Welcome to Day 13 in our Clutter-Free Challenge. Today we are going to address bedrooms and baths. I’m sorry we won’t have time to address children’s rooms specifically (which could take a week if your kids are like mine). But on Friday I’ll tell you about a back-to-school organizing series Karen Ehman and I will be co-leading in late August specifically for moms. For today, the tips I’m sharing will likely apply to your room.
If you stood at the door to your bedroom, what would you see? A treadmill doubling as a clothes hanger? Books on the floor? Bills strewn on the dresser? Laundry piled on the bed? Now, ask yourself: Why is it like that?
Here are some possible reasons:
- The closet is too full
- The dressers are overstuffed
- There aren’t enough hangers
- You need a bigger jewelry case, or less jewelry
- You need a bookcase, a bigger bookcase, or fewer books
- You hate taking the three extra steps needed to hang up your robe
The answer to your clutter problem is somewhere in here. You probably know what it is, but you avoid it because of the domino effect. In other words, your clothes are draped over the treadmill because your closet is too full. Your closet is too full because your under-the-bed boxes are filled with things you don’t wear any more. One problem leads to another, and it’s easier to ignore them all by doing nothing.
Perhaps the answer lies in solving one problem, while allowing another to sit until you can address it. You can’t solve everything at once. But you can change something … even if means loading books, magazines and clothes in plastic tubs until you can figure out what to do with them. So, here are some suggestions to deal with clutter.
Minimize visual clutter
Even if your husband’s ties are organized by color – but are hanging in plain view – it’s still clutter. When possible, avoid the temptation to install hooks or racks in your master bedroom, as these create visual clutter. Instead, move these items to the closet, or hide behind a door.
Bedside table
If possible, invest in a bedside table with drawers or shelves. Use it to store reading material, glasses, hand lotion, journal, pens and television remote controls. Limit the number of items on top of your bedside table to one book and magazine, plus your lamp, clock and one decorative item.
If you don’t have the option for a bedside table with drawers, purchase a decorative box with a lid to store your nighttime accessories.
To get even more storage, consider putting a small dresser by your bed instead of a nightstand. Or if you are a reader, consider a specially-designed reader’s table, with multiple shelves for books and magazine.
Under-the-bed storage
Fill every space under your bed with specially-designed boxes. Spend a bit more to purchase the kind with wheels for ease of access. Make sure you measure the height of that space to avoid a second trip to the store. If you don’t want to buy boxes, consider storing suitcases under the bed filled with items to store. Another option are the space-saving bags. Use these to store items that are bulky such as linens, comforters or heavy winter outerwear. To hide this storage space, use a bed skirt.
Here are some ideas on what to store under your bed:
- Off-season clothing
- Seldom-worn dress clothes
- Shoes or boots
- Extra bedding
- Books, DVDs or CDs
- Craft supplies
- Photo albums
Dresser
To make the most of the space you have, take the time to empty each drawer in your dresser. Consider the following tips:
- Store themed clothing elsewhere (exercise, pool/beach)
- Remove unwanted or off-season clothing
- Match socks; discard singles
- Discard stretched/torn/overly-worn undergarments
- Add drawer dividers to sort smaller items, like socks and underwear
Alternative storage
If you need storage but don’t have the budget or room for another piece of big furniture, consider these ideas for alternate storage:
Hope chest or trunk. This can sit at the foot of the bed, and doubles as a bench.- Vintage or antique suitcases stacked on top of each other. These suitcases could hold blankets, winter clothes, sweaters
- Decorative covered boxes. Stack multiple boxes on top of each other. They can hold lightweight items like scarves, belts, and jewelry
- Vintage picnic basket. Tuck the television remote, CDs or DVDs in a picnic basket with lid.
For years I focused on every other room in the house – except my bedroom. It was a disaster. Not restful. Very stressful. About five years ago I decided it was time for me and my husband to have a clutter-free haven. So I applied my own tips and LOVE how orderly it is. And I’m more motivated to keep it that way too. Although I still leave my bathrobe on the unmade bed some days … just keeping it real.
I hope this post inspires you to focus on your own room first, then de-clutter the other bedrooms in the house.
I’ll end with some tips for the bathroom. There are two places that seem to get the most cluttered in my bathrooms: The medicine cabinet and under the sink. Here are a few tips for de-cluttering these spaces.
