“Our bedroom is the first place we see when we wake up and the last place we see when we go to sleep,” says Andrea Lewis from The Organised Curator, the London-based expert organiser, “It’s essential that we prioritise the way we take care of the space as it has the power to set the tone for how we sleep and how we start our day.” There’s nothing worse for morning morale or evening serenity than the sensation of stepping out of bed onto a landslide of nomadic knitwear. ‘Tidy desk, tidy mind,’ goes the idiom, but a messy workspace is nothing compared to starting your day with a foot on a plug or spending ten minutes trying to close an over-stuffed t-shirt drawer.
As much discussed elsewhere in our archive, the most important part of a bedroom is the atmosphere. Whether you’re curating a bedroom for a newborn baby or a sophisticated guest, serenity, warmth and ambience should be a major consideration. Lighting, colour schemes and bedding all contribute to said atmosphere, but organisation and a lack of clutter are essential. “As someone who promotes maximalism in so many ways, it’s taken me several decades of decorating my own homes as well as others to realise that the most serene and successful bedroom is one that is relatively uncluttered in terms of stuff,” recommends designer Flora Soames. But how do you get there?
Design and organise according to personal requirements
“It makes a big difference to organise based on personal requirements,” reminds Tracy Wu, manager of custom storage solution company Avenue Studio. This is particularly important during the design stage of a bedroom, where initial planning will save you a lot of pain in the long run. If you need a makeup table or an area for homework, for example, plan it rather than shoehorning requirements in after the fact, which could lead to disorganisation and an overflow of ‘things’. To the same point, don't put ample bookshelves in a bedroom for someone who prefers to read downstairs and would rather use the space for shoe storage.
Organisation should follow the same rules, with systems designed based on an individual's priorities and preferences. Rebecca Roberts from Curate My Space (who offers a range of home organisation and decluttering services in London) instructs that whilst giving each item a home is vital, try to take it one step further by “making sure that the things you need regularly are easy to access.” If you take medication before bed, then store them in the bedside table. Why hide your gym equipment behind your winter coats if you use it every day? Make a list of priorities and align your organisation systems. If you like to charge beside your bed then “install a cable organiser or a small charging dock inside or on the back of the bedside table to keep cords tidy and prevent tangling,” recommends Rebecca.
If you want a generalised system that works across the board, then Tracy says it best: “give everything a home and always store like with like.” “Make sure to evaluate your systems,” says Rebecca, “assess how things are working and tweak anything if necessary. One of the main reasons that a space can get messy quickly is if you are finding things difficult to put away or are not sure where they live.” A system that might have worked for you last year may no longer be working. For those who suddenly find themselves cohabitating, for example, having two people in one bedroom means more laundry, so you may need a new solution for dirty clothes. Also, remember that children evolve very fast, so whilst toys may be a priority one month, the next month could be about making a storage system for chargers, remotes and other electrical paraphernalia. Be flexible with your organisational approach.
Do maintenance on a daily, weekly and seasonal basis
All the experts agree that unfortunately, an organised bedroom requires daily attention. “It’s all too easy to use a chair in your room as a temporary wardrobe to store clothes, but try and get into the habit of putting clothes away as often as possible,” advises Andrea.
“There is no system which doesn’t require maintenance but if you have one which works it will make getting a room back into shape quick and easy. The key to making sure that things don’t get out of control is a reset,” says Rebecca, who believes that bedroom organising should happen on a daily, weekly and seasonal basis, which can be broken down thus:
- Daily: a five to ten-minute session before bed to make sure that clothes are hung or in the wash, bedside tables are clutter-free and anything that shouldn’t be in the room is relocated.
- Weekly: once a week you can do a more thorough review. Take an audit of what you have, tidy up drawers where things might have been dumped and get any build up of washing folded and put away.
- Seasonally: regularly assess belongings to ensure you are not storing or organising things that you no longer need or want, swap out off-season clothes (and store them away, perhaps in vacuum pack bags). Also, use it as an opportunity to pull out everything and give your room a spring clean.
Be smart about storage (and storage within storage)
If you're in the design stage of a new bedroom, then think carefully about your storage. In general, you can never have too much of it. Think about what your storage needs to do before having it built or buying it, like measuring the height of your boots to check they'll fit in your designated shoe area, or measuring the height of your child's textbooks before finding their shelving unit.
If your bedroom is set in layout or furniture, then don't feel like the horse has already bolted. Also don't feel that an ultra-organised IKEA wardrobe is a must. Instead, consider what Andrea calls “storage within storage" to customise and transform even the oldest antique wardrobe into a hub of efficiency. “Use drawer organisers so you can divide them up accordingly to separate tights from socks and so on," she instructs, "Slimline hangers are the ultimate (affordable) space savers that I always put on top of all my clients' shopping lists.”
Storage is particularly important in small bedrooms or box bedrooms. “The space under the bed is prime real estate in a box room,” says Rebecca. “Many beds come with built-in storage. You can choose from a range of side openings, bottom openings or with drawers. Be particularly careful with under bed drawers to make sure that you have room to fully open as the drawer at the head of the bed can often be restricted by a bedside table or a wall.” She also reminds us to use space above wardrobes too, for things you don't need instant access to like a vacuum-packed summer duvet, a suitcase or winter coats.
Wall space should also be capitalised on in small rooms. Shelving and hooks can be easily added for extra storage, and are great for a miniature guest room where permanent wardrobes may be redundant.
Consider sleep hygiene in the design phase
No, this isn’t about cleaning your sheets (though a 2012 study by the US National Sleep Foundation found that 73% of us sleep better on clean bedsheets and that our romantic lives improved too). The important matter of ‘sleep hygiene’ or the neat separation of work or life from your sleep space is an essential consideration when designing a new bedroom, or plotting a reorganisation. “Try and separate your day from your sleep,” says Andrea, “which means keeping out paperwork and laptops. I like bedrooms to be as calming and clutter-free as possible as it’s the one real space in your home (especially if you share with others) that you can curate mindfully.”
Rebecca agrees, but notes that many of us have started using our bedrooms as workspaces since the pandemic. “In a multi-functional room, maintaining a cohesive aesthetic is crucial,” she says, “Opt for stylish desks with built-in drawers and filing cabinets to combine form and function. A room divider or screen can be used to conceal the desk at the end of the day, helping to create a more restful environment.”
Carefully consider design and furniture
Finally, creating a ‘successful’ bedroom that is organised and neat also relies on good aesthetic decisions. As Flora recommends, maximalist decoration in a bedroom won't do anything to contribute to a sense of streamlined tranquillity. Bedsheets in neutral colours, for example, will help to create a fuss-free aesthetic, and selecting a material like linen or waffle avoids you having to iron your sheets when you pull them out from your (very organised) end-of-bed ottoman. “You might also try exposing the legs of furniture to make a small space look expanded,” says Tracy, “As well as picking durable and natural materials to make the space cosier and more welcoming.”
You may also find, as Olivia Outred did in the pretty bedroom scheme above, that genuinely useful furniture may also enhance a scheme – so be creative when considering what your organisational solutions look like.
