I’ve Found the Best Method to Get Rid of Living Room Clutter
Apartment Therapy’s January Cure is a free 18-day program that’ll help you reset your home for the year ahead. Sign up here and get all assignments delivered to your inbox.
A crucial part of the January Cure program is completing a “living room reset.” A couple of weeks ago, we started the first part of this, where we took out any “unnecessary items” so the room was left as a blank canvas. (And if you haven’t done that first part yet, let this be the moment you kick things off and come back to this exact task in two weeks).
Now, we’re going to do the second part: bringing things back, plus, one more key thing we need to do!
Day 17: Reset your living room and empty the outbox.
Today’s assignment is twofold: We’ll be completing our living room reset and emptying the outbox.
Reset your living room.
At this point, you’ve probably considered the items you’ve missed or have decided to take a different direction. Maybe you want to pull inspiration from your vision board and bring it to life or move some pieces that no longer fit the vibe of your living room.
Whatever you decide, head to your temporary storage space and grab the items you set aside, one by one. Put the must-have items back in their place, relocate the pieces you want to move to a new home, and for the pieces that you just don’t want anymore, put them in your outbox (more on that soon!).
I hope you feel good about putting back your pieces intentionally and have started a plan for anything new you want to incorporate into this space.
Now, let’s get to the outbox!
Empty the outbox.
On the second day of the January Cure, we set up an outbox to hold all our “maybe” items — the ones we were unsure were staying or going — and since then, we’ve been filling it up. Today, we’re going to go through those things and make a decision on what to do with them.
You’ll decide the following:
If you want to keep them.
If you want to give them away to someone you know or your local Buy Nothing group.
If you want to donate them.
You don’t have to get rid of everything right away, but this is a good moment to reflect on what you’d like to do with the items left in the box that need to be taken out of your home. Make a plan for when you’ll be emptying the outbox, whether that’s creating an appointment on your calendar to drop off donations, making online listings to give things away, or meeting up with friends for an item swap.
PRO TIP: Some organizations can get overwhelmed this time of year, so be sure to call and see if they can even take your donation at this time or what they need right now. You should also check out lesser-known places to donate things to.
How’s your living room looking? Let us know in the comments below.
More ways to participate in the January Cure:
Sign up for email updates or SMS alerts
Visit the 2024 January Cure page and catch up on assignments
Download the January Cure calendar
Get organized with the 2023 Organization Awards
Check off that you’ve completed this task and track your overall January Cure progress here!
The Cure Program is a tradition here at Apartment Therapy — it happens every January, April, and September. Click here to learn more about the year-round program and when to sign up.
