Back with another set of room organization and cleaning tips. Today we’ll tackle the livingroom!
1. If you have a cabinet in which your television sits (and can be closed off), try not to keep anything else inside the cabinet. Televisions heat up when in use and if your set doesn’t have room to “breathe” it can wear itself out faster.
2. Keep cords out of reach of little hands by winding them up and keeping them secure with zip ties.
3. Controllers for different game consoles can have fairly long cords as well. If you want to keep them neat, try winding them up and tucking them into a toilet paper core. This will keep them from breaking inside the cord, and from being a tangled mess next time you want to play.
4. If your livingroom is your children’s main play area, invest in a small but wide bookshelf for their toys and books. Toyboxes can definitely hold all the toys, but they don’t allow easy access or allow the child to view his toys readily. A bookshelf lets him see the toys and he can simply choose the one he wants without having to pull a million things out (and subsequently toss on the floor) before playing with his toy. Also, a toybox can be squished and squashed to hold a lot more toys. A bookshelf of toys limits the amount of toys to only what it on it!
5. Another toy trick comes from the Montessori method of child education. They give each child a mat and tell the child they are welcome to do whatever they like on their mat. They can draw, play with toys, read books, etc. But it has to be contained to their mat. This again gives the child some freedom but also limitations. And it might help you when you go to vacuum — you’ll only have to move the items on the mat, rather than from all over the livingroom!
6. If you have a problem with your little ones eating and jumping on your furniture, why not find them a chair that is just their size? Tell them they can do whatever they want on “their chair”. They can have their snacks, play with their toys, etc. It will save your furniture some wear and tear, and your child may like the idea of having a chair all his own.
7. CDs and DVDs can take up a lot of space if you leave them in their cases. Michael and I bought a large DVD album to store our disks in and then boxed and put away all the cases. Now we don’t need his ugly DVD case anymore.
9. Puzzles are great family activities for quiet evening fun. To prevent it from cluttering up your livingroom, start building it on a large sheet of cardboard. When you’re ready to put it away til next time, slide the whole sheet of cardboard, and the extra pieces, under the couch.
10. When you vacuum, only worry about the areas that you can see. If you can’t see under your couch or recliner, don’t worry about moving furniture and vacuuming it. That can wait til a time you plan to do a deeper clean. But for just everyday cleaning, just keep to the “middles” of the carpet.
11. Keep little fingers from damaging speakers from your stereo systems by turning the speakers around backwards. The sound will still be clear, and when you use it, you can always turn them around again. But if they’re backwards, kids are less likely to poke at them or try to stuff little things into them.
July is Let’s Get Organized! Month at miniMOMist. Check out the original post and see the steps we’re taking to get more organized!
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miniMOMist is an account of Mike, Nada and Naomi's journey into realistic minimalism, with the goal centered around simple living, and enjoying each other rather than things. We are a faith-based family and blog about our belief in God regularly. Our love for one another and our passion for a simple, minimalist life brings us much joy and pleasure.