Day #4: Living Room
1.) Straighten up your couches.
The quickest way to make your bedroom appear tidy is to make your bed. Well a similar thing can be said for your living room. To make it appear neat and tidy is to straighten up everything on your couch. Fluff your pillows and put them back where they belong instead of leaving them bunched up in the middle of your cushions. Take any blankets that might be hanging about and fold them up neatly. Return the remotes to the tv console/media center and pick up anything else that might be left behind on the couch.
2.) Return items to other rooms in the house.
The living room can be a collection place for various items that belong elsewhere in your house. Before you really start to declutter you should return any items that have made a "home" in your living room to their proper place.
3.) Gather all decorative items into one place.
Have you ever really looked at the knick knacks and picture frames and candles and other decorative items that you have on display in your living room? Do you truly like everything you currently have? I realized when we moved into our new house that I had items on display around our tv console that really had no purpose or sentimental value to me. I think I had previously bought them to fill the space, but when we moved I reevaluated everything and realized I was showcasing items that didn't really bring me joy. So I got rid of them!
When you look through all of your decorative items, only keep the items that 1.) you truly love, 2.) are still in good working order and 3.) are useful to you. If anything cannot fall into one of those three categories, then it needs to go! Please don't feel like you need to keep something simply because it was a gift, but you really don't like it. Let it go! If there is anything that is constantly in your way, get rid of that too. All decorative items that you no longer want can be donated to a local thrift store.
4.) Organize the chaos.
If you have children in your home, you likely have books and toys scattered all throughout your living room. To help you manage the clutter, contain everything.
First, go through the books and toys with your children to determine if there is anything that can be given away (more on decluttering toys tomorrow!). Then once you have determined what should stay, use decorative bins tucked into a corner to house everything.
5.) Get rid of the paper collection.
If you subscribe to my email newsletter, you saw on Day #2 that I had a bonus task for you which was to go through your mail and paper stacks. That can happen here because I'm sure you've got a pile of mail or magazines that need to find their way to a different home or the trash can.
Flip through your magazines and tear out the pages that really interest you, then throw the magazines away or recycle them. If you need to keep magazines, only keep the three most recent issues.
Go through your mail, throw out the junk and assign a home to everything else.
6.) Assign a location to house your blankets.
Those blankets that you folded up in step #1, they need a home. We have an ottoman that has built in storage where we keep our blankets. If you don't have anything like that, find a huge basket or one of those cool rustic ladders you see all over Pinterest to hold your blankets.
We've got one more day in our challenge! I'm so proud of you for making it this far.
If you missed any of the other days, catch up below.
And be sure to get social with me on instagram by using the hashtag #PursuitOfPinkPURGE so I can encourage you along the way! I'm @lindsaytolar on instagram.
Great tips!!! I just did this last weekend with my living room.
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