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Organize your Living Room and Dining Room with SPEED...Here is information on how to organize your living room.
Do you hate your clutter? I know you might. It feels awful to come home and walk into your front rooms over and over again only seeing clutter everywhere you look. And what about when you have a surprise visitor? That makes you feel worse. You need a way to organize your living room with speed. Give things a home and fast. Once you create a home for these items, either by using one of the organizing products or by moving something around, you'll be able to pick up clutter quick. If clutter is what you see everytime you walk through the door, you've got to read on about how to organize your living room. Even if you have a side entrance :) These front rooms are where everyone sees or gathers in to connect, meet new people, and hold conversation. If they are cluttered of course you feel sad about the clutter! These rooms are the heart of your home. I understand though that these rooms are difficult sometimes to organize. These rooms can be high traffic areas. In my home, my front door opens up to my living room, dining room combo. That's it. No mudroom, playroom, side entrance. Nothing. Everyone is in here at all times. The toys, you name it. It is a challenge to keep my living room organized.
But you can and I'll tell you how to do it. How to organize your living room and namely the front rooms There are certain items that are always coming into the house and leaving the house. They grow and grow unless you prune them carefully.
Magazine Basket Anyhow, you must have a home for magazines. First though, create rules for yourself. Do you throw out one magazine when you get the next issue? Do you keep only the holiday editions of Real Simple because they are so full of stuff? Do you pull out the articles you like and put them in a binder? Get serious with your magazines. If you don't, they will pile up high. When you look for a magazine basket, get one with handles and the option to store the magazines vertically. When they are stacked on top of each other horizontally, sorting and weeding through them is very difficult. Stacks of magazines can be really heavy! You can also find a shallow flat basket. That's what I have under my coffee table. It has handles and instead of laying my magazines flat, I stack them standing up.
I have to work hard to follow my own magazine rules :) Keep all of these items needing to be returned in a basket of some sort. If you can find one with handles, all the better for going to and from the car. My library does not stamp the back of books with the return date. I do not know why. And at first, it got me every time. I thought I'd remember or keep the receipt with the return date. I never do.
Now I have to be vigilant with writing the return date of my library books or I'll get fined. I keep the library books in a basket (kind of like the Magazine Basket
You can also go to Allsop's Full Line of CD and DVD Storage
What I did was put a very large armoire in my front living room to get house organized. Everyday, when everyone comes home from work/play/school, they hang up their coats. Either in the hall closet or on some low hanging hooks, depending on the size of the person. The other bags and paraphernalia go into the armoire. Backpacks, breifcases and whatever junk the day brings in.
If you do not have an armoire or a hall tree, you can put a Stackable Folding 3-Shelf Bookcase - Hardwood Make sure your mini mudroom has a place to take off shoes, throw down keys, hang up bookbags, lay down papers, and put in briefcases and purses. What else is there? If you have other things that come in and out the door, create 1 spot for these as well. Give it a home. You'll see a huge difference in how your organize your living room.
Paper and Mail You put it down in one spot, sort through it there. But you cannot always act on it right then and there so you need a temporary resting spot. Then, when you can take a look at it, you need another place for where you are going to take action on it. What you may want to do is designate one spot to put the mail down and sort through it. And one other spot for taking action on it. I'd rather you not have more than one place for this and that's why something like a binder planner system might work well for you. There are other organizing products for taking action (like a tiered paper tray or a hanging file folder system) but I think the binder route is great especially for creative types. For some people, when a paper disappears into a file folder, it's never looked at. To Review-you need a temporary resting spot for papers to be laid down for when you get home. Perhaps the dining room table. Then, when you can get a chance, you go to your complete home organizer planner and figure out where each paper needs to go.
Remote Control, Keys, anything you constantly need It's weird. I came home one day and put a wicker basket down on the piano. I told everyone, "From now on this is where we put our keys." The next morning and many mornings after that, I'm running around yelling at my husband, "Where did you put my keys?" He said, "In the key basket you said we would now use to get house organized." Well, well, well. He was so good at always putting his keys in there. Now I don't have to ask anymore.
