7 Tips to Hide Clutter in Your Living Room

We live in a time where homes are filled with more belongings than any generation before us. 

Décor trends, bargain homewares, fast furniture, kids’ toys, delivery packages, our spaces were never designed to hold this much stuff. 

No wonder so many families feel overwhelmed by clutter.

Learn the small changes that make the biggest impact, like tray rules, toy rotation, slim consoles, and five-minute resets, to keep clutter out of sight.

1.Keep a “Catch-All” Drawer or Basket

In most living rooms, clutter builds up because everyday items never land in the same place. Remotes migrate to the sofa. Chargers end up on the floor. Mail gets tossed onto the coffee table. 

Instead of walking these items to five different rooms, you drop them all into one designated spot. Keep it simple and limit it to things you actually reach for often:

• Remotes
• Phone and tablet chargers
• Headphones
• Coasters
• Small notebooks or sticky notes
• Pens and scissors
• Extra batteries
• TV or LED light controls
• A few kid items (only what’s used daily)
• A lighter for candles
• USB sticks or small tech
• Mail or paperwork to sort later

If something is still in the basket after a week and doesn’t belong, return it to its actual home. 

2. Choose Furniture With Built-In Storage

Opting for furniture that works for you helps your space feel cleaner and easier to maintain.

• Accessibility + Discretion – You can keep everyday items within reach (blankets, remotes, board games) but out of sight.
• Smooth Visual Flow – Fewer open surfaces with random objects means fewer distractions
• Behaviour Change – When storage is built-in, you’re more likely to use it instead of leaving items out because “I don’t have a better place for it.”

Top Picks for Multi-Purpose Storage Furniture

While stores like Kmart, Amazon, Big W, and IKEA offer plenty of low-cost storage furniture, sometimes spending a little more gets you much better construction and hidden storage features. The products below represent strong value picks if you want furniture that will last.

Product	Purpose	Price Bracket
Homepop Home Decor Button Tufted Woven Round Storage Ottoman Large	Great for storing blankets, toys, or extra cushions	$780 – $800
Cambri Storage Ottoman – Snow (Ashley Furniture)	High-capacity storage perfect for families	$399
Otis 2-Door Coffee Table (Sydney Home Furnishings)	Compact drawer storage for remotes, chargers, notebooks	$465

3. Follow the “One Tray Rule”

Experts from Jim’s Self Storage share, “The One Tray Rule works because it contains all décor within a single tray. If it doesn’t fit, it doesn’t stay.” In practice, their storage experts use this same principle when organising storage units. They group items into clear, contained zones instead of letting things spread across shelves or floors.

Most importantly, a tray controls the number of items you keep out. If it doesn’t fit inside the tray, it either gets stored or donated.

It also makes cleaning 10x easier. When you want to wipe a table:

• Pick up one tray
• Clean the surface
• Put the tray back

But if you have kids, sticking to this rule can feel tricky. Children scatter toys across the room, and teaching them to follow “one space” concepts takes repetition.

Turn cleanup into a simple routine: “All toys go back into this basket before we start the next activity.” Kids respond well to clear boundaries and consistency, and over time, the One Tray Rule teaches them responsibility.

4. Use a Narrow Console Behind the Sofa

A narrow console behind the sofa is one of the smartest ways to reduce visual clutter in a living room. But not every home has the space for a full-sized console table. Some living areas are tight, some sofas sit too close to the wall, and some layouts simply don’t accommodate deep furniture behind the couch.

You don’t need a large console to get the benefits. There are plenty of slim, mini, or alternative behind-the-sofa solutions that still help you keep the area tidy, organized, and functional.

Small Living Rooms	Medium Living Rooms	Large Living Rooms
– Ultra-slim console tables (10–20 cm depth) – Floating ledges or narrow wall shelves – Behind-sofa caddies – Attachable sofa shelves (clip-on designs)	– Narrow console tables (20–30 cm depth) – Sofa tables with slim drawers – Two small side tables pushed together	– Standard-depth console tables – Bench consoles

5. Store Kids’ Toys in Neutral Baskets

Kids’ toys are bright and bold, which is great for playtime, but not so great when you’re trying to keep a palette. Using neutral baskets helps visually “soften” the chaos. 

Baskets in tones like beige, white, grey, or natural woven textures blend into your décor instead of standing out. That way, the toys are still accessible, but they don’t become the visual focal point of the room.

6. Try the “Surface Rule: Only 3 Items”

Consoles, buffets, and sideboards are some of the most common clutter magnets in a home. They start out styled… then suddenly collect mail, keys, spare chargers, empty cups, school notes, random décor, and whatever else gets dropped on the way past. The “Surface Rule: Only 3 Items” keeps these areas intentional.

Choose up to three items to display on any surface.

No more, no extras, no “one more cute thing.”

Example combination:

• Lamp
• Plant
• Frame

Anything beyond those three goes into closed storage. This makes your home look bigger and more open, because your eye isn’t bouncing from object to object. Whether your home leans minimalist, boho, coastal, vintage or eclectic, the Surface Rule works across all aesthetics.

7. The 5-Minute End-of-Day Sweep

The 5-minute sweep is a simple nighttime habit that keeps that buildup under control. Before bed, walk through the living area and pick up the small, everyday items that have drifted out of place:

• Dishes
• Toys
• Shoes
• Chargers
• Clothes
• Mail and paperwork
• Random items that belong in another room

Let the kids gather their toys, have your partner collect the dishes, and you can quickly sort the paperwork. These small daily actions show the whole family that clutter is much easier to stay on top of when everyone does their part. It also helps reinforce that shared spaces need shared responsibility, and that everything in the home should have a place to return to.

When Life Expands, Your Storage Should Too

Families grow, hobbies change, and belongings stack up faster than we realise. Even with smart systems in place, clutter can creep back when your home simply doesn’t have the capacity. 

That’s when self storage becomes more than convenience. Storing excess furniture, seasonal items, sentimental pieces, or rotating kids’ toys offsite can transform the way your home functions day to day.