Medicine cabinet
Here’s a step-by-step approach:
- Remove all containers. Clean shelves.
- Throw away empty bottles.
- Safely discard unused prescription medication (return to a pharmacy for safe disposal)
- Consider storing medications away from humidity of a bathroom
- Discard products you won’t use or don’t like
- Combine like products when safe to do so (like suntan lotion)
- Replace items in similar groupings
- Add tiered wire shelving for small items
- Add labeled drawers for small items
- Create kits: camping, manicure, beach, first aid
- Make a list of emergency products to have on hand
Under the Sink
Don’t neglect to bring order to the space under the sink. You can apply many of the same steps as the medicine cabinet. By adding affordable stacking shelves, you can utilize every inch of vertical space. Consider adding baskets to stand items like curling irons and blow dryers. You might also add stacked drawers. These come in plastic, wire or mesh, and in various sizes.
Tomorrow will address the dreaded black-holes of our homes – the bedroom closets!
If you’ve taken any before and after photos of your decluttering, consider posting them on your own blog. On Friday, I’m going to share a link to a friend’s blog who tackled a problem area. And I’d love for you to post a comment with a link to your blog. Who doesn’t love before and after photos? Until tomorrow …
Grace & Peace,
Glynnis
Heavenly Father, You created us with a need to rest … our bodies and our minds. I confess that I haven’t always honored Your request to rest, nor have I prioritized it in my life. Help me to create a place of peace and quiet, where I can sleep without feeling like there’s something I should be doing. Guide me as I de-clutter my bedroom and the rooms of those I love. I want to be a woman who is rested, strong and ready to do Your work. In Jesus name, Amen.
WOW! I never really looked at my room before in those eyes. While our room is not large..I still have clothes draped over a dresser and a suitcase..due to too many clothes. And yes, they are not all needed right now. Funny how I never stopped to think what about a storage place for them,,instead I just pile and pile. I can hardly wait to get home from work today to go through clothes and then hopefully a weekend trip to Menards for storage totes. Thank you for pulling the curtain back and revealing what I just walk past.:) I’m sure my husband will appreciate this too!;)
Honestly, the only thing I like to have under my bed is…the carpet! Easier to vacuum!
I do not like things stored under my bed either….but I must say I do store a baby crib mattress under my bed. It belonged to my youngest daughter who is now 11 years old. It comes in very handy when my grandchildren come to spend the night. We just pull it out, add sheets and a cover and we quickly have one more spot for one of the kids to sleep. My youngest grandson (6) loves to sleep on it. At least it works until they grow to be longer than the mattress!
Excellent idea. Thanks!
Glynnis -
THanks for letting God use you in mighty ways. I love your book and it has really made me think and pray (especially chapter 4). I didn’t expect that, but needed it. Thank the good Lord that He isn’t finished with me yet. Thanks and bless you.
Thank you for such wonderful advice. Now if I could only figure out why I have to KEEP decluttering! I will straighten up our closet only to let it get messy again. I’m still working on decluttering my mind, maybe that’s it!
Wow! It’s amazing, you have never been inside my home before…..but you just described it:) While the decluttering needs to take place, I can say that knowing that my bedroom is not the only ONE in this world that could use it, does lessen my anxiety! Thanks for what you are doing! God Bless!!!!
This is my first weekend being able to start my clutter free life. I have a son who is graduating high school this year; prom; ROTC and all of these events are hendering me from even getting started on my plan. This weekend it will be raining, so I intend to take some before and after pictures of my progress. Get ready because one room is what I call “the catch all room”. I think I just might start in there. Tune in……..
We redecorated our bedroom this past summer, and it did wonders for getting rid of the clutter. Not only were the walls painted, but the carpet was taken up and the hardwood floor beneath refinished. And it was all done by my wonderfully gifted husband!! It’s been close to 6 months, and I’ve managed to maintain the lack of clutter. A basket for all of his books, and moving the coatrack to the (huge) bathroom helped bunches. I now even have a reading corner for the weekends when our grandson is over so I can still do my morning reading in the morning, in a quiet place. Still need to hang things back on the walls, and deal with window treatments, but that’s just a matter of saying something and then making the motions to do it myself if progress doesn’t occure quickly enough.
