Do you come home from school and throw your backpack
anywhere there’s room for it? Are your clothes
spread all over your room? Do you need to clear a space on your desk to study?
These are all signs of an unorganized room.
When your room isn’t organized, simple things like getting
dressed and climbing into bed at night can be a hassle. With some simple steps,
you can organize your bedroom to make it clean and functional.
Make a Bigger Mess
The first thing you have to do to get organized is grab all
of your stuff off your floor, desk, and chair. Look inside the closet, behind
your bookcase, and under the bed. Throw everything that’s out of place on your
bed.
Grab Some Boxes
Grab several boxes to put your stuff in as you go through
everything to keep things in order. You’ll empty the boxes later once you have
organized everything. Label the boxes with “desk,” "bookcase," “dresser,” “closet,” “giveaway,”
and “garbage.”
Sift Through Your
Stuff
Once you have everything on your bed, start going through
it, piece by piece. Decide if it’s something you want to keep. If it is, decide
where you’re going to keep it, and place it in the appropriate box. If you’re
getting rid of it, determine if it’s garbage or if you can donate it, and place
it in the appropriate box. Bring your dirty clothes to the laundry room. When
you’re done, store the boxes out in the hall.
Move Your Furniture
Now that everything is out of your room, look around at your
floor plan. Are you happy with what you have? If not, start moving your
furniture around until your bedroom is set up how you like it. If you need to
remove items from bookshelves or drawers, be sure to place them in the appropriate
box.
Start Cleaning
Take the dirty sheets off your bed and throw them in the
wash. Place a clean set of sheets on your bed, along with your pillows and
blankets. You’re going to have a very decent place to sleep tonight!
Grab a dust remover, glass cleaner, and cloths. Dust your
bookshelves, desk, chair, and other furniture. Use glass cleaner on your
windows and mirrors. Vacuum your room before you bring the boxes back in.
Unpack Your Boxes
Pull the boxes back in your room, and start unpacking them,
one at a time.
Sit at your desk chair as you unload your desk supplies. Place
your notepads, pens, pencils, and extra supplies in a drawer, and your papers
in the file cabinet. Keep your desktop clear except for your computer, lamp,
and pencil case. You can use stackable shelves to keep papers organized and
handy, or
stackable storage units, such as the one below, for pens, notepads, and files you need to
keep on your desk.
Sit by your dresser and unload your clean clothes, placing
them in the appropriate drawers. Keep shirts, shorts, pants, sweaters, socks,
and undergarments organized so you can get dressed easily in the mornings. Keep
a nice storage box or jewelry box on top of your dresser to store your
accessories. Set up a few picture frames or knickknacks to decorate your room a
little, but keep most of the dresser clear. It will look more organized and
less cluttered.
Stack your books neatly on the bookshelves. You may want to
organize them by author, subject, size, or other means. It’s your system, so
you choose what will work best for you. If you have empty space, consider using
book ends. Place a few personal items on some of the shelves, but not too much.
Again, you don’t want things to look cluttered.
Hang up your clothes in the closet. Organize them by item
and color. Keep winter items separate from summer, and keep the current season’s
clothes towards the front of the closet, where you can easily reach them.
If
your closet has
shelves
, determine what clothes would work best there rather
than on hangers. Fold those clothes neatly, and stack them in small piles.
Larger piles tend to fall off the shelf, leaving you with a mess on the floor. Here's
one idea that won't take up too much room.
Use
a
shoe rack, such as the one below, or over-the-door storage bag to organize your shoes. This will help
prevent you from looking for a mate for the shoe you plan to wear when getting
dressed.
Assess Your Space
Now that you’re done cleaning and organizing everything,
take a good look around your room. Is everything where you want it to be? If
not, decide what to change and reorganize. The more you like the look of your
room, the more likely you are to keep it neat.
Send Out Your
Leftover Items
When you’re finished with your project, you should still
have two boxes left: Trash and giveaway. Take the trash out to the garage or
other appropriate place so it will get picked up with the rest of the household
garbage. Pack the giveaway box neatly and determine where the best place to
donate the items is. You can
look
up different organizations online for contact numbers. Or, divide the items
among your friends and family.
Keep Your Room Clean
To avoid another day of overhauling your room, keep your
space neat and organized. You have a space for everything, so make sure each
item goes in its designated spot when you’re done using it. Put your laundry
away after you wash it. Dust and vacuum your room on a weekly basis. Make your
bed every day. Simple steps will keep you from spending countless hours hunting
for a lost shoe or your homework.
Organizing your bedroom doesn’t have to be a huge inconvenience.
Look at it as a way to refresh your year, no matter what season it is. You can
even invite friends over to help and turn it into a party. Just be sure the
cleaning and organizing get done between the eating and gossiping. By spending this one day redoing your room,
you’ll have hundreds to enjoy hanging out.
