Clutter Case Study: Mapleleaf Traditional

Katie is a busy mother of three, trying to keep it all together in her three-story Mapleleaf Tudor-revival home. And sometimes (well, all the time probably), things get out of hand with clutter. She'd basically given up on having a nice house due to all the stuff that just keeps reappearing due to her 9, 6, and 4-year old child housemates.

Katie really wasn't doing her home justice. With beautiful leaded glass windows that look out onto a lovely front garden and original wood floors in good condition, Katie's living room really needed a tidying. Overall, the house has good bones. The period details add charm and make the home feel cozy. Katie shared her dream of a more peaceful and welcoming living room and was frustrated with her current furniture layout that blocks the natural paths to move from one room to another. Plus, her small entryway is so crowded with coats, shoes and lunch boxes, I could hardly get the door open!

So, we decided to focus on this zone for this first four-hour session with a goal of removing toys, kids artwork, and other clutter so adults and guests could enjoy this traditional space in front of the working gas fireplace.

Step 1: ENVISION

To get Katie thinking about her vision (I like to motivate people first so it's not just me doing the redecorating), I brought some design books and furniture catalogs for her browse through while I assessed her needs. We talked about her likes, colors that make her happy, furniture styles and compared layouts. To get a sense of what actually works, I measure everything first and create a grid layout so we can see what furniture configurations actually fit in each space. During the whole session, I like to focus on a quick pace so to keep the motivation going and complete the task on hand completely.

Step 2: REDUCE

Work really begins when we dig into the clutter in order to reduce the amount of stuff in that one room. Since we aren't focusing on the entire house at this point, the goal is to return items that don't belong in the living room/entry. This means returning coats and shoes to appropriate bedrooms, making the decision to relocate all toys (with the exception of a small group of nice wooden toys and family games) to the children's bedrooms or the basement play area. This phase takes about an hour. We use empty laundry baskets to deliver items up/down the stairs (getting our workout in!). We fill several bags with items to be donated. And then we also fill one garbage bag and one recycle bag.

Step 3: REUSE

Once we cleared the clutter, we began to try different furniture layouts. I suggested that the large blue shag rug was a bit too big for the room so we decided to reuse that rug in the basement. Relocating that heavy dark rug really changed things. We also removed the quilted blanket Katie was using to hide some stains on the small sofa. I didn't really think the stains were that noticeable. But I figured we could find a pretty scarf or piece cloth to tightly tuck into the bottom cushion that might be more attractive. We moved the yellow pillows over to the small grey bench above the entry.

I scoured her house for a mirror for the entry way—found one in the attic but it wasn't quite right. Katie really wanted to go furniture shopping that day, so I helped her make a list of what she might need and take measurements. We pushed the sofa towards the fireplace, moved the coffee table to the basement as it was too large for the room. We cleared the tiny fireplace mantle and the piano of various items.

Step 4: REFINE

After two hours of work clearing and moving furniture, I rewarded Katie with a shopping trip! We visited two of my favorite stores for recycled (antique, used, vintage) furniture—Gracious House to Home behind U Village and The Furniture Guy on Greenwood. We purchased a cool leather box to put games in. We also found a new round coffee table and a black patterned shawl to use to cover those pesky stains on the sofa. Also purchased a high-quality cool oblong pillow for the sofa. Upon our return, we worked on refining the space and making it feel like Katie's style. Katie and her family are pretty pleased with the results!

The room probably needs a rug, so Katie is looking for a smaller one (5x8) and once that's in place, the new coffee table will really pop. Also on her shopping list: two small matching bookshelves, one for either side of the fireplace; a narrow table with large mirror for the entry; and a small light-colored patterned or sisal rug for entry.

Finished Product!

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