Your bedroom should be your little sanctuary- or at least it’s supposed to be.
The only room in the house that guests rarely visit should feel like a calm place you retreat to, at the end of a busy day- but you know how tough it can be to truly relax when a space is in a state of disarray.
A cluttered bedroom could be impacting you from getting a restful sleep and subsequently making you feel average throughout the day. If you’re looking forward to decluttering your bedroom, we’ve rounded up five things to get rid of to help support healthy sleep as well as create a visually pleasing oasis.
Random Garbage
It turns out your mum was always right and onto something when she used to make you clean your messy bedroom all of the time- and the idea of a clean space promoting a clear mind couldn’t be truer. Falling asleep while looking at items that need to be put away can be stressful and also feel like a lingering to-do list. When you’re motivated to declutter start with something easy and purge out everything you don’t want. Clothing tags you took off from a new pair of jeans and left on top of the bedside table, stacks of old newspapers, and the dead plant you forgot to water should all go. Declutter your bedside junk drawer and shred, toss, or recycle what you can, and find another home for things you need to keep.
Overflowing laundry basket
We are probably all guilty of it to an extent but piles of clothing littering your bedroom floors and keeping an overflowing pile of dirty laundry is a sure way to trigger stress before you go to sleep. Not only that, but this sort of clutter will also make a room feel much smaller. One way to control the laundry clutter is to add a hamper with a lid in your bedroom. Then dedicate 5 minutes every night before going to bed to pick up the dirty clothing and hide it away in the hamper. Or consider moving your laundry basket to the laundry room or bathroom where you can attend to a little, everyday meaning you will never have to look at huge piles again.
Pets
Many of us sleep with our snuggly pets in the room or even on our beds. Pets are a big part of the family and we understand it might be difficult to deny your pet the luxury of your warm cozy bed- but having your cat or dog (or both) in bed with you is a big mistake. The constant fidgeting that dogs and cats make or your needing to get up in the middle of the night to let them go to the bathroom is at the detriment of a full night’s sleep and in turn a clear and alert mind. Next reason: pets can bring with them, a lot of dirt and allergens making it harder to sleep at night if you start sneezing through the night.
Phone
We are all very connected to our phones but smartphones are a distraction that is most likely hindering your sleep. They’re not only purposeful but they also supply an unlimited amount of entertainment at your fingertips. This often leads to hours on end of watching TikTok videos, playing games, and scrolling through Instagram- leaving you wide awake long past your bedtime. If you have the phone sitting on your nightstand, you won’t be able to resist the urge to check it before you get some shut-eye or often check if you wake up in the middle of the night making it much more difficult to fall asleep. If you rely on your phone to wake you up each morning, opt for a bedside alarm clock instead and charge your phone in your living room each night.
Exercise Equipment
If you want your bedroom to feel double its size and are aiming for a better night’s sleep, it may be a good idea to get rid of anything related to exercise from your room. It’s time to find a new home for your yoga mat, gym bag, boxing punching bag, weights, dumbbells, and large machines like treadmills and stationary bikes that take up a lot of floor space. There’s an argument that having these things visible helps you remember to do your exercise each day but that’s also an issue especially when you’re trying to relax and sleep.
When you’re choosing to declutter your bedroom in order to improve sleep, we hope that some of these things make it on your list. Sure some things like your phone and pets could be a much more difficult task to remove from your bedroom entirely but we hope this list helps you evaluate how you’ve been sleeping and adjustments you can make to rest more easily.