Proper interior design isn’t just about arranging furniture and adding décor to the space; it’s also about keeping the place functional. As many know, functionality can come in the form of a clean room. For some folks, obtaining and keeping a clutter-free space is far-fetched, but nevertheless, it’s critical.

While we typically consider the main rooms of the home – the kitchen, living room, and dining room – the most important to keep neat and tidy, bedrooms are one of the main spaces that must also be kept clean. This makes sense considering researcj has found that a clean room can help us reduce stress, sleep better, and keep a clearer mind – all important for the bedroom setting.

That said, let’s talk about how you can declutter your bedroom quickly and easily:

1- Start by decluttering one section of your room at a time.

The bigger your bedroom, the more it seems you’ll have to declutter. Quite frankly, attempting to declutter your entire room at once can seem like a hectic, lengthy process. It might even feel like things aren’t improving much, even with hours of work.

For the latter reasons, it’s a great idea to break up your decluttering process into sections.

Sections might include certain corners of the room or specific locations of your room (e.g., under the bed, on the nightstand, in the closet, etc.). You might focus on the space closest to the entrance of your bedroom or even the space of the most importance first before moving onto other sections.

2 - Break down each section into further sections.

Depending on how big your sections are, you might wish to break each section into even smaller sections. For example, if you decide to start in one of the corners in your room and happen to have a bookcase in that corner, you might first start by cleaning the top of your bookcase and then working down shelf-by-shelf rather than tackling the entire bookcase from the start.

You can also break down the section you’re decluttering based on item (e.g., beauty products, office supplies, clothing, etc.). In the latter instance, if you plan on decluttering office supplies first, you might begin by collecting pens and pencils, notepads, and other relevant items and then move onto clothing items.

3 - Create five piles: keep (correct room), keep (wrong room), throw away, donate/sell/give away, and undecided.

Once you decide what section of your bedroom you’ll be cleaning first and perhaps break down that section into another section, it will be easier to make decisions based on what you’ll do next with those items.

That said, make the following piles as you go through your items:

• Keep (correct room; wrong location) – These items belong in your bedroom but not in the current location that you found them.
• Keep (wrong room) – These items don’t belong in your bedroom but elsewhere in your home. For example, maybe you have a hairbrush in your room that’s supposed to go in the bathroom or a book that belongs in the living room bookcase.
• Throw away – This will include trash, worn-down clothing or shoes that cannot be reused, empty containers, and the like. If you have recyclables (e.g., empty water bottles), place these in another section.
• Donate/sell/give away – Before deciding on what to specifically do with each item (donate, sell, or give away), simply place them in the same pile. You can decide later what the fate of each item will be.
• Undecided – If you aren’t sure if you want to keep or donate/sell/give away an item, for instance, place it in this pile. This pile would be especially applicable, for instance, in the case that you believe you have two pairs of pants that are identical to one another and wish to get rid of one of the pairs but aren’t sure. If you come across the second pair later, you can then make the decision to move it to the donate/sell/give away pile.

As you finish gathering items in one section of your room at a time, eliminate the throw away pile, and place the donate/sell/give away items in a separate bag or box outside of your room. You can sort through the later items later when you have time. ( Donatable items are usually items that are in good but not perfect condition. Sellable items are usually hardly-used, never-used, or high-value items. Items that you wish to give away might be items that are personal to your family or items that might be appreciated by someone you know. )

Once you move onto another section in your room, grow the keep (correct room; wrong location), keep (wrong room), and undecided piles before actually placing these items in their new locations.

4 - Before putting stuff away, take a few minutes to brainstorm organization tactics.

Even before you place items in their appropriate places, it’s important to decide for a moment if there are any specific organization tactics that you’ll want to utilize to ensure items are neatly displayed or stored and that all of your items will fit even in your space to begin

For example, maybe you already know that don’t have enough space on your bookcase for all of your books, so perhaps you’ll decide to go out and purchase a larger bookcase or even a simple bookshelf that can be installed on your wall. You might also consider how you’ll reorganize the items in your closet: by length, by color, by type, etcetera. If you have a lot of jewelry or little trinkets, you may consider looking into getting a jewelry box, ring holder, or decorative dish.

5 - Put items away based on similar location.

While usually, one might put items away at random when decluttering our bedroom, it makes the most sense to put items away that you wish to place in the same or similar location as one another first, before moving onto another set of items that belong in another section of the room.

For example, you might focus on placing books back on your bookcase or placing clothing and accessories back in your closet (not both at the same time) – rather than walking back and forth placing items in your closet, then in your dresser, then back in your closet, and so on.

Putting things away based on similar location is wise as not only will some locations in your room be completed before other sections of your room (and thus, create the impression that your room is getting finished quicker), but this also allows you to change your mind regarding any organization tactics you’ve initially come up with.

For instance, if you’re randomly putting items away throughout your room and suddenly discover that you don’t have enough closet space for certain items, this would be quicker to discover if you were merely working on putting items back in your closet rather than placing items in different locations throughout the room at once. Pick a location, stick with it, then move to a new location when putting items away. That way, you can worry about that location first and any issues you may come across.

Conclusion

The messier your bedroom is, the more difficult it is to decide what part of the room to declutter first. Fortunately, there are ways to make the job quicker, easier, less daunting, and seemingly more productive: decluttering one section at a time, breaking sections into smaller sections, creating five piles to place items before putting them away properly, brainstorming organization tactics, and placing items away based on similar location.

While all of this information is a lot to take in, planning how you’ll tackle decluttering your bedroom before you actually do it and breaking up the task into pieces will bring you the most success. If you must, you can always break up the decluttering process into different time frames, even over the course of days.

If you need more interior or exterior design-related tips and tricks, check out the rest of our blog posts .