Have you ever noticed that your belongings start to feel a bit like the tribbles on that one “Star Trek” episode? You know—one item spawns another item, which spawns another item until you have a whole room full of tribble-belongings.
This situation might have been funny on TV, but it becomes less funny when your bedroom gets so full that you have no place to sleep or dress properly.
Ah, the curse of the bedroom with very little space.
The good news is there are some clever bedroom organization hacks that can really help you gussy up your bedroom and save your sanity in the process. These organization ideas range from practical tips to some hard advice on what to get rid of and what to keep.
Here are four organization hacks that will help you organize everything from your bedroom shelves to the space under your bed.
Get Rid of It
Imagine this. You’re cleaning the kitchen after you’ve had a barbecue with friends. There are piles of used paper plates and napkins on the counter. You start your kitchen cleaning job by moving the paper plates from the counter by the sink to the counter by the stove. Then, you start wiping down the counters by the sink.
If you’re shaking your head at the silliness of this, then it’s important to understand on a fundamental level that used paper items really should just go into the garbage and not on another counter before you start your cleaning. Maybe it’s not just a stack of used paper plates, either. It’s a stack of old bills, advertisements, and the like that just keep on taking up space on your tables, on your counters, and, well, everywhere.
Why keep these useless items?
Here’s the thing. The extra papers, the clothes you haven’t worn in five years, the souvenirs from your second-grade trip to the zoo—they all just take up space in your bedroom.
Any bedroom organization that you do, particularly if you have very little space to begin with, will be helped a great deal if you start by decluttering. If you have fewer items to put away, then you will have fewer items to organize.
Ask Yourself How Much Furniture You Really Need
In a bedroom with little space, the space that you do have equals prime real estate. When it comes to how to organize your bedroom, it’s good to think about the function of your furniture.
More specifically, think about the function of each piece of furniture that you have and how it can possibly serve double duty.
Here’s an example. Your bed becomes a place for you to not only sleep but also a place where you can store your belongings if you either invest in a platform bed or get some boxes for under the bed. Winter shoes and sweaters, extra blankets, and the like can get stowed in the space under your bed when you don’t need them.
Anytime you can turn a piece of furniture into a multipurpose object, the more space you free up.
Here’s a list of double-duty furniture pieces you can invest in:
• A trunk at the end of the bed becomes a sitting bench and a storage container.
• The dresser becomes the nightstand when you place it by the bed.
• A bed that comes with storage space in the headboard can hold books, clothes, and other items.
You get the picture.
Go Up, Not Out
Big cities employ this concept all the time. There are so many buildings in New York City that the only solution city planners have is to build up, not out. Your bedroom can be the same way.
Here are some ways you can take advantage of your bedroom walls when the floor gets full:
• Get a Murphy bed. If you have a studio, then go with a fold-out couch.
• Use bedroom shelves as room dividers in a studio (where the bedroom is the living room and the kitchen).
• Go with wall-mounted shelves for books and photos.
• Buy wall-mounted lamps instead of setting up tabletop lamps by your bed; this saves you space on the night table.
• Hang a shoe rack on the back of your bedroom door.
• Invest in a fold-down desk if you must work in your bedroom.
• Hang hooks on the wall for hats, scarves, and long necklaces.
Decide What to Do With Clothing
Most of your belongings probably fall into the clothing and shoes categories. As such, it makes sense to figure out how to organize your clothes so you still have plenty of space and your clothes get the TLC that they need, too.
Let’s start with the dresser. If you’re like most people, you probably fold your clothes. Try rolling them up instead and see how much more dresser space you have, even if you never invest in a bigger dresser.
Next, take a look at your closet. Is it a candidate for a closet organizer? For many frustrated room cleaners, adding a system like this has been a key component of good organization in their bedrooms. Some of these units come with extra shelves for shoe and hat storage. They also have built-in shelves where you can stow away hats, bulky sweaters, and other non-foldable/non-hangable items.
Finally, don’t overlook your ceiling and some clever organization hacks. Those hanging fruit baskets that you get at the local market make a great place to store pairs of socks, underclothes, gloves and mittens, and other small belongings. Just hang a hook in the bedroom ceiling somewhere and hang up the tiered fruit basket.
Getting control of your bedroom tribbles takes time, but it’s worth the effort.
Organizing your bedroom thoroughly allows you to rid yourself of items you no longer use. For more tips on how to do this, take a look at this post on removing clutter.
This process also helps you invest in furniture pieces that better suit the needs of your bedroom. Additionally, good bedroom organization encourages you to use your wall and closet space in ways that clear off your floor.
Finally, if you find that you could use some extra space as you continue to organize your bedroom, why not give StorageMart a call to find out more about how self storage can help you with your bedroom organization?