My living room is the heart of my home. It is where I enjoy my morning coffee, complete sporadic yoga sessions with Adriene, curl up and watch a film, read and store my books, dry my laundry, and host guests.
Your living room activities might look very different to mine, but as with any living room, I'm sure it's a hardworking space that slips into varying states of disarray as you go about your day. It is therefore essential to keep it streamlined to avoid overcrowding the multifunctional space.
Similar to the key things you should remove from your kitchen to make more space, there are a few essentials to make more space in your living room. Banishing unnecessary items will make a small living room look bigger, and make cleaning your living room so much quicker, so you can spend more time relaxing in it.
Things to take out of your living room
When decluttering our living rooms, the experts say we should focus on anything that we don't use, need, or love, regardless of how much money we may have spent on it.
We all face different challenges when decluttering, but whatever your situation, these are the five things to take out of your living room to maximise space, according to professional home organisers and designers.
1. Decor you don't love
Often, we display trinkets and souvenirs just because we have them. But if we take everything off a shelf or surface, we wonder why we've been giving these knickknacks pride of place. There's giving a home personality, and then there's cluttering our living spaces unnecessarily.
"Every room needs one focal point, one spot that is not cluttered," says Liora Seltzer, a professional organiser and parent coach. "Pick one surface and make sure it's clear. It can be the mantle in the living room or the coffee table. It's easier to focus on having one area decluttered and live with the rest!"
I love rearranging and organising bookshelves because it can refresh a space when all you've done is move things around. With shelves clear of clutter, it's a good time to dust your living room and leave things feeling all clean and tidy and worthy of lighting the good candles.
RRP: £12.87 for a paperback | Tracy McCubbin's book helps you to recognize and overcome any clutter blocks you may have, learn expert decluttering tricks for when things get tough, and includes advice on clearing out after a big life change, such as a death or divorce.
RRP: £9.99 for a paperback | Decluttering expert and author Dana White identifies the mindsets and emotional challenges that make it difficult to declutter. Dana provides workable solutions to overcome these struggles and get clutter out for good.
RRP: £11.21 for a paperback | According to the KonMari method, the key to successful tidying is to tackle your home in the correct order, to keep only the things you really love and to do it all at once – and quickly. After that, for the rest of your life, you only need to choose what to keep and what to discard.
2. Folded laundry
Putting clothes away is one of those daily habits to keep your home clean and tidy, one of those jobs we never want to do but that make our homes more pleasurable to be in.
"Keep the laundry out," says Liora Seltzer. "Lots of people love folding laundry in the living room, but then it gets stuck there for a long time. If that is you, consider folding it closer to your wardrobe so you can put it away right away and not have it parked in the living room for days."
Leaving clothes around the house is one of the biggest laundry mistakes that make our homes untidy, so I'll be following Liora's advice and folding clothes right by my wardrobe to stop the laundry piles from growing while drying clothes indoors.
Liona recommends having a catch-all basket for items that don't belong in the living room and need to be taken out. "This will help get it out of the living room, and one step closer to where it needs to go!" she says.
RRP £10 | This stylish, square-shaped storage basket has handles to make it easy to transport. It's made by hand with natural sea grass, with a pattern in jute, giving it an eye-catching detail to enhance your space.
RRP: £24.99 | This laundry basket folds down, so you can store it away neatly when it's not in use. It has two rotatable handles to make it easy to lift with one hand, and the bamboo rings on both sides allow you to grip it well with both hands and move it around easily.
RRP: £5 | The TORKIS flexi laundry basket is designed for indoor and outdoor use, and is made of durable plastic. It has two sturdy handles – perfect to use when hanging laundry or moving things around your home.
3. Old DVDs and CDs
Outdated and unused electronics and tech – DVDs, CDs, remote controls, unidentifiable cables, boxes for iPhones, VHS tapes and cassettes – are all better off being recycled. See if you can gather five items, and put them in a basket by the door to be taken to a local recycling centre, or straight in the recycling bin.
CDs and things we used before Spotify and Netflix can create a lot of visual clutter, which as professional home organiser Laura Price points out, is scientifically proven to raise our cortisol levels. "If you want to make your living room more peaceful, remove any items that you don’t want, love or need from the space. The less clutter you see, the more peaceful you’ll feel," Laura says.
Avoid storing them away in your TV console and forgetting about them, as this will make it harder to keep your living room tidy, taking up valuable storage space.
There are other professional decluttering methods to help spur you on, such as the 12-12-12 rule, which involves finding twelve things to throw away, donate, and return to their proper home.
4. Excess furniture
If you’re looking to create more space in your living room, every item of furniture in the space must have a purpose. Laura Price explains that too much furniture will make the room feel cramped, so remove any pieces that aren’t truly necessary and head to our guide on decorating empty corners if you're not sure what to do with the space you've created.
"It can be easy to get stuck in a rut with the existing design of your living room," says Laura. "We often get used to a certain layout and don’t think to switch things around. Play around with the layout of your furniture and you might find you have more opportunities for storage than you’d realised."
Laura knows how hard it can be to let go of gifts or things we've spent a lot of money on, but the money isn't coming back, and a gift is no good if it's hidden in the back of a cabinet. "Holding on to those things because you feel you should is only cluttering your home and adding stress to your life in other ways.
"Allow yourself to let go of the guilt, so give yourself permission to say no to hand-me-downs if you don't want them," she says. If you decide to hold onto hand-me-downs, you can make them into a conversation piece with our guide on combining heirlooms with a contemporary style.
5. Paper clutter
Paper clutter is one of the hardest things to declutter, and it doesn't tend to lead to dramatic, visible results. However, physical clutter is mental clutter, and you don't want to be reminded about a council tax bill while settling down for a movie night.
"Clutter stacking up on a coffee table, side table, or any surface can be easily done, which suddenly builds up and can make a room feel messy," says The Living House's interior designer Sophie Clemson. "If you know you’re prone to doing this, then be mindful when choosing furniture, such as your coffee table.
"Go for a coffee table with drawers so you can easily tidy everything away. Or if you choose a coffee table with a shelf at the bottom, then add wicker baskets with a lid to store any paperwork, cards, or magazines."
A minimalist, purposeful coffee table without any clutter will make a living room look more expensive, and create a more calming atmosphere.
FAQs
How can I declutter my living room fast?
A clear-out is a great way to transform your living room on a budget. To do it quickly, interior designer Jaime Galapo recommends giving yourself a timeline, whether it be two hours or two days to get it done. "A deadline always helps. Or plan a party, and you will be sure to have your house decluttered before the big day"
Interior designer Sophie Clemson's tip is to choose furniture and accessories with hidden storage, such as a footstool or rattan baskets with lids. "You can quickly scoop everything up and hide it away – perfect for when you’ve got guests or to tidy toys away at the end of the day."
How can I create more storage space in my living room?
Living room shelving is the answer. "When trying to maximise storage space, I always suggest looking up! Vertical space is often untapped storage potential and in a small living room this can make all the difference," says professional home organiser Laura Price. "Look around the room for any dead vertical spaces where you could add shelves or replace existing cabinets with taller ones.
"If space is tight, multifunctional furniture is a great way to still have a practical space without overwhelming it," Laura continues. "A good suggestion for a living room is a storage footstool for storing things like extra blankets or board games."
