How to Declutter Your Bedroom

In this post, you’ll learn how to declutter your bedroom because a bedroom should feel like a sanctuary. The environment it creates should make you feel calm, ready for rest, and comforting.

Piled-up clothes, stuffed dresser drawers, and who knows what hiding under your bed are no longer welcomed as they distract from this experience.

You deserve a bedroom that reduces the busy and never-ending to-do lists when you enter it. It should feel like your safe place, and this post is going to help you achieve that!

Before we get to the decluttering part

I want you to envision what your bedroom feels like when it does feel like a sanctuary.

What do you have in your bedroom? What isn’t in your bedroom?

Which colors help you feel calmer? Are there colors you need to avoid?

How does it feel when you enter your bedroom after a long day?

Use all of these questions and anything else you notice to help you envision the room you want to create.

Take a moment to write out the changes you plan to make as you go through this process and refer to them when you feel a bit stuck or unsure of the process.

This is the key to creating your dream bedroom space!

How to Declutter Your Bedroom

Now that you have envisioned the bedroom you want to create let’s get to decluttering your bedroom!

1 // Make the bed and put a sheet over it

We are going to use the bed as our decluttering workspace, but I don’t want you to get your bedding dirty. Putting a sheet over it will protect your bedding and allow you to work easily!

2 // Grab a laundry basket to collect things that belong in another room.

The laundry basket makes it easy to gather things that don’t belong and allows you to finish decluttering your bedroom before taking all of these things back to their correct home.

Related Post: The Key to Clearing Clutter Fast! It’s Time to Remove Unnecessary Clutter!

3 // Do a quick grab for anything that doesn’t belong in the bedroom and put it in the laundry basket.

Take a look around your room and quickly grab anything that doesn’t belong in the bedroom. This can include empty cups, books, mail, etc. All of these things need to be placed in the laundry basket for now.

4 // Pull everything out of your nightstand, clean drawers, and declutter things.

Your nightstand is NOT a junk drawer and shouldn’t be treated as such. The only things you need in it are things to help you sleep, such as an essential oil or two, lotion, a book, birth control, and maybe your phone charger.

Anything outside of those suggestions does not belong on your nightstand and needs to find a proper home. You’ll want to toss any trash you find and declutter things you no longer need.

5 // Put only the necessities to help you sleep back in your nightstand.

As I mentioned in the previous step, you only need a few necessities in your nightstand. Once you’ve decluttered everything else, put the necessities back into your nightstand and soak in how amazing it feels to have just what you need and nothing more in this drawer.

6 // Keep horizontal surfaces cleared off.

Horizontal surfaces seem to be catchalls, and your nightstand is no exception. The less you have on it, the bigger and more calm your room will feel.

I suggest you only keep a light coaster for drinks [if you need water throughout the night] and maybe a piece of decor. Less truly is better in this situation because you don’t want to think or see all of the things you have sitting out on your nightstand as you try to fall asleep.

7 // Declutter your bedroom decor

One thing many people forget to take into account when decluttering is their decor, but it is vital for a good decluttering! Go ahead and take everything off of the walls and let the feeling of blank walls soak in for the duration of decluttering your bedroom.

Don’t worry! You’ll redecorate at the end of the decluttering.

Related Post: How to Simplify Your Home in 4 Simple Steps

8 // Empty dresser drawers onto the bed, clean drawers, and declutter things.

Dresser drawers are magnets for the most random bits and bots, so decluttering your dresser drawers should be interesting!

Once you get everything from your drawers emptied onto the bed, be sure to give your drawers a thorough cleaning.

From there, you will sort out what does and doesn’t belong in your drawers, declutter the things you no longer use/fit/wear, and toss any trash you find.

9 // Fold what you’re keeping and put it back into the dresser drawers.

Once you’ve decluttered your drawers, sort and fold your keep pile in accordance with how you store them in your dresser drawers.

These drawers should be neatly organized, and nothing should feel stuffed. If you are stuffing things to make them fit, then you need to declutter more.

