Do you have too much stuff cluttering up your living room space? Then you need to read this guide on how to organize your living room when you have too much stuff!

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How to Organize Your Living Room When You Have Too Much Stuff

Over time, clutter starts to take over our lives if we’re not careful. It can build up on bookshelves and tables and eventually start to fill up our side table drawers. Most of the time the clutter is items we don’t need or want.

The trickiest part of organizing your living room is figuring out what to keep and what to get rid of. And this is the best place to start.

What to keep and what to get rid of:

Start by grabbing some boxes and labeling them “keep”, “donate”, “storage”, and “trash”. As you go through the items in your living room, place them in the proper boxes. You may also want to grab a basket to toss items into that belong in other rooms in the house. Here are some examples:

• Keep: Anything you want to keep that needs to stay in the living room but can be put back in after cleaning and organizing.
• Donate: Donate any items you’ve had for years that you no longer need or want to use. These items should still be in good shape. Later, drop them off at your local Salvation Army, Habitat Store, thrift store, or consignment shop.
• Storage: Consider storing items that you want to keep but don’t have room for right now.
• Trash: Toss any trash immediately. There’s no reason to hang on to old receipts or broken items.

I try not to give my clothes to Goodwill anymore. You can read about why here.

Ask yourself these questions about each item:

While going through your items and deciding what to keep and what to get rid of, ask yourself these questions:

• Is it broken?
• Have I used this in the past 6 months?
• Does it have sentimental value?
• Can I sell it for a good price? If not, is it worth my time trying to sell it?

After going through all of the items in your living room, including furniture, you can start to organize your living room with the following tips.

Related article: Letting Go of Sentimental Stuff

Tips to Organize Your Living Room to Keep it Tidy

1. Start with tabletops.

The easiest way to organize your living room is to start at the top. It’s best to start with surfaces like console tables, side tables, the TV stand, and the coffee table. Usually, those areas generate the most clutter.

After decluttering the tabletops and getting rid of any trash, it’s easier to keep them clean and organized. Here are some tips to keep your tabletop surfaces nice and tidy all the time:

• Put items away as soon as you are done using them. Get in the habit of putting your glass in the sink and receipts and papers where they go so they’re not piling up on your table.
• Don’t keep a bowl or decorative tray on your coffee table to catch clutter. They may seem like a good idea, but the truth is – clutter often creates more clutter.
• Keep magazines in a basket under the coffee table or in a drawer, not on tabletops.
• Keep remotes in a basket or drawer instead of on the tables. Or consider a remote caddy that fits easily over the arm of a couch or chair like this one.
• Use coasters. Coasters prevent water stains from forming on your furniture.
• Avoid going through your mail at the coffee table. Try to sort through the mail as soon as you bring it in the house and discard unwanted pieces. Put incoming and outgoing mail in a wall-mounted mail organizer by the door instead.

2. Control cord clutter.

Even though most everything is trying to go wireless, we still have a lot of cords taking up space behind the TV stand and end tables. Here are some tips on how to hide cords so you can organize your living room and make it look clutter-free:

• Hook cords to the back of furniture. Use these clear adhesive cord clips, or something similar, to attach cords to table legs or along the back of furniture to keep cords out of sight.
• Hide cords behind the couch. A skinny sofa table behind the couch is perfect for hiding lamp cords. Look for one with a USB port so it’s easier to charge your electronics. (I love this one!)
• Hide TV cords behind the wall. We used a cable organizing kit to hide the TV cords behind the wall (similar to this one). It looks so much nicer than cords hanging down the wall behind the TV.
• Tuck cords into a sleeve. Cord sleeves can easily hide a bunch of cords to keep them out of the way and looking nice. Plus, they keep cats from chewing on them! My cat, Sam, was so bad about chewing on cords.

3. Hang picture frames instead of sitting them around the room.

Placing your family photos in frames and hanging them on the walls gets them off tables and leaves the room feeling less cluttered. Search Pinterest for gallery wall ideas or purchase collage photo frames to keep themed photos together in one place.

4. Use baskets in unused corners.

If there’s an empty corner in your living room, then there is wasted space. Fill the space with a basket to toss throw blankets and pillows in, or to hide your kid’s toys. Baskets can be used for so many different things.

To keep your living room clean and organized, I recommend decluttering regularly. Over time, our tastes in style change. Go through the items in your living room every 6 months or so and get rid of stuff that no longer fits your style or theme. To save money on furniture, give good pieces a makeover instead of buying new. The best way to keep your living room looking nice and organized is to keep the clutter down.

Speaking of clutter, don’t forget to grab my clutter-free checklists before you go!

What are your best tips for keeping the clutter in your living room at bay? I’d love to hear your suggestions for how you organize your living room!

Looking for more organizing tips for your home? Read these next:

• Genius Ideas for Storing Blankets
• How to Organize a Small Bedroom on a Budget
• Maximize Your Bathroom Storage Space with These Great Target Finds