Recap
“I have no idea where to start. My parents lived like this and now I’ve taken these awful habits with me to my husband and 1 year old son. My husband and I fight about it all the time. I want to save a lot of clothes because I hope to lose weight and fit back into them. I picked 1 room which is the living room. We are in a 2 bed 1 bath apartment and the rooms and kitchen are just as bad if not worse. Please help me!” – Chelsea
Yesterday I offered some marriage encouragement to Chelsea in this article about what to do when your spouse is mad about the mess. I also provided a few basic tips about how to decide which too-small clothes to keep and which ones to donate, so make sure to check out that article if you haven’t yet!
Since Chelsea wants to start in the living room, that’s what I’m going to cover today…
Living Room
Chelsea,
First of all, I think the living room is a great place to start! Since it’s a more public location, you can’t just close the door when company arrives. Plus it’s easier to organize than somewhere like the kitchen 🙂
It looks like you have some good storage in your entertainment center, so I’d start there. Go through the movies and toss anything you don’t love or don’t think you’ll watch again. I don’t know about you, but my family tends to watch movies on Netflix or Amazon, so even the movies we do keep rarely get watched!
Next, think about setting a limit for toys. It’s usually a good idea to keep toys on a shelf or in a toy box because doing so sets a natural limit. If you make room in your entertainment center, you could even use the lower shelves to house some of the toys. Once a shelf or toy box is full, it’s time to choose something to donate! For tips about how to decide which toys to keep and which ones to get rid of, read this article.
Since you live in a small apartment, I’d also consider the necessity of a high-chair. We used one often for my first child, but by the time my second child came along, we realized that we could get rid of the high chair and use a booster seat at the table to save space!
Once you’re finished with the entertainment center and toys, go ahead and start tackling your desk. I have an article here about how to quickly conquer the paper clutter so make sure to read that post for great tips. Since you have your office area in your living room, I also recommend reading this post about how to successfully use one room for multiple purposes.
After you have those items finished, you’ll be well on your way to an organized living room and will probably be able to finish the rest of the space without too many problems!
Fun Rewards
I hope this helps you, Chelsea! Please let me know if you have more questions and don’t forget to submit your after photos so you can receive your gift card!
Don’t forget that if you submit your own mess by October 30th, you’ll receive a free copy of Chaos to Clutter-Free, plus you’ll be entered into a drawing to win a $50 Amazon Gift Card! Details and submission information are here.
I have the same issue with my living room. We live in a small space and our living room turns into a junk drawer/play room/closet/entertainment room/nap room/dining room and the list continues. It drives me insane sometimes. I clean it and 2 seconds later it’s messy again! Eek! I try to look at it and be thankful that we do so much in one room together and the mess represents the memories! But, it’s hard.