Declutter · Bedroom
How to declutter a bedroom
The short answer
Declutter the bedroom in about an hour and leave the wardrobe for its own day. Start with the bedside drawer: dead pens, old chargers, a phone from 2016. Then under the bed, where anything you cannot name without looking has answered the question. Then every surface: things have a home or they leave. Finish with the chair.
What order should I declutter the bedroom in?
- The bedside drawerDead pens, old chargers, receipts, a phone from 2016. Fifteen minutes, disproportionate satisfaction.
- Under the bedWhatever is under there has been out of sight for years. If you can't name it without looking, that tells you something.
- SurfacesThe dresser, the windowsill. Everything either has a home or it leaves.
- The chairThe one with the clothes on it. Wash pile or wardrobe. There is no third option.
What will I find, and where does it go?
Every bedroom declutter turns these up. Each has its own page, written for Australian Capital Territory where the answer changes by state.
- Clothes & textilesNever leave bags outside a closed op shop. Overnight rain or a passing scavenger turns a donation into a dumping fee the charity pays.
- Electronics & screensACTNever the kerbside bin, ban or no ban — lithium cells inside old devices are a fire risk in collection trucks.
- BatteriesBatteries in kerbside bins are a leading cause of fires in recycling trucks and sorting facilities. Vapes are lithium batteries in a case and belong in no bin either.
- Paperwork & documentsDon't scan everything just in case. You'll spend a weekend digitising paper you'd never have looked at again, and end up with digital clutter instead.
Stuck on one thing?
Run it through keep or go, or read the eight thoughts that stall everyone. If it's going and it's big, need it gone in Canberra.
You're not tidying. You're deciding what gets your attention.