How to Declutter Your Bedroom and Make It a Sanctuary
In order to declutter your bedroom and make it a sanctuary, you have to declutter with that purpose in mind. Your bedroom is meant to be a place where you can relax and sleep. So, it’s important that you declutter and organize your bedroom in a way that will help you achieve a more relaxing environment.
Decluttering alone can help your space feel more relaxing, because clutter tends to cause us stress whether we are aware of it or not. But today, I’m going to take this one step further by showing you some ways to actually create a calm and inviting bedroom.
You likely have to store things in your bedroom, whether it’s clothing, books, or something else. It’s essential that we organize these things so that they are out-of-sight or visually appealing.
You may also use your bedroom as a “dressing room” of sorts. And if that’s the case, you also want a bedroom that has good lighting and feels inspirational.
No matter what you use your bedroom for, there are ways to declutter and organize your bedroom so that it works well for you. A bedroom that is always cozy, inviting, and inspirational is possible with some decluttering, organizing, and intentional decorating.
How to Declutter Your Bedroom
Like decluttering any area of the home, you declutter your bedroom by looking at everything and assessing whether or not it deserves a place in your home.
Get ready to declutter by grabbing some boxes or bags for items you choose to declutter. Prepare to take everything out so that you only put back what you truly want in this part of your home.
You can declutter your bedroom by following these guidelines:
- Move items that don’t belong in your bedroom to their proper place.Â
- Remove anything from your bedroom (and home) that doesn’t currently serve an important purpose (i.e. you don’t love it or use it often). If you need more guidance with this, check out these helpful decluttering questions to ask yourself.
- If you encounter any sentimental items, leave these for last. You want to declutter sentimental items once you are in a good decluttering rhythm so that it’s easier for you to let go of anything you may need to.
- Deal with your clutter right away or as soon as possible. Trash, donate, or sell items right away. If you come across something in need of repair that you know you want to keep, set it aside and schedule a time on your calendar for when you will repair it.
- Find a proper home for everything you decide to keep. Everything you keep is something that you’ve determined to be important to you. These items deserve a place in your bedroom, so the next step is to find the right place so that these items are easily seen or accessible.Â
How to Organize Your Bedroom
Like already mentioned, decluttering your room in and of itself can help you create a more calm and relaxing space. Less clutter means less stress! When we are less stressed, our minds are more clear and able to properly rest.
But the next step is to organize you bedroom in such a way that there’s a place for everything. Knowing where your things go is half the battle to keeping a tidy bedroom that you consider a true sanctuary at the end of a long day. The other half of the battle is learning the discipline of always putting items where they belong right away!
Dresser Drawers
Organize the clothing in your drawers by type, then choose a way to find what you’re looking for more easily. You could organize it further by sleeve length, color, etc.
For organizing drawers in a way that helps you see what you have at a glance, I love Marie Kondo’s KonMari method. Kondo has you fold clothing so that it stands upright in the drawer and works almost like a file cabinet. I do this with my pajamas, workout clothing, tops, and bottoms so far, but you can also use the KonMari method on socks and undergarments.Â
Even if you don’t have drawers, you can use this method by storing clothing in boxes!
Closet
When it comes to your closet, you still want to organize your clothing so that you can find what you need easily. Again, categorize your clothes and put each type-together. You can also sort your clothing by color or length. Do what works for you and/or what is most visually appealing.
Think about how a store would display your items. Displaying your items in a visually appealing way creates a more inspiring atmosphere in your bedroom. And who doesn’t need a little inspiration when getting dressed from time to time?!
If you store folded clothing in your closet, try using bins or baskets to keep items together and stop stacks from falling over. A box on its side suddenly becomes both a storage cube and a shelf. You can roll up items like ties, tights, and long socks and put them together in a box so you can see all of them.
Surfaces
Make sure you clean and clear surfaces like nightstands and dressers so that only the essentials remain. (Think a lamp, a clock, and maybe one or two other items on your nightstand at most.) Â Think about what you want to see when you wake up in the morning that will help you start your day off right.
You can keep decorations to a minimum by choosing your absolute favorites to be displayed in your bedroom. This will help your favorites stand out and give you some space back. (And, it makes dusting so much easier!)Â
No matter what your home’s style, the common thread between all sanctuary-esque bedrooms is the lack of clutter. Check out these bedrooms for a little inspiration:
Best Bedroom Colors
If you want to make creating a sanctuary one step further, you may want to consider a fresh color of paint. Creating a sanctuary in your bedroom can also involve choosing the right color scheme. Different colors set a different mood. Choose the right colors for the mood you want to set.
Most colors can be used in master bedrooms, but there are certain shades that work better for helping you relax. Blues, greens, and grays are known for being calming, but even a neutral pallet can do the trick. If you want to go dark to create a more cozy feel, simply choose a cooler shade so that it’s also tranquil.
In order to turn your bedroom into a sanctuary, you need to declutter your bedroom first and foremost. Then and only then are you ready to organize and decorate your bedroom in such a way that you create a truly calming and inspiring environment.
Theresa Bedford is a syndicated freelance home and travel writer with regular contributions to the Associated Press wire and MSN. She helps everyday people love the life they have through simplicity, organization, and prioritization.
Thanks for the tips! The hardest for me is putting things in the proper place, and I have a good few shirts I need to get rid of.
You’re welcome, Spencer! That’s the hardest part for most of us, I think. It’s important to establish some daily tidying habits to be able to maintain an organized home. And of course, having too many things doesn’t help either. That’s why I always say to declutter, then organize. 😉
Love all these constructive tips! I love living an uncluttered life.
That’s great! Me too.
Love it! It makes all the difference for a great night of sleep!
So true, Gabriela!
We remodeled our bedroom & I love it, however it gets cluttered quickly with paperwork which needs to be kept in office. I also need to pare down some of our pictures on the wall & actually put my shoes away in plastic shoeboxes which go under our closet shelves -I bought cute labels so I can identify them. I just need to do it!