How to Declutter Your Bedroom – Minimalist Guide

The decluttering process can definitely feel overwhelming if you are trying to adopt a minimalist lifestyle, but your bedroom is an great place to start! I know that my bedroom had become a kind of dumping ground for everything I wanted out of sight in the living room when guests come over. I decided I was tired of it and I wanted my bedroom to become a sanctuary for my husband and I. After all, it is where we sleep and wake up each morning. There definitely isn’t one best way to declutter your bedroom, but I’ll share decluttering tips that worked for me when I was creating a minimalist bedroom.

​Grab a trash bag and box

The first step is to grab yourself a trash bag and a box. The trash bag will be for items that aren’t in good enough condition to donate or any garbage you may encounter. The box you can fill with unnecessary items you want to get rid of to donate to your local thrift store or donation center. Sometimes I will also just use a second trash bag for the items I intend to donate if I don’t have an extra box to use.

Start with your closet and/or dresser

The storage space in your bedroom closet and dresser are so important. Having too many clothes can definitely overwhelm your bedroom. I find this is a very easy place to start. If you can get your closet cleaned out, you will have lots of storage space to work with. This article is a great resource for helping you take a deeper dive into what cleaning out your closet might look like. Your closet space is so valuable! Clean out your dresser drawers. Decide what clothes you are ready to donate. Clean off the top of your dresser. 

Pick up everything off the floor

Having a clean floor space with make your room feel so much bigger! Sometimes things start to pile up in corners and take up a lot of physical space. Find a place to put everything away or decide if it needs to go in the trash or donate box. Be very intentional about what you actually need and value. Ask yourself if you really want to keep storing this item.

Clean under the bed

Next, take a look under your bed. You might be surprised what you will find! There is a lot of space available under your bed. In our case, we have enough room under our bed to store suitcases and a few storage bins so that was a great decluttering project for me. You might just find some old tissues and dust mites under your bed. Either way, take a good look of what’s under there and decide if it’s really improving your space.

Clear off your nightstand

Your nightstand is probably the most important thing to declutter in your bedroom because it can carry a lot of visual clutter. It’s easy to just pile anything and everything on your nightstand but be intentional about what you want there. Re-evaluate and clear off your nightstand on a regular basis. Ask yourself if the items on your nightstand are really serving you. I enjoy having my journal so I can write in it before bed. You can also choose to keep it bare and cleaned off. Only keep items that you often find yourself needing easy access to in your nightstand drawer. 

​Take a look at your bed

As you are in the process of decluttering, take a look at your bed. Do you have a lot of decorative throw pillows and piles of blankets? It might be worth considering how important those decorative items are to you. Are you spending a lot of time removing and replacing those things each day? Your bed space should be as simple as possible so it is easy to make your bed quickly in the morning and hop into bed when you are ready to sleep. 

Evaluate your decorations

When it comes to decorative items, fewer items can often be better (again, we’re trying to reduce visual clutter!). I found that I had some little signs with quotes that were gifted to me that were just taking up space. Personally, I enjoy having a few thoughtfully placed photos in our bedroom. Figure out what inspires you and brings you joy to look at.

Use organization containers and bins

Having a minimalist lifestyle doesn’t mean you just get rid of everything. Sometimes there are sentimental items or useful items you want to keep and that’s perfectly fine! We have some storage shelves in our bedroom (because we live in a tiny 1000 square foot apartment) and it was just overflowing with clutter. I picked up some organizational bins and containers from the dollar store and it helped make that area look a lot more appealing. 

​Let the light in! 

You can see in my “before” pictures, we had some blackout curtains hung up. We used those when our newborn son was sleeping and napping in a bassinet in our bedroom. Now that he is in his own bedroom, I decided to take down the curtains and let some light in to help the room feel brighter. We still have blinds that we can open and close when we need to you, but natural light is so important to me during the daytime. 

​Create a daily routine​

Once you have a clutter-free, organized bedroom you feel satisfied with, figure out how you are going to maintain it! Plan to take just a few minutes each day to pick up, put dirty laundry away, put items back where they belong, and make your bed. I have found that if I put in a little effort every day, I create less work for myself in the long run!

Waking up and going to bed in a clean space can reduce so much stress and anxiety. Having a clutter-free bedroom is an easy way to improve the start and end of the day. Less clutter = less stress! If it feels to overwhelming to tackle this all in one day (although it can be a relief to get it all done in one go), start by choosing just one of these areas to work on. You might find that your next step is to take your decluttering skills to other areas of the house and create yourself a minimalist home.

Does this feel impossible with kids around? Check out this article for tips on keeping your house clean with kids!