Instantly Declutter Your Living Room By Removing These Items From The Coffee Table

The coffee table is often the heart of the living room, placed at the center of where family and friends gather. It has the ability to pull the room together, in both style and function. But it also can become a distracting eyesore. One of the biggest coffee table mistakes is letting it become a catch-all, making your living room feel overcrowded and cluttered with stuff. You can instantly declutter your living room simply by removing a few things from your coffee table, though, like this morning's coffee mug or yesterday's mail.

Studies have shown that clutter creates visual distractions, which makes our brain have to work harder to focus. This causes our mind to fatigue over time, reducing its ability to function well. Taking the time to declutter will not only help you think better but can also boost your mood and reduce stress. Addressing the living room clutter doesn't need to be an overwhelming project. An easy habit to adopt for a clutter-free living room is to quickly scan your coffee table each day and remove these items. Making it a part of your daily routine will help you maintain a clutter-free and mood-enhancing living space.

Who wants to deal with a pile of mail at the end of the day? It can be so much easier to just drop it on the coffee table as you plop down on the couch to watch your favorite show. But it doesn't take long for it to pile up and become a mountain of clutter. Clearing it off the coffee table is a quick way to clean things up. Create a space elsewhere in your home, like an office or a designated kitchen counter spot, for things like mail that need your attention later.

You walk in the door and immediately drop your purse and keys onto the coffee table as you pass through the living room. Does this scene feel familiar to you? It can seem like no big deal to put personal belongings on the coffee table, it is convenient after all. But those items take up space and create unnecessary clutter when they can be put away somewhere less distracting. Try adding a small side table by your entryway for things like keys, purses, wallets, and any other personal items you bring in with you.

Is there anything more obvious to have on your coffee table than a remote control? Odds are that you have more than one and they are probably tossed onto the table when you're done watching tv. While that might be the most convenient place for them, it also just adds to the clutter. There are other creative places to keep your remotes, like using a decorative box to store them in, place them on a side table or mantle out of the way, or even use velcro to attach them someplace out of view.

If you're a book lover, you probably have piles of books lying around the house and stacked up on the coffee table. While we don't want to ruin the library aesthetic, moving that stack off the coffee table can go a long way in decluttering. If there's a book you're currently reading, you can leave it on the coffee table if you must, but work on rehousing all the others to a bookshelf, office, or study. There are tons of organization tips that will make your bookshelf so much better looking if you're worried about it getting overcrowded.

One item that seems to always make the coffee table its sole storage space is old magazines. If you have a magazine subscription, this can be a sneaky one, as it doesn't seem like much when they arrive only once a month. But over time? You guessed it, they pile up. Make it a habit to recycle old editions or find another use for them, like collage art crafts for the kids. You can also store them away on a bookshelf or in an office. Just get them off the coffee table to reduce the clutter.

If you have kids, you know how quickly their toys can take over any space, and the coffee table is no exception. One of the more practical tips to prevent your home from getting overrun by kids' toys is to keep them off the coffee table. Obviously, if they are actively using the coffee table to play with their toys, that's more than okay. But creating a habit of storing toys or simply leaving them on the coffee table makes for an incredibly cluttered space. Get those gadgets, puzzles, and stuffed animals moved to a playroom or designated basket.

If having breakfast and enjoying your coffee in the living room while watching your favorite morning talk show is how you start your day, you might want to take a peek at your coffee table. There's a good chance you'll find coffee mugs and plates from breakfast that have been forgotten about. Taking those items to the kitchen is a sure-fire way to instantly declutter your space. And since the dishes already have a more appropriate place to go, it's kind of a no-brainer. Use this tip for a low-effort way to declutter the living room quickly.

While the coffee table tends to be a catch-all for things we use every day, it can also be a space that gets overcrowded with trinkets and other collectible or decorative pieces. Candles, fancy bowls, and souvenirs from various vacations are all common things to find lying around. These items often carry sentimental value or express personal style, which is great to have in a living room, just not on the coffee table. Try placing these items in a display space like a shelf or shadow box to hang on the wall.

The living room can be a comfortable space for kids to spread out their homework or for you to sit with your laptop and work. But if you're not diligent, the coffee table can be drowned in papers, cords, pens, and pencils. If your living room is feeling a bit overcrowded, take a look for any work or school supplies that can be cleared off the coffee table. These items can easily be put away in backpacks or home offices. You'll be thankful you decluttered the next time you're searching for a phone or computer cord.

The living room can truly be the hub of the home. It's where you do your daughter's hair, fold laundry while watching tv, and play board games with the family. That also means there will be things left on the coffee table that already have a specific place they belong in your home. The hairbrush belongs in the bathroom, the clothes should be put away in the bedrooms, and those board games should be put back in the closet. A quick way to declutter the coffee table is to look for obvious things that belong elsewhere.