If there are things you constantly find yourself or your family members needing to find, designate ONE spot for these items. I call it, the "things you can't live without" basket. An Ottoman for your remote control, blankets, or for whatever else you need consistently. Stop wasting time looking for it :)
Media Storage You now have a home theatre. Keep your media storage right near your electronic equipment. Use these bookcases as a room divider or caddy corner them around the TV so the back of the bookcases serves as a room divider. Better yet, put one Media Bookcase in the front with the exact same one behind it turned backwards. That one can hold books. You can vary the stacking of the books, put some in baskets, group them by color, put an accent pieces at the end of one grouping. Books are blocks of color you can display nicely. The first step though is to make sure they have a home. Keep the blankets near by with a lamp and you have a nice little reading corner. Plus, the double bookcases will block out some of the noise from the TV.
Use the backs of bookcases any time you need to create a room divider. Toys can go behind the area and serve as a little play area. They'll appreciate the privacy :)
Archive Storage Sometimes there are things we insist on keeping that do not need to be kept out and accessible! You do not need all of your old issues of X Magazine out and accessible. Or your tax records! Would you consider using a planter? Put your collection of the old magazine issues (only allow yourself providing the room is there) and place a silk plant on top.
How about putting your old tax records in your unused fireplace and covering it with a beautiful screen? You can pull apart the table and actually drop in the leaf. Amazing. Think of all of the storage you can save. Some tables even have room for storing 2 leaves inside! Oh, I also wanted to tell you that you do not have to store your dining room table in the middle of the room anymore. Get it up against a wall and put a bench against the wall. Do this especially if you do not use the table often. You still can do this if you do use the table. Put the extra chairs in corners of the dining room as a decoration and use a low bench for seating. You can use your piano bench if you are in a pinch. I recently moved my table and I have so much more room in my dining room. By the way, you do not need to buy the option of the buffet. In fact, I wouldn't if you have extra furniture lying around. I had 2 nightstands that weren't being used so I put them side by side in the dining room. You know, I didn't really like them before, but now I do! I use them instead of a standard buffet. Here's more info on buying dining room furniture:
When deciding on your dining room furniture, there are so many directions you can go. You can have a casual look, modern formal or just something completely uniquely you. To start with, look in magazines for the home, catalogs and flyers with different furniture. A dining room set is generally a long-term investment, so you want to be sure about your choice. Cut out the pieces that appeal to you and keep in mind the style of the rest of your home. An ultra-modern dining set in a country-style home might look a little out of place. If your dining set will be made from wood, you might choose wood that appears elsewhere in your home. You might prefer glass because it is less susceptible to scratches and stains, but remember it shows fingerprints more readily, so upkeep may be more work. What size table you choose, will depend on the size of your room. Don't overcrowd a small room with a large table. You'll want a few feet space behind each chair. Also, if you want to add a hutch or a china cabinet, you'll need to consider spacing for those items. If you have a smaller space, but like to host plenty of people for dinner, you can choose a table with expandable leaves. If you're wondering if you should get a rectangular or round table, consider this. A rectangular table can accommodate more people without taking up so much floor space. Still, a round table offers a more intimate atmosphere for a smaller group of people. If you plan to frequently have more than 10 diners, a rectangular table is probably the choice for you. When you think you've found a table that you'd like, make sure there is enough room for the suggested seating. You should have 2 - 2 1/2 feet of space per person seated at the table. Make sure the table is sturdy and don't be afraid to lean on it and ensure it can withstand weight and pressure. Make sure the legs don't get in the way of easily placing the chairs around the table. The finish you choose for your table will depend on the wear and tear you expect your table to endure. Enamel tables with a gloss or semi-gloss stain, for example, hide the color of the paint, but makes the furniture easy-to-clean and resist scratches. After you've chosen your table and chairs, you can choose complementary pieces. How large they'll be will be dictated by the size of the room and your need for storage. Don't forget space to store all that great china!
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