Organizing 101: Family rooms

The more people using a room, the greater the chance that clutter will happen. So what's the key to making a shared space like the family room work? It's simple: carefully editing your belongings and creating a good organizing system that makes it easy for people to put things away.

Clutter controls
1 Make an activity/equipment list. Include every activity that takes place in the family room, and the equipment needed for it. TV viewing, for example: adequate seating, TV, DVD player, VCR, remote(s), storage for all DVDs and video tapes, TV listings. Kids' play area: toys, storage for toys and crafts, crafts table.

2 Plan activity zones. Devote separate areas to different activities. If your family room is large, place medium-height bookcases (tall ones could topple over) back to back to create a handy reading/TV zone that offers book storage on one side and a play zone with toy storage on the other.

3 Find homes for equipment. Create storage space within each activity zone.

4 Edit. Before buying any organizing equipment or furniture, go through everything, including books, magazines, CDs, videos, board games and kids' toys, and dispose of whatever you possibly can (see The Right Stuff for tips).

5 Choose furniture with storage. The armoire has become an almost ubiquitous piece in family rooms, often serving as an entertainment unit. You can also use it as a home office, crafts cupboard, or games centre for board games, puzzles and playing cards. Other furniture with great storage power: end tables with drawers and cupboards, an antique chest used as a coffee table, wall-to-wall shelving, and custom built-ins.

6 Use any oddly shaped and unused spaces. Basement rec rooms often have nooks and crannies, like under the stairs, niches in walls that accommodate wiring or ductwork, or areas where the ceiling is low. Incorporate built-ins and wall-mounted or stand-alone shelving.

7 Maintain the space. In Organizing Plain & Simple (Storey Publishing, 2002), author Donna Smallin suggests keeping a “go-to box” near the family room door. When tidying up at the end of the day, stash items that belong elsewhere in it. Every week, empty the box with family members and let them return the stuff they originally brought into the room.