Glynnis–
You are SO right about why I have the problems I have. Too much stuff is the culprit! I am going to stick to my scheduled days to get rid of stuff from each room of my home until the amount of stuff is manageable.
On a personal note–
My full blown miscarriage started rolling out last night. I am sad that it will not work out, but I am humbled and overwhelmed by the love of Christ through His people. God’s way is always the best, and everything works together for good yo make me more like HIM!
I am going to take it easy for a couple of days–I might even go ahead and take half the day off work today. After that, I’ll get back to being a better steward of my home.
Some tools I have found helpful are the Baby Steps listed to getting started on flylady.net. It is so funny that her approach and yours have some similarities–that being too perfectionistic causes us to get too overwhelmed, and that causes us to never start. She tells people in her blog “You are not behind. You are exactly where you are supposed to be. Just jump in right where you are.” She advocates tackling clutter 15-30 minutes a day–because you can do anything for a short amount of time.
I am such a work in progress, and I am blessed beyond measure. Thank you for bringing positivity and encouragement to an area of my life that truly seems to be so hard to manage.
Carissa in eastern Iowa
Carissa – My heart is heavy at your news. Thank you for trusting us enough to share it with us. I will be praying for you, your husband and your family. And I know others will be too. May God be your peace and hope. Love, Glynnis
Thank you so much for covering this topic! Once again, I feel like you’ve spent some time looking in my windows…My bedroom door stays closed so I’ve developed the “nobody sees it but me” mentality and even after decluttering/cleaning, it eventually becomes a mess again. I have the underbed storage boxes, but am not consistent with putting things in them. Just more proof that it’s all about changing the mind set in order to maintain the physical changes.
My closet space is limited so I keep the “current-season” clothes in my bedroom and the “off-season” clothes in the spare bedroom closet. A dear friend shared with me her tip for changing out the season’s clothes as well as cleaning out what she no longer wears: When she moves the “off-season” clothes to her bedroom in preparation for the coming season she puts the hangers in “backwards” so that the hooks face out. After she wears something and launders it, she hangs it up with the hanger hooks facing in. At the end of the season, any hooks still facing out indicate things she did not wear that season and it gets donated. I’ve been doing this for the last couple of years and it really helps. I always kept things thinking I had worn them at some point during the season and this has helped break that habit because it’s easy to tell what’s been worn and what has not…
Love your friend’s hanger idea!!
Is all this info in your book?
I find that Closets need to be tidied EVERY TIME I DO LAUNDRY. But i’ve come to except that if thats what it takes to have those hidden areas clean, then so be it!. BUT the kids need to know that when everything gets messed up all the time, mom has less time to spend with them, and it’s not fair to take that away from anyone. I’m still working on that one
I think i will be going over all these lessons again once my house is through the renovating stage. My husband seems to think (and i’m beginning to agree) that purging is the key. Duh!!!!! Of course it is!!!!
When we got a new night stand and new end tables my husband insisted drawers or shelves with doors. Bless his heart! Now if I have a book and a couple magazines and a notebook and pen close to the bed or couch, it’s not out looking cluttered. And I don’t have to put them away every night only to get them out the next night.
Thanks for all this advice. I have been discovering all the treasures (and those things that I thought were treasures) under my bed!
I’ve also made a discovery about myself: I never got this far with my organising because I didn’t believe I could! Crazy, hey? But now I’m on a roll, I’m astounded how much I have done (and how much there is still to do to reach that state of ordered bliss)!
This has been a wonderful journey, one I have need to take for a while. Looking at the clutter in my home was totally exhausting. I still have the catch all room and the guest room to tackle. I am having a great deal of trouble convincing myself to get started on these spaces. I have adapted well to this process, however I am having difficulty get my husband on board. Do you feel that you should also take care of your husbands clutter or should he be responsible for his own clutter? What is the boundarys for clutter being mine or his? He is the type that will use something and lay it down and that’s where it stays, until I pick it up or remind him multiple times that he needs to pick it up. lots of times this will result in him being angry that I expect him to pick it up. I have tried several tatics such as going on “strike” but none seem to work. Any suggestions?
