Hey, hey, hey! I know I’m super behind on posting this week’s challenge, but there’s some good news! It’s week 9 of the Ultimate Room Refresh and we are HALFWAY THERE! How exciting is that!?!?!? By now, you should be a pro at decluttering, cleaning, and organizing! Now that we’ve gotten this far, let’s just get started! This week we are moving into the living room!

The Living Room

• Remove everything from the shelves, floor, drawers, coffee tables, media cabinets, side tablet, etc.
• Move everything out of the living room.
• Set up your piles – “keep”, “donate”, “sell”, “discard”, “remove” and “store”
• Sort everything into your piles, keeping in mind that the “store” pile should only be used as a last resort if you get so overwhelmed sorting that you cannot continue to move forward.
  • The “store” pile should be the smallest of everything else
• Questions to consider while decluttering:
  • Do you need it?
  • Do you have duplicates?
  • What is the worst thing that could happen if you get rid of it?
• Give the room a deep clean, including behind furniture. Dust everything.
• Categorize your items. Categories to consider include:DVDs/CDs, board games, video games, toys, blankets, remotes, magazines, candles, chargers, etc.
• Determine what you may need for organization based on where you will place each category.
• Lastly, set up your zones! Use your containers to set up your zones and categories.
• Proceed to place everything in the “remove”pile in their proper place.
• Remember to discard any trash and the “discard”pile immediately. The “donate” pile should be taken to your preferred donation site as soon as possible.
• If you placed anything into the “store” pile, place in a box and label with a date one month from now to be dealt with and store beside your other boxes. If you have anything that you stored one month ago, now is the time to donate it. Again, now is not the time to go through the box again. If you needed something you would have already removed it from storage.

The Sweep

It’s time to evaluate your systems and make regular cleanup a routine. Once a day (before bed or at the most convenient time) go through your freshed room with a basket. Put anything that does not belong in the room in your basket. Take care of anything that is out of place and clean anything that is visibly dirty. Take your basket and go through the house putting things that didn’t belong, in their proper place. This should be a quick pickup and should not take long. Remember, your family is there to help you as well.

How are the systems you put in place during the refresh holding up? Does the room still look as good as it did when you completed the room? Do your categories still work? How are your zones holding up? Determine what is and isn’t working and make adjustments to your systems as you see fit. Continue to evaluate your changes each day as you go through the house.

Until next week!