The Bedroom
Although the bedroom may not regularly be seen by people living outside the home, it shouldn’t be overlooked as a top decluttering priority. Starting and ending your day in a cluttered environment creates stress, interrupts your sleep, and impacts your mindset.
Removing Clutter
- Remove items that do not serve a purpose. Some examples include accent chairs and decorative pillows.
- Find a home for the items that typically find their way to your flat surfaces.
- Keep the space under your bed clear. Your room should not serve as a storage unit.
- Pair down your clothes so that everything you have fits into your closet and dresser.
- If possible, find another room to keep work-related items and exercise equipment.
Habits to Implement Moving Forward
- Make your bed as soon as you wake up.
- Make sure closet doors and dresser drawers are closed after each use.
- Find a system for doing laundry so you can put your clothes away immediately.
- Designate spots for clean clothes, dirty clothes, and clothes that were worn but can be worn again.
- Assess your wardrobe before or after each season to keep your closet current.
Your bedroom should be an area that is free from distractions so you can have a restful sleep and leave your everyday worries outside the door.
The Living Room
The main living space in your home can be prone to clutter because it serves as a space for gathering, entertaining, and relaxing by everyone in your home. With such a high-use space and an often ambiguous purpose, it is easy to see how this space can become overwhelming. By defining the room, you can begin to see the items that deserve a spot and those that don’t.
Is your main living space a room to sit and talk with family and visitors? Perhaps you don’t need a TV or other electronics in this space.
Is your family room a place for everyone to gather and work on their craft or hobby? Ensure there is enough sitting space by getting rid of the bookshelf of knick-knacks.
Does your family like to cuddle up in your living room to watch movies together? Keep the comfortable couch and recliner and free up space by getting rid of the uncomfortable chair where no one sits.
Points to consider:
- When defining your room remember to think about how you currently use the space and how you would like the space to be used.
- Encourage everyone in your family to provide input.
- Just because something has always been there doesn’t mean it has to stay.
The above tips were first found in the Hampden Neighbors Magazine in the April and May 2022 editions.
I agree that a clutter-free bedroom is a relaxing place to start and end the day. I had to smile when I read your comment about keeping the space under the bed clear. Our bedroom is fairly small so we have a bed with built-in drawers underneath. That actually let us get rid of a separate dresser to make better use of the overall space. We did the same in my daughter’s room.
🙂 I think practical storage, like clothes, is okay. However, I have seen many people use the space under their bed to put all sorts of things they don’t know what to do with.
Right. Or they just shove things under the bed to out them out of sight and make the room look neater. LOL
My favourite tip for the bedroom is to get rid of the chairdrobe. If clothes are clean enough to be worn again, they’re clean enough to go back into the wardrobe
Definitely!
Yes, I also don’t like having things under the bed, but same here lack of space I am also having some underbed storage boxes for my website cards and pens. But all methodically done 🙂
If you need to use the space under your bed for storage, neat and orderly is the way to go.
Thanks for the post!