I too would like to know how to get the family on board -especially hubby. I work all day just like him. I want to be able to take pride in my house and he and the kids take pride in it as well, but I simply cannot do it all by myself.
Just my opinion ladies… Don’t ever throw anything away of your hubbie’s without his permission. If you need to, put the questionable items in a tote and let him know that you really are trying to declutter and would he mind going through it at his convenience. He will respect you for not just tossing his stuff… Just a good way to avoid husband/wife tension. Hope this helps…One more thing, my huband has a “wooden bowl” by his sink to hold keys, wallet, etc. Well, it has turned into more stuff so I think I’m going to get him a little desk box and organize it nicely for him. Instead of commenting, I’m just going to “fix” it for him.
I wish I was more motivated to do something with my stuff! 
Take care and remember that all is grace.
Okay…. taking on the bedroom this week!! I heard at a womans conference once, that our bedrooms should be the prettiest room in the house… a sanctuary where there is peace and rest… ty for the encouragement!!!
In our area we have several donation boxes (for clothes) -next to the grocery store, the gas station, etc. This has made my life so much easier! I keep a bag in my closet and have filled it for the past two weeks. This way I can weed out things no longer needed without the huge chore of tackling my closet.
Today I received my copy of “I Used To Be So Organized” from Julie Gillies giveaway, and I’m so excited to read it!! And you’re so right about our bedrooms being a clutter-free haven. It’s so nice to wake up to ORDER and not chaos.
Thanks, Glynnis!
My biggest problem is all the books on the nightstand beside my bed. It depends on my mood as to what I might read. There are at leastm6 at any given time. If I try to keep them on the bookshelf, I still end up bringing them back to the nightstand.
I had a one year rule day today! I totally cleaned out my closet, giving all clothes away that I haven’t worn in a year. How great that made me feel.
Also, I have finally convinced my sweetheart that we should get rid of the king size bed. Finally we might have a bedroom with a bed in it instead of a bed with a little room around it.
Excellent post and ideas today Glynnis! Great practical ideas, on which I am working, and I was also glad to read about the robe on the unmade bed. I can truly identify with that. I figure another 15 days, and I may be almost caught up.
Books is another of my weaknesses. I have lots of books, and it’s not that i don’t read any of them,I just get overwhelmed when i see how many of then i really NEED to read. So i have decided to pick just one or 2, and actually finish them before starting a new one. I try to give myself 15 min every day to read them, often during or after my devotions. That way i’m at peace with leaving most on the bookshelf.
I think i’m beginning to see a light at the end of the tunnel. I am actually able to have clear kitchen counters most of the time when i go to bed now,Thanks Glynnis!! My Husband works up north right now so only comes home on some weekends, but he LOVES when our bedroom is nice and tidy.It really is a lot easier to go to bed when i see order around me. God bless all you ladies out there doing this course. I would love to chat with you in person, but for now, keep going!!
It has been hectic for me since last week with my niece and her 2 boys coming to visit. But visits are good, because we get to share happy time AND it makes me clean/declutter (somewhat!) in preparation. When it comes to storage, I always laugh when someone suggests under the bed — I loaded THAT place up decades ago! I also store large art papers that I want to keep flat until I use them, under the couch in the living room. The couch has a pleated skirt so you can’t see under it. BINGO! a place to store big stuff! I feel like I sort of fell off the de-clutter wagon last week: I realized at the end of one day that I had undertaken 3 time consuming tasks (that definitely needed to be done) and that none of them had been on my to-do list. I’m still at the brain dump step – there’s so much in there and I still have a somewhat nagging feeling that I am forgetting something. I’m not going to let that derail me, though. Simply thank God I am keeping on, and know that keeping on is blessed and rewarded. I’m still figuring out how best to organize my projects and daily to=do list. Which is fine. With God’s help I’m going to more consistently express my true orderly and disciplined being. THAT will allow me to rest properly, and appreciate all the things that I do have, with a more serene sense of stewardship.
Thanks Glynnis for your tips and mostly for your Christly motivation.
I found the baby wipes containers are great size and method for storing medicine. Just remove the top when done and you have a great plastic container. I have them in my cabinet sorted by first aid/adult/kids and you can use a sharpee to write on the container. Only down side is my kids aren’t in diapers and like the suntan combo so need to go find a friend with a little one =)