While it may seem like an insurmountable task to bring some order to your living space, it doesn't have to be. It's well worth a little effort to organise your messy room.
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What are the benefits of having a clutter-free bedroom?
When you wake up in an untidy bedroom, you feel overwhelmed from the moment you open your eyes. In practical terms, it makes it difficult to find things and your clothes end up draped over the back of a chair, or piled up in a heap, leaving them creased and unwearable.
You'll find it's harder to clean your room when there's clutter everywhere, leaving you living in a dirty and dusty environment. It can also affect your emotional wellbeing when you continually live in clutter.
According to a study by the American Institute of Stress, 77% of respondents admitted to feeling stressed due to living in a cluttered environment. This led to feelings that their mental health had deteriorated. When you wake up, or if you go home to an untidy space, you can never truly relax.
Decluttering your bedroom has a calming effect. This, in turn, can help you to sleep better. When you go to bed feeling anxious, it's harder to switch off and sleep well. Going to bed in soothing surroundings makes you feel more relaxed and consequently you're likely to sleep better.
What causes the most bedroom clutter?
It's no surprise that clothes are the biggest clutter-causer in the bedroom! When they're not put away neatly, they soon create a messy effect. The biggest problem is when you let clothes pile up on a bedroom chair. Soon, you won't know whether they're clean or dirty as the pile continues to get higher. If you leave overfull drawers partially open, with socks, underwear or other garments hanging out, this looks messy too, as does leaving dirty clothes piled up on the floor.
There's a simple answer and that's finding storage solutions that will organise your belongings, such as a purpose-built container under your bed, for example. This makes it much easier to keep everything tidy.
What's the best way to store books and magazines?
The second biggest cause of bedroom clutter is old books and magazines. Despite the digital age, many people fancy a break from their mobile phone and social media at night, opting for the more old-fashioned pastime of reading in bed. A study by Sleep Junkie, the sleep product review site, revealed that 40% of people regularly read in bed.
Old books and magazines can easily begin to look messy. The general rule of thumb is to give yourself a month to finish reading a magazine. Then, give it to a friend, a charity shop, or the recycling centre. Books and magazines that you're currently reading should be stored neatly on bookshelves. If you keep them to read again later, put them away in a suitable lidded box and pop it under your bed, in your wardrobe, or in your bedside cabinet.
Read on for more handy tips on decluttering and storing for a comfortable, organised and calming bedroom environment...
Sorting out your belongings
There are several different times of year when you might feel more like sorting out your clutter. Changes in the season can spur this, as you may decide to put away your summer clothes in autumn, store heavy winter blankets and bedding in spring, or squirrel away Christmas presents in December, so the intended recipients don't find them!
When you start to declutter your bedroom, don't wonder where to start - get into a routine. The easiest way is to sort your items into three piles, using three large boxes to get organised. Use one box for items you want to keep, the second for items good enough to be sold or donated to charity and the third for items only fit to go to the recycling centre or tip. A handy hint is to use clear plastic boxes, so you can see what you've put in them – you won’t end up throwing away things you mean to keep then!
If you have room on top of your wardrobe, or inside the wardrobe on a shelf, use an appropriately-sized clear plastic boxes to keep everything organised. This means you can keep items on top of the wardrobe, without them becoming dusty. Simply fill the containers neatly and place them in the designated storage area.
Tackle the wardrobe
Once you've sorted through the clothes and other items lying aimlessly around your bedroom, tackle the wardrobe next, as it's often full of garments you may never wear again. When going through your clothes, be ruthless!
Studies show most people wear only 20% of their clothes on a regular basis. Of the remaining 80%, some are worn on special occasions, but others are never worn at all. This can lead to "decision fatigue" when you open the wardrobe, as you're faced with a packed rail of clothes.
Get everything out of the wardrobe and decide which clothes you're likely to wear again. If your wardrobe is still too full, split them into seasonal piles. If it's summer, put your winter clothes in storage until they're needed.
What about old shoes?
Once you've thrown out old clothes, do the same with your shoes. A survey by ShopSmart magazine revealed the average woman owns 19 pairs of shoes, although 15% of women admitted to owning 30-plus pairs. Perhaps surprisingly, men are not much better, with the average man owning 12 pairs of shoes.
It's hard to imagine how anyone can wear 30 pairs of shoes regularly! Everyone will have some tucked away in their wardrobe that are seldom or never worn. If you can't bear to throw any out, don't leave them strewn all over your bedroom floor, or cluttering your wardrobe. Instead, put the seldom-worn shoes in suitable storage boxes.
Now it’s time to tackle the clutter in your underwear and sock drawer!
Your bedside table and cabinets can soon end up in a mess, so if you can't open the cabinet door because everything falls out, it's time to do something about it! Get rid of anything you won't use again and organise small items such as jewellery into proper storage containers that you can label, so you know exactly where to find everything.
Once that’s all cleared up, treat yourself to a nice cup of tea – oh, there’s a perfect storage solution for tea and coffee too!