Day 18 - Living Room Table {Net Zero Decluttering Challenge}

Have you ever felt overwhelmed during the month of December with all the stuff that enters your home? The trick I've found helps me is to declutter throughout the month. Will you join me in the Net Zero Decluttering Challenge?

Each day this month I'll share some decluttering tips and ideas so you can end the month with the same number of items in your home (or maybe even less!) than what you started the month with.

Today I'm sharing tips on decluttering your living room or family room table (or whatever surface is cluttered in an area you'll be entertaining guests during the holidays).

Today's Suggested Decluttering Task

Surfaces are usually clutter magnets in homes.  And the living room or family room or den or wherever you spend most of your time hanging out is a place that things get set down and never picked up.

The problem with cluttered surfaces is they tend to attract more clutter.  And then it makes it even more overwhelming to think about dealing with it.  So we don't.  And the clutter just keeps accumulating.

Let's stop the cycle today!  Declutter your living room table (or any other cluttered surface in a room you hang out in) and then try to keep it clutter-free the rest of the month.

Here are a few tips to declutter your living room table:

• Toss any garbage or recycling that has accumulated
• Return dishes to the kitchen
• Relocate any items that belong somewhere else
• Designate a home for the things that do need to stay (e.g. a small basket for remotes, a flat basket for magazines, etc.).  If things are contained they don't look as cluttered, and you'll be less likely to leave other stuff behind on your table when the only other items on it are contained in baskets with a purpose.

For more tips on decluttering your living room table (and to see various attempts I've made to master this area over the years!), check out these posts:

31 Days of Easy Decluttering: Day 4 Coffee Table

When Life Happens: A Professional Organizer's Messy Home

When Life Happens: Doing the Bare Minimum

Decluttering My Living Room Table

I've been doing a pretty good job of keeping my living room table clutter free for the last year or two.  It used to be a disaster all the time.  And it bugged me so much.  It always made me feel stressed. I love when it's cleared off now.  In fairness, it does get cluttered from time to time still.  But it doesn't take long to put everything away when it does.

So nothing to report from me on living room table decluttering today.

My Progress in the #NetZeroClutter challenge

Another super busy day so no decluttering for me today.  And 4 more items in... 2 Happy Meal toys, 1 Christmas decoration and 1 set of decorations.  The decorations are ones I decluttered earlier this month and I'd intended to donate them to the shelter where I was decorating a tree.  But they ended up coming back in... 1 because my kids were asking where it was and didn't realize I'd set it aside to donate (it's mine but it matches some of theirs)... and the set because we had enough decorations without it (I'll hang onto it in case I get to decorate a tree for charity again next year).

So that puts me at +4 items today in the #NetZeroClutter challenge and -298 overall.  I don't like that I'm going backwards but I'll make some progress again soon.

What's Next For You?

Take some time today to declutter your living room table. Or anything you'd like to declutter!  Take some pictures and share your progress on social media using the hashtag #NetZeroClutter.  Let me know how you're doing in the challenge so I can cheer you on!

Sign up to receive my blog posts by email so you get each day's post in your email inbox every morning.  You can unsubscribe after the challenge is over if you don't want to continue receiving my blog posts by email.

I'd also love for you to join our 365 Items in 365 Days Facebook group as you do this challenge!  You'll be able to share with others what you're decluttering and feel encouraged and inspired by everyone else who is also decluttering!

If you'd like more decluttering ideas, you can check out my Decluttering/Purging Tips & Ideas board on Pinterest.

So that's today's post in the Net Zero Decluttering Challenge!  I'm enjoying doing this challenge and I'm excited to have you join me.  I love hearing all the stories of how much more you're enjoying your holidays because you're not overwhelmed by all the stuff in your home!

What kinds of items did you declutter from your living room table today?  How can you prevent these items from migrating back and cluttering up your coffee table?


Happy organizing decluttering!



I link up at these great parties - Check them out!

Here are all the posts in this challenge in case you missed any or want to share some with your friends or family!