It can be easy to let your bedroom fall into a state of utter chaos. It’s happened to the best of us. One weekend, you spend the entire afternoon cleaning up and organizing the stuff in your room, and before you know it, you suddenly find yourself in a space that looks more like a bodega than a bedroom. And it’s not just an aesthetic problem either; there’s more to clutter than meets the eye. In a 2015 research study presented at the SLEEP conference in Seattle, clinical psychologist Pamela Thacher shared her findings on how people with more cluttered dwellings were more likely to get sleep disorders. Apart from the overall look and feel of your bedroom, your very health could be at risk if you allow your bedroom to remain cluttered and disorganized.
If you sometimes feel like you’re in an episode of ‘Hoarders’, or if you sense that the growing chaos in your bedroom is turning uncontrollable, it’s time to make a change. It’s time to take solid steps towards having a more pleasant, walkable, organized, and clutter-free space that’s actually conducive for relaxation and sleep.
Take Care of Any and All Garbage First
Don’t be fazed by how much your bedroom looks like a neglected garage. You created this mess; it only stands to reason that you’re also very capable of dealing with it. You just need to know how to get the ball rolling. And in the case of extremely messy dwellings and bedrooms, the first step is to take out the trash. Literally just go through every inch of your room filling trash bags with everything that can be considered garbage. This can clear the way for the next steps towards full decluttering.
Organize Stuff Into 4 Categories: Keep, Trash, Donate, and Maybe
The goal is to declutter – to get rid of anything you don’t need in your bedroom, things that only cause visual chaos and eat up space in the room. Assess everything you own, and for each thing, ask yourself: do I want to keep it, throw it in the garbage, or donate it to someone who wants or needs it? Separate your stuff accordingly. If you’re not sure if you still want to keep something, those are the stuff that go into the ‘maybe’ pile. This is a good way to get rid of clothes, shoes, bags, and accessories that you’ve been hoarding over the years but haven’t been using lately. If it’s been at least a year since you’ve used it, chances are you don’t really need it (unless it’s your only good suit/dress).
Don’t fret too much about getting rid of big stuff or stuff that have sentimental value. If it doesn’t help you sleep or doesn’t really contribute anything to your life, do you really need it anymore? While it can be hard to let go of certain stuff, keep your eyes on the prize: decluttering your bedroom may actually help you sleep better. Don’t hesitate to chuck stuff that are only weighing you down from attaining this goal.
Boxes Are Your Bedroom’s Best Friend
If you’re going to hoard anything, hoard different kinds of boxes. They’re the most practical things you can have in the house. Boxes of different sizes are a good way to eliminate all visual clutter in the bedroom. You can even get wheeled storage boxes that can be conveniently pulled out from under the bed. If you get boxes that are dust proof, you can use those for storing clothing, electronics, medical supplies, and anything that needs to be protected from dust. You can never really have too many boxes. If you find yourself with a couple boxes too many, keep them for later. You never know when you’ll get new stuff that needs to be organized. The good thing about storing empty boxes is you can put smaller ones inside bigger ones to save space. Also, if they’re sturdy enough, boxes can be used as extra levels for raising monitors or laptops, as corner tables for books or your phone/charger, as footrests, or even as makeshift seats.
New Bedroom Rule: Clean As You Go
Let it be known throughout your home: from now on, any mess or piece of garbage inside your bedroom shall be dealt with immediately and with extreme prejudice. This is because even the smallest unkempt messes can easily bloom into all out piles of garbage. Because the bedroom is a private place that not a lot of other people need to see, it can be hard to notice small messes start to get bigger and bigger. The few wine and beer bottles in the corner can slowly turn into a growing mess of space-eating, potentially dangerous mass of glass. The corner table that you just use for random miscellaneous objects can start to get crowded without you noticing it. Even the couple pieces of used paper on your work table can turn into a pile of useless, flammable clutter if you leave it unchecked. So before those small messes morph into something big, take care of them while they’re still fairly manageable.
Utilize Both Traditional and Unusual Storage Options
Dressers and shelves are obviously good ways to make use of precious bedroom real estate for storage purposes. There’s also no beating a well-organized traditional double-door closet. Combine these classic storage options with new and clever ways to make use of bedroom space. For instance, hang a clothes rack in one corner of the room and use it to hang your nicest clothes and accessories – a good way to free up some closet space and at the same time decorate the room with an undeniably personal aesthetic. Another clever use of space is to use a hardware pegboard as a bedroom wall organizer. Usually found in garages or tool sheds, pegboards can be painted, finished, and used to hang/organize all kinds of objects in the bedroom. When it comes to bedroom storage, a bit of imagination goes a long way. And while decluttering your bedroom and ensuring that it stays organized can take up a lot of your time, having a much nicer, clutter-free bedroom will be well worth your efforts. You might even clear up enough space for that king size mattress you’ve always wanted.