The living room is where Brad and I spend most of our time; it’s what Tsh Oxenreider refers to as the “heart of the home.” This series is based on the book Tsh wrote, Organized Simplicity; you can read more about it here.
As I tackled the living room this week, I referred to the four steps Tsh recommends in the book. Step one is defining the purpose of the room. In our case, the living room serves a lot of purposes; it’s where we eat, watch movies, work on the computer, read, and play games. So I wanted the room to feel put together but also comfortable and inviting. Steps two through four are declutter, clean, and organize.
Here are some before and after pictures of the living room. I’m slightly embarrassed to reveal the before pictures, but for the sake of being real, here they are...
By cleaning and changing out a few accessories, the living room feels refreshed, and I enjoy it so much more!
Surprisingly, most of my time and energy went into re-arranging the bookshelf since it was so cramped with books and often served as a dumping ground for mail and other clutter. I wanted it to serve a dual purpose, both decorative and functional, so I went to work parring down the books to some of the essentials. And then I combined them with a few of my favorite accessories. Styling a bookshelf is not as easy as it may seem; I had to go back to an old post I wrote about styling a bookshelf, and I even started a board on Pinterest to use as a reference. Here’s a before and after look at the bookshelf; I am pretty happy with the results!
So there you have it; the living room is complete! Next week I move on to the kitchen; wish me luck!
Lindsay
