The bedroom is where we go to rest and sleep and as a result should be a relaxing environment. Clutter in this room ruins all of that. How can you truly wind down with a good book or lounge in bed with your partner when there are piles of clothes and other junk littering the floor? Remember that junk represents something incomplete that you brain will focus on. Think of all that mental energy being sapped away when you should actually be taking it easy and recharging.

The bed

What better area to start off with in the bedroom than the bed itself? Firstly, what sort of bed do you actually have? My bed is open underneath, for instance, which can be a double edged sword. It’s great if you have a system in place because it’s very much like a blank canvas. However, that can also mean that it can become the worst type of dumping ground; a large area that is difficult to get to when full of stuff (under the stairs is similar) if not looked after. Just remember all the rules you read in the previous chapter. Assuming your bed doesn’t have its own built in storage you need to carefully choose your own. Storage boxes with wheels are the ideal solution as you can easily pull them out. You don’t want to be uncomfortably crouched down under a bed digging around for stuff.

The wardrobe

The other significant area of a bedroom tends to be the wardrobe. Yes folks, it’s time to de-clutter your clothes collection! Some of you may question (or be in denial) why clothes should be included in this but if you have so many clothes that they are overflowing from the wardrobe or you are constantly discarding and throwing clothes into the corners of your bedroom, it makes sense that your clutter storage should require some work. Clothes can be grouped into three distinct categories:

Clothes you haven’t worn in a long time/never worn. You ever buy clothes and never wear them? Perhaps you have a pair of trousers you last wore six months ago, or maybe you have a shirt that is painfully out of fashion. Our tastes in clothes constantly evolve so what you religiously wore all the time a year ago, you may not even look at twice any more. Get rid of them! Give them to a friend or a charity shop but get them permanently out of your wardrobe. As hard as it might be to resist buying that trendy, new pair of jeans Kate Moss was photographed in, remember they will probably be cool for about a month, then all that appeal will be gone. They might even end up being a bit embarrassing to have. While fashion has an habit of going full circle is it worth keeping those clothes for five years before it’s cool again to wear them again?

Clothes that might – just might – be useful. The key word is ‘useful’ there. There are always particular types of clothes that, though you might not wear them regularly, should still always be a mainstay in any wardrobe. Even if you don’t have an office job, it’s still essential have a suit or at the very least a smart shirt and tie combination. You never know when a friend is going to get married or you have to go to an important interview. A lot of it can be influenced by what your situation is and what climate you live in. For instance, I keep a big black jumper in case the weather ever turns really nasty, but that’s not necessary in a hot, warm climate.

Clothes you wear regularly. Remember the 80/20 rule here. We typically wear 20% of our clothes 80% of the time. If you are honest with yourself you will probably find that you will have a small selection of clothes that you wear on a very regular basis. The rest are maybe worn less often or for special occasions (as discussed above). Put aside those 20% of clothes you regularly wear for a moment and really look at what’s left over. See how they fit into the previous two categories and then make a decision on what to purge. Remember, clothes are always popular with charity shops and you can also try giving them to your friends or exchanging them.

There is one last area to discuss about the wardrobe. Look at that dark area at the bottom. What have you got there? Either nothing at all or an unorganized mess. We spend so much time focusing on where our clothes are hanging but what about the rest of our wardrobe? When space is at a premium the bottom of the wardrobe – like under the bed – is invaluable and is a prime example of thinking outside the box when it comes to managing the space you have. Just as under the bed, buy boxes or other easily accessible storage devices (you don’t want to hurt your back when putting things in and out). I personally have a canvas wardrobe so I bought some matching canvas boxes and use them for storing extra clothes and underwear. The alternative was to buy an extra wardrobe or sets of drawers. Think of all the extra space that would have cost me.

Laundry

If you have a problem with leaving your laundry all over the bedroom, buy a laundry basket for it or put aside some storage space at the bottom of your wardrobe. Rather than using the floor as a dumping ground you now have somewhere specific to put it all (essentially create a bucket to capture clothes, as discussed in the previous chapter). Just make sure you regularly process the contents so it doesn’t overspill. If you regularly let the basket spill out you have bigger problems than clutter.