Get Organized Checklist for Your Family Room

The Get Organized series continues this week with a Get Organized Checklist for your family room. The family room is where your family goes to relax and thus, can be a collecting spot for clutter. We’re going to clear that clutter away and set up a system to keep it from happening in the future.

Evaluate Needs

Before we lift a finger to organize our family rooms, we need to think about how we use it. Make a list of all the activities that occur in your family room.

My list looks like this:

Watch TV shows and movies
Play video games
Read
Hang out
Family dance parties

Purge

After you’ve figured out how you use your family room, the next step is to get rid of things you don’t need to keep there.

Go through EVERYTHING and throw away items that are damaged and can’t be repaired.
Set aside items that are in good condition but that you no longer need to donate or sell.
Relocate items that aren’t needed for family activities to other rooms where they can be used.

Clean

Now that you’ve eliminated all the clutter, it’s time to clean! It’s so much more fun to organize when you start with a clean space.

Wipe down all surfaces, including the backs of electronics and the insides of drawers. Vacuum everything – floor, along baseboards, windowsills, underneath couch and chair cushions, curtains, and lampshades.

Organize

This is the fun part! We’re going to make our family room a welcoming gathering spot for our family.

Group

Gather up all of the items left over after you purged all the unnecessary things from your family room. Sort these into groups.

The groups I had were:

Remote controls
Blankets
Video game controllers
Video games
DVDs
Reading Material

You might also have:

Board games
Toys
Craft supplies

Choose Storage

Now it’s time to find a home for each of those groups. Ideally, your family room furniture includes storage features.

If you have a side table with a drawer, the drawer is the perfect place to store remote controls and coasters. If your table doesn’t have a drawer, consider using a tray or tabletop remote control holder.

A trunk can double as blanket storage and coffee table. A large storage ottoman can do triple duty – coffee table, storage, and extra seating.

Baskets and bins are great for holding everything else. These can be stored under the coffee table or end table. They can also be stored on a book shelf.

Corral Cords

If your family room is anything like mine, you probably have a ton of electronics stored there. Even if yours is tucked nicely behind or within a storage cabinet, whenever you need to fix a connection you’ll be battling an army of cords.

I’m a big fan of cord labels to keep track of which cord is what. Cord management sleeves are wonderful for turning a tumbleweed of cords into a solid cable.

Keep It Organized

Once everything has a designated space, you’ll have great success keeping the family room organized if you implement a few rules.

No food (except special occasions)
Mandatory 5 minute clean up before bed
Weekly dust and vacuum

That’s it! Keeping food out will eliminate wrappers, crumbs, and spills. And just 5 minutes of tidying each night is all it takes to keep things in their proper place.

Download the Get Organized Checklist for your Family Room

Click the image below to print or download your checklist.