How do you declutter your living room? 

Over the years, the living room has a tendency to become cluttered with a wide variety of items. Souvenirs, gifts, old decorations, books, DVDs... an incalculable number of objects that require us to add more and more storage units, sometimes in a hurry and without really thinking about their harmony within the room.
And then the day comes when, rather than taking action, we take a moment to observe our living room and realize that it doesn't look at all like we'd hoped, that the "beautiful" has given way to the "practical" - in short, that we don't like it anymore. So it's time to change things around and rediscover a living room that's tidy, harmonious and warm, and this will often involve a mass de-cluttering. 

First of all, you'll have to do a major sorting of the room, including both objects and furniture, because if you want to be able to move on and buy new items that are more in line with your current tastes, you'll have to start by clearing out the clutter. To start with, we'll set out three separate bags, one for items to be given away, one for items to be thrown away and one for items to be sold.

Then it's time to sort through the entire room, every nook and cranny, every drawer, asking yourself the essential questions for each item: "Do I still want this in my house?" or "Is it really useful?" If the answer is no, head for one of the appropriate bags. If the answer is no, head for one of the appropriate bags. If the answer is no, you can ask yourself why you particularly want this item, or when you last used it. Of course, if the answer is yes, the item stays in the living room. It's also an opportunity to sort out the things you love, but which are damaged or practically unusable. You may love a vase you once fell in love with in a store, but if it's chipped, does it really make sense to keep it?

Once the living room has been emptied of all the objects you no longer like or use, it's time to reorganize. We'll put things away logically, using the storage units we want to keep. We'll also make a list of the items we'd like to buy back (for example, if we've decided to move away from the hanging lamp that used to hang over the room, we'll need a fixture that's more in tune with our current tastes).

This will also be an opportunity to review the layout of the room to make sure it's optimal and allows for more fluid circulation. If you want to modernize your decor, this is also the time to invest in new pieces. These can be small decorative elements or larger pieces of furniture, such as an armchair. It's easy to give your living room a whole new look by changing a rug, cushions or curtains. 

Before you even think about modernizing your decor, you need to make sure you've done your homework, otherwise you'll end up with even more clutter. For example, keeping things "just in case" is the worst trap of all. A serving dish that hasn't been used in 3 years is unlikely to be used in the future. So, unless the item in question has sentimental value, don't keep anything "just in case". What's more, it's important to remember that sometimes a major sorting out can't be done in a single day.

Besides, after a few hours, you run the risk of becoming irritated and not being as efficient. So a step-by-step approach is a much more sensible way of decluttering the living room. Finally, buying new items before you've finished tidying up can be a big mistake. You don't know what you'll really need once you've finished, or what the room will look like. It makes much more sense to be patient before you start shopping, so that you can make intelligent, well-considered purchases.

Of course, if you like the result in the living room, you can do the same for all the other rooms in the house, to create more space and clarity.