:59:54 +0000

To add to the toy debate… I have two boys and a girl, 6, 2 & 4 who all share the same room. We have a small apartment so we have no playroom beyond their room. My rule is that all toys live in the bedroom. We were becoming over-run so I packed up all the toys into 8 big plastic bins, and rotated them out (2 at a time) for several months. After a long time of forgetting to do it, I realized that we do not need as much as we had. I saved the toys that they would repeatedly ask for and then donated 50% of them. As Christmas approached, I did another 50% donation, this time with their help in determining what got donated. Because of their age, I let them help a little, but then weeded out the rest on my own. We are down to 25% of what we used to have. Even after Christmas, I have to say I have donated some perfectly good gifts because they are more of a hassle for us than I have time to deal with. Now the amount is manageable enough that with the help of a clean room chart, they can clean up themselves.

What works for us currently is: one toy organizer with colored bins from Ikea where we store blocks, duplos, cars, trains and track, puzzles and small figures. We also have 2 plastic bins that hold miscellaneous toys like balls, oversized trucks, cash registers, etc., a bookshelf and some hooks on the wall for dress-up items.

The two biggest hurdles for me in pairing down were parting with some really good toys because we didn’t have space or time to keep them neatly stored, and realizing that just because my kids play with something doesn’t mean they will miss it all that much when it’s gone.

The question that has helped me the most is to ask myself (as I look at their little faces:) if they would be just as happy as they are today if the item never came into our lives to begin with. Answering that question allows me to keep the things that really give them pleasure verses more toys to fiddle with.

By: NeenaJ

NeenaJ — Tue, 01 Feb 2011 22:06:38 +0000

I recently tried to tackle the living room, which was cluttered enough before my (now) 14 mo old son came along. Over New Year’s, I purged the two lowest shelves of our built-in bookcase and filled them with my toddler’s larger toys. This gives them a home and still gives him access to them. In addition, we have a basket for him where smaller toys get rotated in and out. This has helped tremendously in getting his stuff out from underfoot.

The battle now is now against my own clutter, which accumulates on a tall credenza. Jewelry, yesterday’s lipstick shade, etc. all end up there.

Magazines also tend to be a big problem. Where do folks store them for reading?

By: aliskye

aliskye — Tue, 01 Feb 2011 21:50:27 +0000

My living room over the last few years has turned into Craft Central. (I paint, knit, embroider, pewter cast, bookbind and a host of other things). I’ve recently gotten sick and tired of all the accumulated junk in the living room so I’ve carved out a craft area in one corner of the bedroom under two windows. I bought furniture from Ikea and I’m looking forward to sorting everything and organizing it in it’s new home.

By: Bryan

Bryan — Tue, 01 Feb 2011 21:23:42 +0000

#4 is the biggest one for alot of living rooms. If you have alot of decorations, try to make them somewhat functional and keep food out of the living room!

By: Cody

Cody — Tue, 01 Feb 2011 19:35:57 +0000

Some great tips here. We can all use a little more organization in our lives.

By: Sarah

Sarah — Tue, 01 Feb 2011 19:07:31 +0000

pearls of wisdom! especially #3 and #5

By: cjhaab

cjhaab — Tue, 01 Feb 2011 18:47:01 +0000

I took a look around at my living room this morning and focused on the trouble spot. We use the room to watch tv or read the paper; one person sits and chats while the other cooks, etc. So we don’t have a lot of action going on that requires much equipment or toys. Mostly the room is clutter free, or can be after a 2-minute pick-up, except for one hot spot.

The end table next to my seat on the couch is where I keep a stack of notepads, a notebook, Bible, pens, crossword book and puzzles torn from the newspaper (that are not yet worked on), sometimes coupons or ads, and my purse datebook when I’m at home. It always looks MESSY. I found a basket in my sewing room the right size and will try keeping this stuff in the basket next to the table. Still accessible, and not in a drawer or totebag that’s hard to get into or out of sight, out of mind so I forget to do my Bible reading, etc.

Hope it works!

By: Erin Doland

Erin Doland — Tue, 01 Feb 2011 18:04:36 +0000

@SunnyDays — In clients’ homes I’ve encountered CDs, DVDs, video games, board games, video game equipment, blankets, firewood, books, hobbies (like knitting or cross stitch), magazines, television and device remotes, vinyl records, kids toys, photo albums, musical instruments, sheet music, homework supplies, and a vast array of less common items.

By: tmichelle

tmichelle — Tue, 01 Feb 2011 17:56:50 +0000

I have a toddler and I keep her toys paired down to 2 laundry basket worth (along with a few toys that are too big for the laundry basket like pop-up tents). Then, no matter where her toys are, it takes me 5 minutes to toss them all in the laundry basket. I then switch up her laundry basket every month or so to keep her toys new and interesting to her.

I don’t get sentimental with a bunch of plastic junk. If the toy is just junk I give it to Goodwill. I don’t buy her a lot of toys myself, but the toys I buy her are nice like wooden and metal instruments or easy to store, like pop-up tents. (It took me a while to learn to fold them by finding a fabulous YouTube video).