Minimalizing My Living Room

I minimized my living room today, and it really just took minutes.  My living room is not a room that I struggle with clutter, so it was pretty easy.  I will be working through the rest of my house and you WILL get to see clutter, just wait!

Things To Have Close By When Minimalizing
1. Broom
2. Duster
3. Vacuum
4. Trash Bag
5. Bin for Giveaway
6. Bin for Things That Belong Elsewhere

Remember, even though we have cleaning supplies out, WE ARE NOT CLEANING.  We are minimalizing.  A purging of sorts.  We have to train our brains to ignore the dirt and only focus on minimizing the items that we no longer need, love or that need to be put elsewhere.  If we do this then cleaning will be a breeze.  We will get to cleaning eventually.

I DO have the broom, duster and vacuum nearby for the big nasty chunks.  You know, the dust bunnies that appear when you decided to move a bookshelf to another room or to get the layer of dust under knickknacks that are no longer wanted or loved.  It is just for a quick maintenance.  A fake clean if you will.  DO NOT GET OBSESSIVE and start cleaning.  That will come later.

 

I started at one end of the room and took the time to stop and think about each area and each item in there.

 Questions to Ask Yourself When Minimizing Items:

 

~Do I still love it?

~Is it being used?

~Would it make more sense somewhere else?  {Keep ‘like’ with ‘like’}.

~Am I keeping this out of guilt because someone gave it to me?  If so, get rid of it!

~Do I really need more than one or two of an item?

~Is this item worth the work of picking it up if out of place or dusting every week?

~Is this a sentimental object I could take a photo of as a keepsake instead of keeping the item?

Another thing to do is get out of ruts.  Mix things up.  Don’t be afraid to move things around if it make more sense to put it elsewhere.  I purged the above magazine holder, then moved it to the other side of the room where a bookshelf that was just collecting clutter and dust was.  See below.

 

I thought the idea of having games upstairs in the Living Room would motivate us to play them more.  It really didn’t.  Maybe a little bit during Christmas break, but not enough to keep this shelf in the Living Room.  It is a big dust collector.  I am going to practice the ‘like with like’ rule and put the games in the basement on shelves with all of our other games.  Same with the books.  They will go with our other books, all in one place.  No need to have books all over.  Keep them all in one place, except for the specific books you are activly reading.  Keep those where you are most likely to grab them and read them!

This is our TV cabinet.  It has 3 drawers under the TV.  The top drawer was just a mess of items, most trash, lots of stuff that belonged elsewhere.  They went in the ‘belong elsewhere’ pile (I did not get out bins for this room because I knew there would not be much clutter. I just made piles on my rug, which you will see below.)

I will now use the top drawer to keep all of our library books in.  As you will see below, I need a specific place for this as I have paid way too many late fees and STILL found 2 BOOKS in that mess that are overdue.  Fail.

Be thinking of solutions to problems as you go.  If there are pens everywhere, look for a jar to put them all in.  If you are a coupon cutter, find a specific basket to keep your coupons & scissors in. Problem solving is a big part of decluttering and minimalizing.

The second drawer was pretty empty.  It is hard to get open so I left it empty.  The third drawer holds our DVD’s.  I will have my youngest go through and purge the ones she is too old for.  I will give them away to my niece & nephew.

Here is what was purged from my Living Room.  Yay!  Makes me happy!!  The games will all go downstairs.  The magazines will be recycled.  The late books will get returned.  Books will be given to my sister’s younger kids or to Goodwill.  Ahhhh…FEELS SO GOOD!

Now I’m going to resist the urge to scrub my Living Room and move on.  Our Dining Room and Sunroom is up next!

…………..

Do you declutter before you spring clean? Or do you do it at the same time? I have tried that and failed so many times.  This time, decluttering is ALL I’m focusing on first.  Then cleaning will be easy.  I may even reward myself and hire someone to do the cleaning for me.  Just a one time splurge.  Maybe!

Got any more hints for minimalizing the Living Room?