regular (daily, or almost daily) basis. They should be kept in easy-to-access locations, such as mid-level shelves and drawers close to your activity zones. Candidates for your living room’s Inner Circle include the remote control, current magazines, frequently used electronics and computer peripherals, and favorite books, CDs, DVDs, and games. Your Outer Circle should house items used less than once a week, like certain hobby and craft supplies, reference books, and items for entertaining guests. Store these on upper and lower shelves, and in less accessible drawers and cabinets. Seasonal decorations, and pieces you treasure but can’t currently display (in an effort, perhaps, to toddler-proof the room) belong in Deep Storage—preferably in the basement, attic, or other out-of-the-way place.
All surfaces clear
If a neighbor dropped by at this very moment, could you set refreshments on the coffee table? If your kids wanted to play a game or work on an art project, is there any place to do so? Or would either scenario be delayed (or forsaken) because you have to clear off too much stuff? If you felt inspired to do a little yoga, is there ample room on the floor—or would you get more of a workout moving around furniture and other contents to make some space?
Our living rooms are for living. If we treat them as makeshift storage units, and fill them to the brim with stuff, we’re destroying the functionality of the room—and cheating ourselves (and our families) out of very valuable space. The surfaces in particular—like the coffee table, side tables, worktable, or desk—are of supreme importance. If they’re haphazardly piled with magazines, junk mail, toys, books, and unfinished craft projects, they’re useless for our current activities. Likewise, if they’re used as display space for innumerable tchotchkes, knickknacks, and other decorative objects, they bring the “living” in the room to a halt. Family room surfaces shouldn’t be reserved for a lifeless parade of ceramic figurines—quite the opposite. They’re meant for four-year-olds to color, teenagers to play games with their friends, and adults to enjoy a cup of coffee.
We should keep the floor (our largest surface) as clear as possible, too. Children in particular need space to roam, frolic, and explore; they shouldn’t be cramped into a tiny play area, barely visible among wall-to-wall furniture and mountains of clutter. Adults also benefit from a serene, uncluttered space. When we come home after a long workday, we need room to unwind, both mentally and physically. If we’re tripping over objects on the way to the couch, or looking around at a jumble of stuff, we feel stressed, stifled, and irritated. By contrast, when the room is spare and tidy, we have plenty of space—and peace of mind—to kick back, relax, and breathe. Therefore, make an effort to corral loose items and keep them from underfoot.
To borrow a term from the corporate world, we should think of our living rooms as “flex space.” In an office, flex space is a work area open for anyone’s use. When an employee arrives in the morning, he sets up at an available (empty) desk for the day. When he leaves in the evening, he takes all his belongings with him, leaving the desk free and clear for someone else to use the following day. Our living rooms should function similarly: the floor and surfaces should stand empty, ready to accommodate the day’s activities; and when those activities cease, they should be cleared of all items, leaving them open and available for the next person to use.
Modules
In the largest sense, each room is a container that holds all the stuff related to its function. However, our living room (like many of our other rooms) serves multiple functions—so without some organization, things can fall into disarray. For this reason, we divided it into zones, defining specific areas for specific activities. Now we’ll go a step further and set up
All surfaces clear
If a neighbor dropped by at this very moment, could you set refreshments on the coffee table? If your kids wanted to play a game or work on an art project, is there any place to do so? Or would either scenario be delayed (or forsaken) because you have to clear off too much stuff? If you felt inspired to do a little yoga, is there ample room on the floor—or would you get more of a workout moving around furniture and other contents to make some space?
Our living rooms are for living. If we treat them as makeshift storage units, and fill them to the brim with stuff, we’re destroying the functionality of the room—and cheating ourselves (and our families) out of very valuable space. The surfaces in particular—like the coffee table, side tables, worktable, or desk—are of supreme importance. If they’re haphazardly piled with magazines, junk mail, toys, books, and unfinished craft projects, they’re useless for our current activities. Likewise, if they’re used as display space for innumerable tchotchkes, knickknacks, and other decorative objects, they bring the “living” in the room to a halt. Family room surfaces shouldn’t be reserved for a lifeless parade of ceramic figurines—quite the opposite. They’re meant for four-year-olds to color, teenagers to play games with their friends, and adults to enjoy a cup of coffee.
We should keep the floor (our largest surface) as clear as possible, too. Children in particular need space to roam, frolic, and explore; they shouldn’t be cramped into a tiny play area, barely visible among wall-to-wall furniture and mountains of clutter. Adults also benefit from a serene, uncluttered space. When we come home after a long workday, we need room to unwind, both mentally and physically. If we’re tripping over objects on the way to the couch, or looking around at a jumble of stuff, we feel stressed, stifled, and irritated. By contrast, when the room is spare and tidy, we have plenty of space—and peace of mind—to kick back, relax, and breathe. Therefore, make an effort to corral loose items and keep them from underfoot.
To borrow a term from the corporate world, we should think of our living rooms as “flex space.” In an office, flex space is a work area open for anyone’s use. When an employee arrives in the morning, he sets up at an available (empty) desk for the day. When he leaves in the evening, he takes all his belongings with him, leaving the desk free and clear for someone else to use the following day. Our living rooms should function similarly: the floor and surfaces should stand empty, ready to accommodate the day’s activities; and when those activities cease, they should be cleared of all items, leaving them open and available for the next person to use.
Modules
In the largest sense, each room is a container that holds all the stuff related to its function. However, our living room (like many of our other rooms) serves multiple functions—so without some organization, things can fall into disarray. For this reason, we divided it into zones, defining specific areas for specific activities. Now we’ll go a step further and set up
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