How to declutter your living room in 4 simple steps (Minimalist Home)
Ah, the living room. It’s the place that often times serves as the gate-keeper to the rest of your home. It is also the room that is most visible so it's important to keep it clean, simple and clutter free.
This guide is dedicated to those who desperately needs to declutter their living room after years of… well living in it. Just because you want to take a stab at a minimalist living doesn't mean you have to resort to DIY milk crate tables. Taking a "more is less" approach is key. I've broken the process into four easy steps:
Step 1: Minimize clutter
This is going to be longest and most important step in the process and for good reason. A clean decluttered living room is easier to manage and can give you needed peace of mind when entering your home after a long day at work.
Get to cleaning! Dust, mop and vacuum if needed.
Remove unneeded things. Discard any old magazines and tv guides (are those even still around?) that may be laying around collecting dust. Throw pillows are another great example of unneeded items that just add to the clutter. Get rid of them.
Put it away. Anything that isn’t an everyday essential should be put away in it’s own spot. Examples include jackets, umbrellas, and your bike.
Do away with decorative collections. This includes books, music (I’m talking to you guy with the large music CD collection that you’ve been hoarding since 2005) decorative figurines that are taking up space on your shelves or tables.
Remove Excess Wall Decorations. Showing some character in your living room is encouraged but do you really need that many vacation photos and posters handing on the wall? More on this on step four.
You may have too many remotes. Try minimizing the number of remotes you use with your entertainment devices. Using something like a Harmony remote will condense all those remote controls into just one. Are you a gamer? Purchase a gaming controller dock to keep your controllers out of the way when not in use.
Step 2: Get rid of furniture you don’t need
Now that you have decluttered your space, you can start removing any furniture pieces that aren’t essential to the living space. Here are a few simple considerations:
Ottoman It’s unessential an extra furniture piece you just don’t need in order to have a functioning living room.
Display cabinet/shelves If you have properly followed step one then you should have plenty of bare shelf space available. Removing any cabinet, desk or shelf pieces will give you a cleaner looking space.
Entertainment Center This is an easy solution: Hang the TV on the wall. Entertainment centers often encourage you to add unnecessary items anyway.
End Tables Tables attract clutter. Get rid of them to avoid the temptation of letting unneeded things pile up.
Step 3: Keep your furniture simple
Now that you have removed all of the unnecessary furniture from your living room let’s focus on what’s left. The key here is to keep your furniture simple. It’s better to have a few quality pieces that will last you then to go for cheap furniture that you will have to replace later.
For a clean and simple look go with modern furniture designs. Furniture with unnecessary embellishments or patterns will make your room look open, clean and bright. Keep the colors simple as well: White, Grey and Black are classic colors. Take a look at these picture examples for modern minimalist living room furniture ideas:
Step 4: Don’t overdo the decor
Limit your decor to 1-3 central pieces. Make sure each piece is meaningful and add to the character of the living room. Some ideas:
A textured wall Textured walls can be a centerpiece to the room and adds a lot of character to an otherwise plain space.
Poster or just a few photos Don’t overdo this! Just one poster is enough. The key here is to have a living room that still looks like a human lives in it, so showing off your favorite artist or family photos will add the right touch.
Plants Plants are perfect for adding a little life into any room. Strategically place a plant or two in you living room. They make great decorative center pieces as well.
Remember keeping a minimalist living room while still making it look like “home” doesn’t have to be hard. Following these steps will leave you with a simple, understated living space that has enough character for showing off to friends and family.
For more photos and visual aids make sure to check out my Minimalist Living Room board on Pinterest.
