why does my living room look cluttered
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Why Does My Living Room look Cluttered? (Solved)

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If there’s one room in your home that needs to be up to scratch, it’s the living room. 

This is the room where you spend most of your time relaxing or entertaining guests. Having a neat and clutter-free living room will contribute greatly to its overall appearance.

But sometimes, it’s so easy for things to get out of hand.

A living room will look cluttered if there are too many furniture pieces, accessories, or pictures on the wall, or simply having visible cord clutter. Other reasons could be overfilled shelves and incorrect arrangement of living room furniture. 

As every home situation is different, this will determine exactly why your living room is cluttered. 

If you’d like to explore in-depth key reasons you might not be aware of that are making your living room look cluttered, here is everything you need to know.

Including helpful tips to reduce the clutter and make your living room look amazing again.

Reasons For Living Room Clutter

Excess Amount of Accessories

The first thing you should consider is whether you have too many accessories and ornaments in your living room. 

This could be the number one reason why your living room looks so cluttered especially if the coffee table has more than 3 ornaments or the side tables, shelves, and wall decor.

When you have too many accessories, this can take up more space than necessary and can be quite distracting.

Reasons why living room looks cluttered

Too Many Furniture Pieces

Living room furniture is another common cause of making the room look cluttered. 

If you have too many different items and they’re all pushed together, this can create a busy and cluttered visual. 

This is more apparent in smaller living rooms where there isn’t sufficient space to accommodate that many furniture pieces.

You’ll have to consider removing a few pieces that are making the living room look cluttered such as side tables, console tables, display cabinets, and plants that don’t contribute much to the decor.

Messy And Overfilled Shelves

Bookshelves can be a beautiful and elegant addition to any living room decor but if the shelves are filled to the brim with books overflowing the shelves or too many ornaments are lined up, this can definitely start to look cluttered.

The best way to avoid this is to only display the best ornaments and a handpicked selection of books. This will give a cleaner and neater appearance that will in turn make the rest of the living room look well organized.

Overcrowded Gallery Wall Art

Cluttered living room wall art

If the wall art is filled with framed photos or artworks, this can easily make it seem like the living room is cluttered. 

These small items that make up the gallery wall art can be distracting and overwhelming if there are too many items. 

It’s mainly because there’s so much information to take in that it all ends up looking like one big mess.

This doesn’t mean you can’t have a gallery wall art with your favorite photos. 

You’ll probably have to try reducing the amount and creating a simple yet more creative layout by mixing it up with a minimum of large and small frames.

Here are a few tips from bhg you probably can use to learn how to arrange art in your living room.

Cord Clutter

If you have tons of cords lying around or which are quite visible, this would definitely be a big reason for making the living room look cluttered.

Try implementing strategies that will help organize and store the cords in a neat and clean way that is still easily accessible at any time.

Below are a few great ideas from BuzzFeed Nifty that you can use to make sure your cord clutter is under control in your living room:

Following this technique will in turn help maintain a clean and organized decor.

Incorrect Arrangement

Sometimes, the arrangement of furniture and other items can contribute to a living room that is cluttered. 

If there isn’t a layout that flows well and looks cohesive, this can definitely hurt your decor. Having sofas that are too close together or end tables that block the way can be an issue.

Making sure that the arrangement works and creates a balanced flow for your living room will make it look cleaner and better.

Lack of Storage

Not having a dedicated place for specific things can often lead to them just getting strewn everywhere. 

These could be remote controls, magazines, extra blankets, pillows, or toys that will increase the clutter in the living room. 

See also: Where To Store Toys in The Living Room? (Solutions)

Consider adding in extra storage (an ottoman in which magazines, blankets, or pillows can be stored or a tray for remotes) to ensure that specific items have a home and this will make the living room organized.

Ways To Make The Living Room Less Cluttered

Now, let’s take a quick look at what you can do about the clutter in your living room:

Declutter

The best way to tackle the problem is to declutter and get rid of some stuff. 

The fewer items you have, the better it will look.

Clean living room ideas

However, if you’re someone who is not impressed by minimalistic decors and you find them too empty for your taste and you really love to have your home filled with stuff, try reducing what you currently have to see if it makes a difference.

Also, if you’d like to make it easier to stay neat and have less clutter, here are the best actions you can take right now:

  • First, start off by putting away a few decorations and ornaments like clearing the coffee table and just leaving one or two ornaments
  • Remove excess throw pillows and blankets
  • Clear any coffee mugs and dishes
  • Pack away any toys or books.
  • Get rid of one cabinet or shelf

Clean Regularly

Try maintaining a consistent cleaning routine to make sure the living room stays clean and organized. 

Wipe and dust surfaces whenever you can but also pick up items and pack them where they belong rather than leaving them for later.

This is a great tip that will prevent any overwhelm and excess work.

See also: How Do You Keep A Living Room Clean? (Best Tips)

Tidy Pillows and Blanket

Ways to have a clean and neat living room

Clear the couch of any mess and tidy the pillows and blankets during your cleaning routine. 

When you keep the sofas clean and tidy, your living room will look and feel less cluttered. 

If you find that the pillows and blankets are contributing to the clutter, consider having no pillows or restrict the number of pillows to just a few to see if it makes a difference.

Reduce Floor Clutter

Floor pillows, footrests, and other accessories can increase the clutter in a room. Try removing them to clear up extra space that will make the room appear neater.

Use A Tray To Tidy Ornaments

If you would still like to have a pretty arrangement on the coffee without it looking cluttered, use a simple tray to group the items together.

It will be a fantastic improvement from before and you can have multiple items without making the table look cluttered.

Conclusion

Clutter usually occurs when you have too many things lying around. 

When not addressed, over time they keep piling up and this negatively impacts the appearance and aesthetic of a room.

It’s hard to take notice of the design and special features of a living room when everything is surrounded by clutter and unnecessary stuff.

Keeping track of things and cleaning up ever so often will help reduce and avoid any clutter.

The one main key takeaway from this is to reduce the number of things you have in the living room to avoid a living room that looks cluttered.

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