How to organise a bedroom

Key steps

1. A good way to get a tidy room is by making an inventory of what your main storage units contain – this will help you to see which items are in the correct unit, and what should be where. If you need help making the most of the space in a small bedroom, read our advice on bedroom storage solutions.

2. It’s best to organise your belongings into type – there’s no way of getting around this, but the results will be worth it. Begin by emptying everything.

3. Make a separate pile for items that you know you don’t really have room for, or that could go in other rooms of the house.

4. Use this opportunity to clean your bedroom thoroughly - follow our guide to bedroom cleaning to learn how to stay on top of this chore.

Bedrooms are often the messiest rooms in the house. They tend to be the place we put things when we’re not really sure where they belong – and that’s not the best recipe for having a tidy room.

Fortunately, we’ve devised a way to declutter and organise the bedroom that should take less than a single afternoon. Less fortunately, it will involve a bit of planning – but the sooner you start, the sooner you can move on to more enjoyable things. And if you really don't have time? Just follow our tips on how to make your bedroom look and feel clean without really trying.

If your bedroom has a slight clutter problem, vertical storage is your friend – increase your floor space by installing extra shelves, hooks, and wall cupboards if necessary. Moving everything up off the floor and surfaces will make your room feel larger instantly.

How to organise a bedroom

1. Find out what you’re working with.

First of all, make an inventory (from left to right or far wall to door, it really doesn’t matter how you do it) of every storage unit in the room. This could include the wardrobe, any chests of drawers, under the bed, the bookshelves, and any large boxes or other containers you have to hand.

(For the purposes of this exercise, the floor does not count as a storage unit.)

2. Empty absolutely everything.

Take everything that’s currently in these units out. Empty your wardrobe. Empty your drawers. Evict the spiders from under the bed and move everything that’s in there out. Pile it all up in the middle of the room.

(This is the hardest part of the process. But trust us, it’ll make things a lot easier down the line.)

3. Organise bedroom belongings by type.

How you organise your belongings will depend on what you have to store them. We recommend doing it by type: Clothes go in one pile, books in another, records and CDs in another, and so on. Once you’ve done this, you’ll have a solid idea of how much space everything you own is likely to take up in the bedroom, and thus a better idea of where it should all be stored.

Make a separate pile for any objects that are particularly large or bulky. The “oversize” category should be put back in place first – build the organisation of the rest of the room around them.

Next, make another special pile for anything you know you won’t have room for. Then split it into the things that you need to move out of the bedroom, and the things you actually need to throw out full stop. Yes, we know: parting with your Barry Manilow collection will be tough. But ultimately, it’s the right thing to do.

If you’re feeling particularly charitable, you can elect to put some of your refuse into a donate/sell pile. This way, Barry can find a new home, and you may even be able to make a little extra pocket money selling these unwanted items on eBay, Gumtree, or other similar websites.

4. Designate each pile to a particular storage area.

Bookshelves? Those are where the books live. Wardrobe? Clothes. And so on down the line. Once you know where everything’s going to go…

5. Put everything back where it’s supposed to be.

Once you’ve done that, you’ll be the proud owner of a tidy, organised bedroom, and you can store yourself safely in the bed.