Pro-Tips on How to Organize Your Bedroom and Keep It That Way

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Most people's bedrooms are an absolute mess. Studies show that a cluttered living space can create subtle stress and anxiety. While we wrote before about designing your bedroom for better sleep, today, whether it's for your bedroom, your kid's or a friend, we're sharing some pro tips on how to organize your bedroom and keep it that way!

Like most things, there is an element of discipline and consistency to staying organized but it's getting started that tends to be the hardest part for folks.

First, let's discover the

7 Reasons Why Your Bedroom is Disorganized and Cluttered

There's usually a reason behind every mess. Some reasons are understandable, others not so much. Here's what we've found to be the case as to why people have so much trouble keeping their bedroom clean and organized:

No Organization System: Bedrooms tend to accumulate clutter when items don't have designated places or when there isn't an effective organizational system in place.

Unused Items: Many people hold onto items they no longer use or need, such as old clothes, books, or gadgets, which can quickly lead to clutter.

Impulse Purchases: Buying items on impulse without considering their necessity or where they will be stored can contribute to clutter.

Sentimental Attachments: People often hold onto items for sentimental reasons, even if they don't use them regularly, leading to clutter.

Incomplete Tasks: Half-finished projects or tasks can result in items being left out in the open, adding to bedroom clutter.

Limited Storage Space: Bedrooms with limited storage options can quickly become cluttered as items have nowhere else to go.

Poor Habits of Time Management: Leaving items out instead of putting them away, procrastinating on tidying up, or neglecting to declutter regularly can all contribute to a messy bedroom.

So hopefully reading through that you were able to start identifying some holes and gaps in your own life. With that out of the way let's start at the beginning;

How to Get Started Organizing Your Room

Before you start organizing your room you'll have to make a little bit of a mess. Let me explain... There are probably a multitude of items, relating to many different activities in your life. we're going to start with the category of items EVERYONE has, Clothing!

5 Steps for Organizing Your Clothes 

1. Empty out drawers and closets (don't worry we'll put them back)
2. Get rid of unused clothing, socks or shoes
3. Organize clothing by type (shorts, shirts, pants, button downs)
4. Plan out your ideal and most efficient layout then organize and group by function such as T-Shirts for exercise or just for normal day, work pants or casual pants etc.
5. Place/fold in your drawers & closet accordingly. To learn how to fold clothes to maximize space, learn here. You can use drawer dividers if you have multiple clothing types in 1 drawer like socks and underwear.

Now when you do your wash, maintain your clothing placement. Set a routine for yourself to fold and put away your clothing on a set schedule.

okay with the clothes out of the way, let's talk about the other.

Dispose & Declutter Unnecessary or Unneeded Items in Your Bedroom - Use the 4 Box System

Now that you've purged through and organized your clothes, next we need to get rid of all the miscellaneous stuff and ask yourself if something belongs in another room.

Use an easy organization system to get started! Here's how it works:

1. Get 4 Bins or Boxes
1. KEEP
2. DONATE OR SELL
3. DISPOSE
4. NOT SURE or BELONGS IN ANOTHER ROOM
2. Go through Items one at a time until your room is cleaned and decluttered and your boxes are full!

For all the items in the 'Keep' Box, determine where they belong in your room.

For all the items that belong in another room, take care of that when you can.

After this step, you should find your room looking pretty good. Also at this point in the process, you should start to have answers to a couple of questions:

• Do I have too many clothes?
• Do I have enough storage for my things?
• Am I holding onto too many things I no longer need?
• Why do I keep putting all these things in my bedroom that shouldn't be here?

This is where we get to dive into the design phase to keep our room clean and organized!

How to Design Your Room for Organization and Efficiency

Now that you've went through and organized all your clothing and dealt with all of the unnecessary clutter it's time to design!

We primarily know the room to be a place for 2 things:

1. Sleep / Rest
2. Storage of Clothes and Personal Items

However, we also know that people use their bedroom for a range of things such as

• Reading
• Working
• Playing music
• A child's room might also be their playroom
• Writing

and more!

You need to determine what functions or tasks are most important to implement into your room and what your space can accommodate.

While we can't provide prescriptive details into designing your room organization layout, we can provide some guiding principles to help you design and maintain your bedroom organization efforts! So here are 

8 Guiding Principles to Designing and Maintaining Bedroom Organization

1. Define zones in your bedroom. Allocate portions of your bedroom that are for your most important purposes.
2. Utilize multifunctional furniture to maximize space. Whether its your Bedframe, nightstands or shelving - Think of how your space and storage needs can be accommodated.
3. Design for accessibility to frequently used items. You know how you lose your keys, glasses, wallet or phone? Take those things you need and use regularly and give them a home in your bedroom design.
4. Use Organization tools to create efficiencies. By implementing simple organizers, your clean up and getting ready for the day will become much easier. This means using door organizers, shoe racks, jewelry organizers, bins and shelving etc. so you can not only access when you need faster, but also put it away at the end of the day. They say "prevention is better than the cure" - and that is certainly the case when it comes to organizing your things.
5.  Consider the flow of the room. Arrange furniture in a way that allows for easy movement and accessibility. Leave clear pathways between furniture pieces and ensure that doors and drawers can be opened fully without obstruction.
6. Create a laundry system and schedule. If you need to accommodate your different clothing needs, whether for work or play, plan for this. Whether that means a laundry sorter bin or a type of layout with your clothing organization, factor this into your design as it will greatly improve your efficiency and decrease stress when it comes to laundry.
7. Schedule time to clean and maintain your bedroom. Everything in life requires some degree of maintenance, including your room. Be sure to set a couple hours out of the week to clean and ensure your room design is functioning as intended.
8. Adjust as needed. Don't be afraid to admit when your design isn't working. Everyday is a data point that can inform you on what your greatest needs are when it comes to organizing an designing your bedroom.

In conclusion, hopefully these tips help you in your journey to organizing and simplifying your bedroom and keeping it that way!

Check out our other post on designing your bedroom for better sleep!

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