Organizing Living Room & Den

Families tend to unwind and hang out in the living room or the den. For this reason that area quickly becomes the center of family life. It's easy for this area to become cluttered and unorganized. Kids bring their toys in, adults bring paperwork in, magazines, books, etc all pile up everywhere.

Because the family room is such a highly trafficked area it's best to decide what types of things you want to allow to take up residence in this area. The easiest place to start is with deciding how to store all your music and movies that your family enjoys because the entertainment center is usually a permanent fixture in the family room. Now days you can find all-in-one storage units that hold everything - the TV, stereo, DVD player, etc. The downfall of these units is that they can be expensive and take up a lot of room. However, if you don't plan on moving things around these are a good choice. If you like to rearrange things and change the look of your room then you will want to find a smaller, more portable piece of furniture.

There are several different storage units available for storing movies and music. You will find anything from simple wood cabinets or bookshelves to more modernized looks available in units made of metal with a sculptured look to them. You can also choose from units that have to be attached to the wall or ones that are free standing. Another option would be to add some shelves to your closet to store movies and music.

To limit the number of toys that clutter the family area, allow each child to have only a couple of their favorite toys in the area. Provide each child with their very own container - you can label it with their names or get different colored containers. Only toys that fit in that container will be allowed to be in the family room. Allow them to switch toys when they want but make them follow the rule that if it doesn't fit it can't stay. Make sure that at the end of the day they pick their toys up and put them away.

One of the biggest areas that tends to be problematic in the family room is the accumulation of newspapers and magazines on the floor and on the tables. You can easily solve this problem by using a magazine rack to store them. Don't let them accumulate to overflowing status, clean them out once a month.

You want the family area to be a fun place for everyone to hang out, unwind and socialize so you don't want to create an uptight environment by being a neat freak but you also don't want to let things get crazy either.