Clutter is the bane of everyone’s life. It gathers spontaneously and evades our senses, making it notoriously difficult to keep in check. However, the worst part about clutter is having nowhere for it. We tend to shove it into an already-stuffed drawer or a box that doesn’t see the light of day. Thankfully, there are more innovative ways to declutter by getting rid of it or storing it in dedicated spaces. Here are five easy ways to declutter your bedroom:
Get rid of useless items and tat
First, gather all your clutter and decide what you want to keep. You will quickly end up with a pile that can go.
There are a few ways to get rid of clutter:
- Ask family and friends if they want any of it
- Throw it in your household waste (if allowed)
- Could you take it to your local recycling centre?
- Pitch up at a car boot sale
- List it for free on Facebook Marketplace and Gumtree
- Sell clothes and shoes on an app like Vinted or Schpock
While all these methods require some work, getting rid of clutter for good is the best way to deal with it. Just rinse and repeat every year.
Unlock the wonders of bed storage
If your bed doesn’t have built-in storage, upgrading to a divan or ottoman bed will transform your bedroom with dedicated spaces for bedding and off-season clothes. It’s a much better storage method than under-bed boxes!
Ottoman beds offer the most bed storage with a lift-up base supported by hydraulic struts. When you lift the base, the mattress is lifted.
Divan beds have built-in drawers either at the sides or foot end of the bed (and sometimes both), which may be better for your lifestyle.
If you don’t fancy a divan or ottoman bed frame, get a standard bed frame that is high enough for under-bed storage boxes to slide underneath.
Pictured: Silentnight Geltex 3000 Affluent Divan Bed, Available from Bedstar The Online Bed Superstore.
Invest in other furniture with storage
In addition to your bed, you can get buffets, benches, and chairs with storage.
Look for opportunities to replace furniture with items that offer more storage, like this HOMCOM (Amazon) bookcase storage seat for children’s rooms. Another fantastic seating option is this storage bench from Dunelm Mill (Pictured Below).
Pictured: HOMCOM Bookcase and The Lucy Cane Grey Storage Bench
You might also have an opportunity to add an extra drawer to your chest of drawers or dressing tables. You can always get a taller unit to unlock an additional drawer while downsizing the width and length to free up floor space.
Hangable shoe storage
If you have lots of shoes and small items, there’s a better way to store them than in boxes under your bed and stuffed in your wardrobe.
This shoe pocket storage from IKEA (SKUBB) lets you hang shoes in your wardrobe, or you can fix it to the back of your door. Other products like this exist from other retailers, like this Amazon Basics alternative with 20 or 24 pockets.
Pictured: Shoe pocket from IKEA and the Amazon basics Shoe Pocket.
Hangable shoe storage is ideal for moving shoes and clutter out of sight. You can also vacuum pack clothes and bedding you don’t use. All you need is a pack of vacuum storage bags and a vacuum cleaner. Job done.
Scale up your wall shelving
Sometimes, the best way to declutter is to create new spaces for items. Tiered shelving is our favourite trick to unlock more room. The way we see it, as long as we can reach things on shelves, then they can go as high as we like.
These floating shelves on Amazon have an industrial vibe with an iron net backing, or you can go for large cube shelves like IKEA’s EKET (pictured below).
The key is to build shelves that create new spaces for clutter without taking up too much space. The walls you don’t use are ideal candidates.
We recommend having dedicated shelving for books and games and dedicated shelves for other items so that everything stays organised.
*Collaborative post
Debz Louise is a plus-size blogger based in Yorkshire. Behind many nationwide campaigns such as #WeaAreTheThey & winner of Best Blogger at the UK Plus Size Awards, she talkas about life as a plus-size 40-something woman in South Yorkshire.
Leave a Reply