Tips for Bedroom Organization

Assess the Mess
The first thing you’ll need to determine is what you use your bedroom for and if that is affecting its cleanliness and organization. Maybe you’re the type of the person who lives in your bedroom, tackling activities from yoga to paperwork. Or perhaps your bedroom is a place you tend to dash through leaving clutter behind as you move on to the next part of your day.

Either way, you just need to remember one rule: your bedroom should only be used in the morning when you get up and at night when you’re going to bed. This cuts down on excess items and keeps it as a space for sleeping, relaxing and romance. Chances are, you can do most or all of your activities elsewhere in your home and come up with a decluttering routine to help keep your furniture and floors clean.

Cleaning Surfaces
Begin your big bedroom organization by decluttering all horizontal surfaces in your room: floors, bed, tables and chairs. Use these tips to help get you started:

• Make your bed: Taking a few minutes each morning to make your bed will help you get in the habit of keeping your room in order in general. Treat your bed as a refuge and prepare it for the next time you will use it. Try not to cover your bed in laundry, piles of worn clothes, bags or other items that will keep it from appearing inviting.
• Off the floor: If your shoes are overflowing onto your floors, look into adding shelving, an over-the-door shoe holder or rolling boxes for under the bed. Organize your shoes by color and season for easy access. If you choose to keep your shoes under the bed, pick out the next day’s pair the night before so you don’t have to search around.
• Bedside basics: Your bedside table may have accumulated a few things you don’t need on a daily basis. Hair accessories, glasses, books, magazines and medicine will all find a home there. Clear any unnecessary items off your table so you don’t feel surrounded by clutter when you go to sleep and wake up.
• Put clothes in their place: Avoid using your floor, chairs or other bedroom furniture as a hamper. Hang up clothes you plan to wear again immediately, install hooks to hang up pajamas and robes and keep a hamper, laundry bag or basket in or near your closet for dirty items. Double hampers or baskets are wonderful tools for immediately sorting whites and colors.

The Best Bed
The bed itself should be as comfortable and inviting as possible, so try our ideas for keeping your linens in line and organized.

• Smart space planning: Place the head of your bed against a wall and in direct view of the door or a window to help to make it feel stable and grounded while also governing good airflow.
• Bed skirt savior: If your bed skirt is dragging the floor, getting dusty or looking askew, employ the help of bed skirt pins. These simple spiral pins are available at home goods stores and without any sewing or cutting, can keep your bed skirt from shifting or drooping.
• Curtail your collection: You really only need three sets of bed linens per bed: one in use, one in storage and one in the laundry. It is a good idea to have a few extra pillowcases, especially if you find a unique pattern you love. They tend to wear out faster than other linens.
• Storage solutions: If you do prefer to have a wider variety of lines for different times of the year, such as flannel for winter, try storing excess linens under the bed or in a chest at the end of the bed. Make sure to remove linens from the dryer while still warm to prevent wrinkling. Store in a cool, dry place and use a pillowcase as a holder for each group of sheets to help keep them from getting separated. Label shelves or boxes with the season and type.
• Classic and comfy: For a clean, classic look that’s also easy to maintain, limit your throw pillows to one large pillow for the center of the bed or two smaller pillows to set in front of each of your regular pillows. This will make your bed look cozy, yet uncluttered.

Bedroom Routines
Come up with a system that helps your bedroom organization stay neat with a couple of simple cleaning tips for morning and night.

• Avoid the morning rush: If you tend to be in a rush in the morning and end up making mess searching for shoes and accessories, set everything out the night before. Try installing a hook to hang your chosen outfit and designate a space on your dresser for a basket or container where you can place smaller items like jewelry and socks.
• Bedtime ritual: A set bedtime routine will help you wind down and prepare your mind and body for sleep. Everyone has specific activities that will help them relax, but taking a bit of time each night to tidy up and freshen your space will not only help keep it clean and organized, it also makes the bedroom more conducive for sleeping.

Stick to your routines and bedroom organization plans and your sanctuary will be a place for relaxing moments and sweet dreams. For bedroom décor ideas and ambiance suggestions, read Creating a Bedroom Retreat.