It’s easy to become so used to a hectic lifestyle that the chaos seeps into your home and creates disorder.
The problem is, when your living room is disorganized, there’s a detrimental psychological effect that happens in your brain.
Our senses are working nonstop, whether we notice them or not. A messy living room, one of the most commonly used rooms in the home, stresses your brain as it attempts to make sense of everything it notices.
But happiness in your overall lifestyle might just be as easy as organizing your living room better!
These 5 tactics will simplify your daily routine and make your living room a place of relaxation for your senses.
Keep Your Space Minimalistic
It’s easy to make the living room your catch-all place. But too much clutter and disorganization lead to stress in a room where you usually just want to relax.
To prevent this, opt to make your living room purposefully minimalistic.
Carefully choose or discard what you allow in your space, only allowing items and furniture that make you feel good.
Minimize What’s Already There
Get a hold of what’s already in disarray in your living room before you move on to making any big changes.
Focus on reducing the clutter by:
- Using storage bins and organizers so that there is a place for everything and everything easily goes in its place.
- Upgrading to dual-purpose furniture, like nesting tables to store blankets and decorative pillows. Opt for furniture that serves multiple purposes to keep the clutter managed.
- Disposing of or moving anything that doesn’t serve a recognizable purpose in the living room.
Be Your Authentic Self
A room that doesn’t make you feel good to your core isn’t going to be a place you want to be for long. Your living room should make you feel good, but to do that, it needs to be true to your interests.
When you’re organizing and redesigning your room, choose decor that showcases your personality and the things that you enjoy.
But don’t overdo it.
Keep the minimalist idea in mind — a place for everything and everything in its place.
Design with Your Peace in Mind
There are ways to create a peaceful space without losing your favorite things.
Hide Small Multiples
Store your favorite books, CDs, movies, etc. on shelves behind closed doors if possible to limit the stimuli on your brain. If you have too many, consider finding another place to store them other than your living room.
Decorate Strategically
Display what you have in calming colors and patterns that make you feel peaceful.
Choose Things You Love
Since you’re reducing, you may come across items you aren’t sure what to do with.
Use these general rules of thumb to make a decision:
- Is what you’re considering something that makes you happy?
- Is it something you already have at least one of?
- Is it necessary and useful?
Donate, trash, or store items that you weren’t able to answer “yes” to, even if they were a gift.
Opt for Live Plants
Plants are an oft-forgotten form of decor, and they’ve got a lot more going for them than your typical knickknacks.
Before you turn up your nose at adding one more responsibility into your schedule, consider these incredible benefits of a simple, low-maintenance houseplant.
Want to Live Healthier? Get a Plant
Scientifically speaking, plants are good for your mental and physical health. Studies show that plants are calming, so adding one or two to your living room encourages the peaceful atmosphere that you are striving for.
Live plants have a positive effect on the air you breathe, helping you to stay healthier.
Certain plants are supposedly geared towards specific ailments, too, such as reducing stress, removing air pollutants, and adding moisture to the air for respiratory issues.
Of course, plants that you enjoy looking at make you happier. So if you prefer one flower over another and you’ve got the talent to prune and trim it to stay healthy, go for it!
Those of us without green thumbs don’t have to lose out, though. There are many plants that don’t require a lot of upkeep that are perfect for apartments and small homes.
Use Your Space Well
If your living room is small, make the most of every inch by choosing taller furnishings, like your entertainment center or bookshelves. Make sure they have room for storage bins, or they have doors to hide your possessions behind.
How you set up your home decor makes a difference in how you feel in the room, too.
Our minds are always attempting to balance our environments. So when your furnishings are haphazardly arranged, you don’t feel peaceful in the room.
Arrange your furniture optimally, depending on the size and shape of both your room and your couches and chairs. This may mean replacing items you already have with dual-purpose selections.
Your optimal design scheme may not be typical. Don’t let what you’re used to determine what works best. Outside-the-box thinking is often necessary, especially in smaller living rooms.
Clean Up Daily
Many of us use our living rooms as gathering places, relaxing after the end of the day, catching up on work, or eating around the TV after a hectic schedule.
Whatever you do, don’t let dishes, paper, books, or other clutter take up space in your living room. It’s easy to ignore clutter until it takes over.
To keep your living room a happy, peaceful space, schedule a two-minute walk through every night to straighten up.
Put everything back in its place and get rid of any trash, so the next day starts back on a fresh, clean slate.
An Organized Living Room Leads to a Happy Lifestyle
There’s a lot involved in creating a happy lifestyle. It takes hard work, consistency, and dedication to make it happen.
But when your organized living room can be your place of peace and your sanctuary after a stressful day, the rest of your chaos can fall into place, too.
Author Bio:
Ryan Sundling is a Group Marketing Manager at Cardinal Group Management. He has over 10 years of experience in the conventional housing industry and works with Alexan on 20th Street Station on a daily basis to help them with their marketing efforts.
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