Living Area Organization Tips and Tricks
An organized environment is essential to living a balanced life. And just as balance means doing what matters, so organization is about creating an environment that allows you to live your life, your way. This is particularly important in the living area. After all, it’s where you do much of your “living.”
Take note of the word living, because organizing a living area is not and should not be about creating a showpiece to impress people that come to your home. It’s about creating a livable space where you feel relaxed. Where you can unwind.
It should be a soft place to fall.
To that end, this is not an article on how to decorate your living area. It’s a guide to creating an organized living area where life can happen.
In my home, our family room is our main living space. And what we do in that space is watch Netflix, snuggle with our dogs, and basically keep warm and just “be.” This is key to organizing our space in a way that works for us.
What is in our living area?
- Comfortable Seating. Two sofas, a sofa & loveseat, or a sofa & a couple of chairs. We like comfort, we flop on our furniture, and we are more likely to be laying on it than sitting on it. So, we have two sofas. To keep them clean, I always buy furniture that allows me to remove the cushion covers and wash them. OFTEN.
- Blankets. All kinds of blankets. Quilts. Fleece throws. Woven blankets. And baskets to keep them in. We all love to snuggle under a warm blanket with coffee or hot tea and pet our pups. And speaking of…
- Dog toys. There are dog toys everywhere. Squeaky ones, rope ones, tennis balls, and the occasional treat. This means more baskets (but I’ll be honest, most of the time, the toys are just on the floor).
- Tables. We have a coffee table and two end tables. All three have tops that won’t be damaged by a sweating glass of ice water or a ring of hot coffee. They also afford storage (for those baskets that have blankets and dog toys in them). With enough baskets, you can clean and organize the messiest living room in ten minutes. Trust me. I’ve tested this theory!
- A convenient outlet for plugging in the vacuum cleaner. It might not seem like a big deal, but a lot of the disruption of my personal equilibrium comes from the annoyance of things like having to move a huge piece of furniture just to run the vacuum. When you are arranging your space, think about these kinds of things. How to keep the glare off your television, or make sure you can plug in a vacuum, and where you can sit a drink.
What’s not in our living area?
The rest of the story is knowing what to not keep in your living room. For example, we never play games in ours, so I don’t store them in there. If I did, we would have pieces all over the place. Also, we don’t have a DVD player. We use streaming services and “On Demand” movies, so there is no need to keep movies stored in the living area either.
I hope this gives you a great example of why organization should come down to how you live. If your family watches DVDs on a regular basis, then, of course, you should designate a storage space that is right by the DVD player. Make sure it’s easily accessible. If the person always getting the movies out has back problems, for example, then store them at waist level if possible. If they are short, then don’t store them on high shelves.
Creating habits to maintain order
The most effective step I have taken in having an organized living space is being honest with myself about how we live and use the space. Pinterest can be wonderful, but too much time spent on there can have you believing that people with toddlers, dogs, cats, and husbands that work construction have perfect, minimal, all white living rooms that never look dirty or cluttered. That isn’t possible.
Finally, developing some simple habits will be invaluable to you as you seek to stay organized in your living area. Simply refuse to leave it without bringing your empty cups, plates, etc, with you and dropping them off in the kitchen. Keep a trash can nearby. Put books and magazines back where they go. And if that book or magazine goes on the end table until you are done reading it, that is perfectly alright.
There isn’t one living being in my home that doesn’t require stuff and doesn’t like to actually use that stuff. I have my blankets, my daughter has her lapdesk (that she keeps in her bedroom because she uses it everywhere), my husband needs a place to put his feet (hello, coffee table), and our dogs need their toys (yep, I am sticking with “need” because, without them, my throw pillows are in mortal danger).
The trick is to keep the stuff to what you really use, choose things you love, and keep then corralled as best you can with some pretty and simple storage. This will give you and anyone else in your home (even your visitors) a sense of “home” and allow you to truly relax and unwind.
After all, that is what home is for, right?


If you missed any of our previous organization series posts, click the links below to go to them.
What tips or tricks do you have to keep the living areas in your house neat without them being unlivable? Let me know in the comments below or send me an email at janet@alifeofbalance.com.
Love the idea of keeping things you use in convenient locations. Both hubby and I enjoy computer usage and we turned the 2 “guest” bedrooms into his and her offices. Works great and doors can be closed on the clutter when guests come to visit. We decided that family visited so infrequently and usually stayed in motels anyway that we didn’t need the guest rooms and we’re both enjoying our spaces.
Hi Nana,
I love that you created your own offices in old guest rooms. We did something similar. When we chose our current home, we made sure there were enough rooms for both my husband and I to have an office, as well as an office/media room for the kids. Having a space that I can close off and leave a project “all over the place” has made me much more productive. I save the time I used to spend to pick up and spread out a project every time I was going to work on it. It helps you find your balance when the space in your house is meeting your needs.