Decluttering Tips for the Living Room and Bedrooms

If you've decided it's high time to start cleaning up the clutter in various areas of your home, you may not know exactly where to start or what to do. The list below should come in handy for the living room and bedrooms of your home, plus it'll give you a nice starter checklist to make sure you've not forgotten anything too.

Living room: Clean and clear off all tables including the coffee table, end tables, and entry tables you may have in this room. Clear off other furniture too. If you have unfolded clothes sitting in a chair for instance, either move them somewhere else or fold them and put them away. Pick up any extra blankets, pillows, toys, or stuffed animals that may be lying around on the furniture and floor.

Put books back onto bookshelves, and clear off anything from those shelves which doesn't belong there too. Old papers, outdated magazines, snack wrappers or food containers, computer games, etc all have a habit of accumulating on bookshelves, particularly if they're close to a frequently used area such as a computer or game station.

Clean and clear the TV area too. If you have an entertainment center, pick up all the movies and DVDs which have been left laying around, and put those in their proper places. Choose a location for the TV guides and remote controls, and put them away too.

If you have a family computer area in the living room, then pick up and throw out trash here too. Put games back into their cases, and either stack them neatly or put them on shelves or in drawers. Put away any writing utensils and papers too - jars and containers are excellent storage tools for putting pens, pencils, and crayons in, and they can add a nice decorative touch at the same time.

Bathroom: Pick up dirty linens and put them in a laundry basket or hamper. Put away toothpaste, shampoo, makeup, deodorant, and anything else that may be lying around cluttering up surfaces. If you keep magazines and newspapers in your bathroom, be sure to throw out those that are no longer wanted or useful.

Bedrooms: In the bedroom, pick up any clothes that might be laying around on the floor. Hang or fold them if they can be used again without washing, or put them into the laundry hamper. Pick up any dishes, containers, or snack wrappers that might be laying around too. In kids rooms, pick up toys and stuffed animals, throwing away anything broken or irreparable as you go.

If you have a TV area in the bedroom, clean up and organize the DVDs and video cassettes. If you don't have shelves or spaces designated for putting them away, stack them neatly.

Don't forget to declutter your closets and dresser drawers too. At least twice a year you should pull all of your clothes out and assess whether they're needed, wanted, or usable still.

Anything you no longer like to wear, or no longer can wear should be thrown away or donated to a local thrift store or homeless shelter. Hang nice clothes in the closet neatly and fold casual and intimate clothes to be put into the drawers. It helps to have an organization system for your clothes too. Underclothes can go into the top dresser drawer for instance, with the second holding shirts, the third holding pants or shorts, and the forth holding accessories or extras.

If you're limited on clothing space, try packing away winter clothes in the spring and summer clothes in the fall.