In addition to the kitchen, people spend most of their time at home in the living room. It’s the nucleus of the home. Families gather to watch movies, play games, read and relax. When you have a party, if people aren’t hovering in the kitchen, they are hanging out in the living room. Is your living room a welcoming retreat or a cluttered mess? Here are some simple ways to organize your living room and rid yourself of excess clutter.
Movies/Video games. Most people have a collection of videos (DVDs, Blu-ray, and even some VHS videos). To save space, you should convert your VHS tapes into DVDs. Instead of wasting wall space with a large bookshelf full of movies, put your discs in a CD binder. Imagine having one or two CD binders that contain all of your movies and freeing up that space to be used for something else.
The same principal applies to your video games! Take all of the discs out of their cases and put them in a binder.
Another space-saving idea is to convert your DVDs to digital media. You can connect your laptop to your TV and play the movies using a video cable. Or you can purchase a device like Apple TV. If you can import your digital movies into your iTunes library, they will play through your Apple TV device.
Remotes/Video game controllers. Invest in a universal remote. There are remotes that can control your TV, DVD/Blu-ray player, stereo system as well as your cable/satellite system. It may take a while to program it, but when you are finished you can remove the batteries from the other remotes and put them away.
Storing game controllers is simple. Wrap the cords around the controllers and stack them neatly in a storage container. You can use this same container to store older video games that aren’t in disc format.
Magazines. If you’re like me, you have subscriptions to a few magazines. And hopefully, you’re better than I am at making time to read them. In the meantime, get them off your coffee table and out of the way by putting them in a magazine organizer. This one is out of the way and can be hung on the back of a door.
But what do you do with all of those magazines when you are through with them? If you haven’t already done so, sift through the magazines and clip any interesting articles/pictures/recipes—but ONLY if you are completely sure that you will refer to them again. If not, recycle the magazines.
Creative storage. There are tons on creative storage options out there. Stores like Ikea and The Container Store have a variety of options. My favorites are furniture that also doubles as storage. I have a couch that pulls out to be a full-sized bed and has a storage compartment. I also have a storage ottoman.
The key to living room organization is to remove clutter from sight. That way when you have company over, there are plenty of places for them to sit and rest their drinks without magazines and remotes getting in the way.
