How your home is organized and kept can relate directly to how you’re feeling at any given moment. More often than not, we have particular trouble keeping our bedrooms neat and clean, since it’s not a space that’s visited by anyone apart from ourselves. This is actually why it’s just that much more important to keep your bedroom and any personal space in your home as neat as possible. Learning how to declutter your home doesn’t just leave you with a space that looks great - it leaves you feeling great as well.
This theory was actually proven by researchers at Princeton University when it was discovered that excess clutter actually overwhelms the visual cortex, which makes it much more challenging to process even simple tasks. Other psychological studies have also further proven the relationship between a clean space and positive mental health, making decluttering an act that is related to self-care both physically as well as emotionally.
Learning how to declutter your home does not have to be complicated. Here are ten simple steps to decluttering your personal spaces for clearer, calmer thinking;
1. Choosing The Right Mattress Size For Your Space
It might seem surprising, but finding the right mattress size for your space can directly impact how cluttered your room gets. Many people make the mistake of choosing mattresses that are too large for their space, and this can often result in cramped or stuffy bedrooms.
Decluttering your bedroom actually begins with your bedroom furniture, and choosing the right sizes and dimensions can make all the difference.
A great rule of thumb when you’re decorating your bedroom is to try and ensure there’s at least two feet of space surrounding your bed and any other furniture in your space. Choose your mattress depending on the space you have for it - a great quality bed is going to be comfortable no matter what size it is.
2. Invest in Functional Furniture
Multi-functional furniture can be a great investment for homes that have a tendency to get cluttered quickly. Opt for pieces of furniture that have storage spaces built into them so clean up becomes as simple and streamlined as possible.
For example, if you do have a smaller master bedroom, a good trick is to get a bed frame that comes with an adjustable height. This will allow you to store away miscellaneous items or seasonal clothing that you might not need to see on a daily basis in a neat and organized manner.
3. Adopt A Minimalist Approach To Your Bedroom
When you’re in the process of decorating your first bedroom, you might find it particularly challenging to figure out which approach you’re going to take with decor. While bedroom decor is incredibly personal, for smaller spaces or people who dislike cleaning up, a minimalist approach can be really effective. Minimalism is all about bringing things back to basics, and ensuring everything that is in your space has a clear intention and purpose for being there.
Minimalist bedroom decor allows you to keep your space as clear as possible, while still ensuring the decorative elements are related thematically through a color scheme or particular aesthetic. Try and keep your bedroom restrained to a pre-determined number of furniture pieces - five pieces would include your bed, bed frame, shelves, closet, and side table, for example.
4. Commit To Spending Five Minutes Each Day Clearing Up
Some of us can find it naturally challenging to clear up our spaces, which leads to cluttered rooms pretty quickly. One way to combat this is to set aside five minutes every day towards cleaning up your space.
Keeping a dedicated amount of time each day to ensure your space is as clean as possible will allow you to build a habit out of decluttering your space. When you’re learning how to declutter, it’s important you try to incorporate your habit into something else you do on a daily basis.
One way to do this to ensure you’re doing this properly is by adding cleaning up your space as a part of your nighttime routine - this allows you to both prime your body for a good night’s sleep while clearing up your space at the same time.
5. Choose One Day A Week To Throw Out Things You Don’t Need
Have you ever looked into your handbag to see old receipts, or glanced inside your fridge only to find the same suspicious pantry items collecting dust? We have a tendency to accumulate junk faster than we can actually consume or use most of them, and when you’re learning how to declutter your room, it’s important you eliminate these things first.
One way to do this is by choosing a single day of the week to do a whole-home decluttering. Aim to fill an entire trash bag with things you don’t need or haven’t used in a very long time - you’ll be surprised to see how quickly it fills up. If you feel like one day a week might be too often, that’s okay - try customizing to a time frame that works for you, and see what works best to figure out how you can make the most of it.
6. Try out the 12-12-12 Challenge
The 12-12-12 challenge is a decluttering technique that is particularly effective for people who struggle with knowing where to get started when it comes to cleaning. The way it works is really simple - all you need to do is identify 12 items you need to throw away, 12 items that need to be donated, and 12 that are not where they need to be in your home.
The 12-12-12 method is a great way to get started with a weekly cleaning practice in your home. Learning how to clean your room efficiently and quickly can be difficult, but the 12-12-12 method allows you to take a more structured approach. You can rework the 12-12-12 challenge to any number that suits you, but most people find they can identify at least that many things to throw out over a week when decluttering.
7. Encourage Your Children To Get Involved In Clean Up
If you have kids, it pays to teach them the benefits of cleaning up early. Getting your kids involved in decluttering time allows them to implement these practices from an early age and halves your workload in the process.
Try to have designated ‘homes’ for toys, books, and stationary to simplify the process for them. Turning clean-up into a game can help make the process more fun, for both your children and yourself. You’ll be surprised how much quicker things get done!
8. Create An Organization System That Works For You
If you make a quick search online, you’ll find it’s a challenge to find a one-size-fits-all system for organization. It’s important to adapt the tips you see online and figure out ways in which you can make them work for you. This is especially useful for home office organization, or even more personal spaces, such as your bedroom, where your needs are bound to be unique.
A great example of this might be how you choose to work with your closet space. If you have a smaller bedroom, adding shelving to your closet might be a better way than choosing to store clutter underneath your bed, since this can result in stuffy sleep.
9. Choose Decorative Pieces Carefully
When you’re in the middle of decluttering your space, it’s important to think about decorative and accent pieces in your space. It can be tempting to crowd your space with knick-knacks, but if you have a room that’s prone to excess clutter, this can quickly become a recipe for disaster.
To avoid this from happening, try and be extremely selective about the decorative pieces in your space. This is especially important when it comes to small bedroom organization, where you can feel the effect of clutter much quicker than is normal.
10. Have Bi-Annual Donation Clean-Outs
Though it’s not possible to do a big deep clean too often, try and schedule two days of a year, preferably close to when you might usually do some spring cleaning, when you have a clean-out of your space.
Organize your belongings, and try and pick out pieces that you’re no longer getting any use from to donate. This ensures you’re keeping only items that are in use and have a purpose in your space, and minimizes any risk of clutter.
Summary
Learning how to declutter your space can be a challenge at first, especially if you’re not in the habit of cleaning your room on a daily basis. Decluttering takes practice, but once you get the hang of it, clearing your space is going to become a lot easier.
With these simple tips, you should find decluttering your bedroom becomes a lot more manageable. By planning out your week ahead of time, marking some time each day for putting things away, and ensuring you’ve customized organization tips so that they work for you, you’ll find your home, and your mind becomes a whole lot clearer.
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Your Turn...
Do you find any tips helpful? Share your thoughts in the comments.
Disclaimer. We love sleep and we want you to get the best sleep possible. But we do not provide medical advice. This blog is intended for informational purposes only. It is not a substitute for professional medical info, diagnosis, or treatment. Never ignore professional medical advice in seeking treatment because of something you have read on our blog.
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Written by Teresa Francis, Certified Sleep Science Coach
Teresa Francis is a Certified Sleep Science Coach and full-time writer focused on well-being and sleep health. She's written on a variety of topics, from what's trending in bedroom decor to the way lifestyle influences sleep. Some of the subject areas she covers for Puffy include the best foods for better sleep, how new parents can catch up on rest, and the best way to become a morning person. Teresa has a Master's Degree in Literature, and has always believed in the power of a good bedtime story.