There is no reason at all that a sensible amount of clothing cannot fit comfortably in your dresser drawers.

A good rule of thumb is to keep what you need in between washing laundry and maybe one or two extra just in case your routine is interrupted.

10 // Pull everything out from your closet floor, vacuum/mop the floor, and declutter things.

Closet floors are not for storing clothes, trash, or anything besides shoes, if they have to be kept on the floor. Get your closet floor cleared out so that you can clean it accordingly.

Once you’ve cleaned it, declutter the things you pulled out from your closet floor and find a proper home for what you decide to keep that doesn’t belong on your closet floor.

11 // Pull everything else out of your closet, dust, and declutter things.

Now that you’ve got some room pull everything out of your closet, clean your closet, and get to decluttering!

You should only keep what you love wearing, and that fits. Don’t keep clothes that don’t fit you currently unless you are pregnant. That is my only exception to the rule.

Clothes that don’t fit bring about negative emotions to remind you of who you used to be, who you could be if the world were perfect, or something that is so unattainable that you have yet to let go of. [I know this because I used to keep clothes that fit into each of these reasons.]

You want your closet to be a space full of things you love and bring about positive emotions, so only keep the things that provide that for you!

12 // Put what you’re keeping back in your closet neatly.

When you’re putting things back into your closet, you want to organize them by sleeve length. This makes it very easy to find a tank top or long-sleeved shirt without having to waste time rummaging through your entire closet.

If you want to take things to the next level, you can also organize by color. I don’t feel this is necessary, but if you are someone who thrives off of an organized-by-color wardrobe, go for it!

Just remember that sleeve length is the first step in organizing, then within the sleeve lengths, you can organize by color.

Do the same for pants, shorts, dresses, skirts, etc., if you hang those. Everything is categorized by type and then length.

So I have skinny jeans, regular jeans, then dresses. My skirts and shorts are tucked away in my dresser drawers because they store better for me that way.

It is up to you to decide what to hang or store in drawers.

13 // Clean out from under the bed.

Being able to store things under the bed is convenient and helpful, but only if you know what is under there.

You should declutter under the bed at least twice a year to ensure things aren’t just taking up space for the fun of it.

If you can vacuum under the bed, do so because this may be the only chance you get for a while.

14 // Declutter what you don’t need and put the rest back into storage.

Sort through everything and declutter what you do not need. While you may have the space for something, it doesn’t mean it is worth keeping.

Even things being stored can have an effect on your sleep, so make sure you only keep things that don’t make you wish you would have decluttered them.

15 // Clean the bedroom, redecorate, remove the sheets from the bed, and enjoy your decluttered space!

Now that you have decluttered your bedroom, it is time to give it one final cleaning! Before you do that, grab your laundry basket and put everything in it in its proper home. Once the laundry basket is empty, put it back where it belongs.

Give all surfaces and lighting a good dusting and clean the floors accordingly.

Now you are ready to redecorate, but only hang up the pieces you truly love. You do not have to put things back where they were. Try something new and see how it feels. Refer back to your vision of your dream bedroom and decorate according to that.

Lastly, remove the sheet from your bed, and enjoy your decluttered bedroom!

Take action

Now that you know how to declutter your bedroom, it is time to take action! I’ve created a checklist to help you go through each step to make this as simple as possible for you!

You can get your copy in my Resource Library now and get started on decluttering your bedroom!

If you want a more in-depth approach to decluttering your bedroom and step-by-step help for decluttering your closet and entire home, check out my Declutter Your Home Workbook!

It includes 92 action-packed pages and worksheets to help you get your home decluttered once and for all!

Check out Declutter Your Home now!

Final thoughts

Now that you know how to declutter your bedroom, you can successfully create a space that feels like a sanctuary! Remember that envisioning how your dream space looks and feels is the key to the entire process.

I want to encourage you to not just get excited about having a calm and peaceful bedroom but to actually take action in what I’ve taught you about how to declutter your bedroom.

You deserve it, friend, and I cannot wait to hear all about your success!

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