I Finally Figured Out How to Make My Living Room Look Less Cramped

"The living room is likely the space you spend the most of your waking hours in, which means it's usually the first place you think to decorate in full, especially if you like to host others in your home. Now that peak hosting season has passed, it's time to give your living room a much-needed reset. Whether your living room is feeling cramped, cluttered, or something in between, here's how to give it an instant refresh."

"The Cure Program is a tradition here at Apartment Therapy - it happens every January, April, and September. Click to learn more about the year-round program and when to sign up. Today you'll kick off your living room reset by removing any non-essential items. Then, in a couple of weeks, you'll start to welcome back the items you truly want (and miss having around) - but we'll get to that part later! If you live in a small space or don't have a designated living area, go with the room that you spend the most time in."

"Start by removing a few unnecessary items at a time. Think moveable (small-size) decor pieces, an extra lamp, candles, pictures, magazines, books, etc. You want to take as much as you can out, but leave the essentials like your couch, throw pillows, chair, coffee table, and area rug. Just get things as close to bare as possible or what you feel most comfortable with."

Apartment Therapy's January Cure is a free 20-day program that delivers daily assignments to help refresh the home for the year ahead. Day 9 focuses on kicking off a living room reset by removing non-essential, moveable items while leaving essentials like the couch, pillows, chairs, coffee table, and rug. Participants are advised to remove small decor, extra lamps, candles, pictures, magazines, and books, and place cleared items in temporary storage rather than an outbox. After letting the space breathe for a couple of weeks, reintroduce only the items that are truly wanted, which may reveal opportunities to declutter permanently or change styling choices.

Read at Apartment Therapy