Post by morningglory on Aug 14, 2012 11:57:46 GMT -5
Having finished the bedroom, I am going to start tossing in the living room. When I began working on this project a few months back, my daughter and I worked to get rid of a ton of clothing that was in baskets all over the living room. We cleared out something like 11 baskets, plus got rid of boxes and bins that were just stacked up around the living room for no reason other than we couldn't figure out where else to put them.
However, we didn't do anything about the clutter I had stashed all over the shelves, mantle, and end table. Neither did we touch my husband's things, which still currently take up about 30 square feet of floor space.
Also, we continue to have active baskets of clean clothes accumulating in the living room. It's true that I usually get them put away within a few days, but with a large family there is an ongoing stream of laundry. One goal for the living room is not to have any laundry baskets in it AT ALL.
I think that goal will be possible now that everyone in the family is really old enough to do their own laundry. After I finish up the last of the laundry that I did (which is a mix of everybody's), I am going to expect each family member to keep a laundry basket and to wash their clothes when it gets full, then TAKE THE BASKET TO THEIR ROOMS to put the clothing away. There is no reason laundry ever has to make a pitstop in the living room. (While this plan is a pretty basic and obvious one, I did't figure it out on my own--I got it from a book about organizing for people with ADHD.)
Another issue I have with the living room is that the kids tend to leave dishes, clothes (socks and things that they strip off while they sit there), and trash around. Stuff ends up under the couch and in the corners and all around the floor. So another goal is to eliminate that problem.
Getting it decluttered will be a big part of that, because it's more obvious that something doesn't belong when a room is otherwise neat. Also providing appropriate surfaces to put things on (so they won't set them on the floor) and adequate trash receptacles. Then it will just be a matter of entraining habits in everyone.
My plan is to focus on one small area of the living room at a time. Below is a photo of a bookshelf and table that are a cluttery mess. This area is my first focus, but to start I am only going to do the bottom two shelves of that bookcase, of which I will post a photo after this one.
However, we didn't do anything about the clutter I had stashed all over the shelves, mantle, and end table. Neither did we touch my husband's things, which still currently take up about 30 square feet of floor space.
Also, we continue to have active baskets of clean clothes accumulating in the living room. It's true that I usually get them put away within a few days, but with a large family there is an ongoing stream of laundry. One goal for the living room is not to have any laundry baskets in it AT ALL.
I think that goal will be possible now that everyone in the family is really old enough to do their own laundry. After I finish up the last of the laundry that I did (which is a mix of everybody's), I am going to expect each family member to keep a laundry basket and to wash their clothes when it gets full, then TAKE THE BASKET TO THEIR ROOMS to put the clothing away. There is no reason laundry ever has to make a pitstop in the living room. (While this plan is a pretty basic and obvious one, I did't figure it out on my own--I got it from a book about organizing for people with ADHD.)
Another issue I have with the living room is that the kids tend to leave dishes, clothes (socks and things that they strip off while they sit there), and trash around. Stuff ends up under the couch and in the corners and all around the floor. So another goal is to eliminate that problem.
Getting it decluttered will be a big part of that, because it's more obvious that something doesn't belong when a room is otherwise neat. Also providing appropriate surfaces to put things on (so they won't set them on the floor) and adequate trash receptacles. Then it will just be a matter of entraining habits in everyone.
My plan is to focus on one small area of the living room at a time. Below is a photo of a bookshelf and table that are a cluttery mess. This area is my first focus, but to start I am only going to do the bottom two shelves of that bookcase, of which I will post a photo after this one.
Attachments:
Just keep plugging away.
