4 min readMy family of five moved into a new home a few years ago. We love hanging out in our family room, but as a busy mom who rarely has a free minute, I had never gotten around to setting up the living room aside from adding a sectional sofa from our old home.
Aside from the occasional nap on the couch, the room gradually turned into a catchall for musical instruments, my grandmother's unused Oriental rug, stacks of photo albums, and my disabled son's therapy equipment. Every time I looked at it, I felt overwhelmed, and I had no idea where to begin.
That's when I connected with C. Lee Cawley, a professional organizer in Arlington, Virginia, for help reimagining the space. Our goal was to transform the living room into a multipurpose retreat where I could relax and recharge.
Because music has always been a big part of our family's life—my husband and I met in high school band, he plays guitar, our kids play instruments and love musical theater—Cawley suggested that we honor that interest and lean into a music theme. At the same time, the room needed to remain open and functional enough for my son's physical therapy sessions.
Here's what the pro organizer recommended for our space—and how the transformation turned out.
Remove Unnecessary Items
The first step was to remove any items that were cluttering up the space. My grandmother’s rug had been rolled up and stored in the back of the living room for years, so Cawley recommended I take a photo for posterity, print it, and hang it on the wall next to a photo of me and my grandmother before donating or selling the rug.
“If you sell it, take the money you earn [and put it] towards something you did with your grandmother,” says Cawley. “For example, if you guys used to go out for ice cream, take the family out for ice cream. Make [the process] meaningful and purposeful because then you're going to feel so much better about letting it go.”
I loved the idea of honoring my grandmother but still haven’t been able to get rid of the rug. For now, I took it out of the living room. Then, I moved or donated any other items I no longer needed.
Brighten the Area
Our living room has two big windows, but it’s still a pretty dark space. Cawley recommended I add more lighting, in particular, an arc lamp over the sofa and lights in the corners of the room for balance and symmetry.
This was one suggestion I did take. In addition to adding brightness, this really helped add dimension to the room.
Design Around a Theme
To keep with the music theme, I created a space for my husband’s record player and records, which had been sitting in storage. Rather than keeping 100+ records in the living room, my husband picked 30 of his favorites and put the rest away. He plans to rotate them every few months.
My son has his cello lessons in the living room, so we placed his cello on a stand. Not only does this look nicer than staring at his big, black music case, it also makes it more enticing for him to practice.
Cawley recommended hanging my husband’s guitars on the wall, which are currently in his office upstairs, but I thought it would make the living room look too cluttered and decided against it.
Add Wall Decor and Strategic Storage
I also had two carts full of printed photos and albums, including our wedding album, honeymoon photos, and pictures from my childhood, sitting in the corner of the living room. Cawley recommended I reorganize them from tallest to shortest and from darkest to lightest with the binding flush against the shelf edge. But after sorting through the albums, I realized I only wanted my favorites displayed, so I put them on the shelf and the rest away in a safe space.
“Photographs need to be where humans live,” says Cawley, “so not in an attic. They need to be in a climate-controlled area, like the top shelf of a clothing closet.”
I added a big basket for throw blankets and a bench against the back wall, both of which I picked up at HomeGoods. The walls felt empty, so I added shelving over the keyboard from IKEA, which ended up being a great place to display our wedding photo and a photo from our 20th anniversary trip to Paris. A few tastefully arranged fake plants also brightened up the space.
Today, the room feels much more pulled together. I’m excited that I sorted through photos and other items that had been gathering dust for years. My kids sporadically use the space for music lessons or physical therapy, but for the most part, it’s tidy and available when I want a breather. I can put on a record, tinker on the keyboard, or just grab a blanket from the basket and close my eyes.
