Like many people, I’ve been spending these past few days at home social distancing, and as a result, I’ve spent more time than I ever have before in my room. Being in my room so much made me notice all the areas that I had neglected to clean before — areas that I had let slide for reasons like “I don’t have enough time to clean them” or “I’m not in my room enough for those spots to bother me.” So, I decided to do an extremely deep cleaning of my room. I’m not talking about wiping surfaces and rearranging; I’m talking about decluttering and scaling down the amount of things I have in my room. If this sounds like something your room might need, here are a few tips to help you out!
- Open the Windows!
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Before you even start cleaning and decluttering, open any windows you have in your room. Going through your clutter will likely stir up a lot of dust that has accumulated. Having your window open will help to air out your room as you clean.
- Work in Sections
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When beginning a massive room cleaning or decluttering project, it is very easy to feel overwhelmed. Making a plan and working in sections can make the whole process easier to manage. For example, when I was cleaning my room I divided my room into the following sections: drawers by my windows, bookshelf, dresser, left side of my closet, right side of my closet, and my desk. Having these sections was extremely helpful, as I could focus on decluttering smaller areas, instead of tackling my whole room. After each section, I would take out my trash (for things I decided I did not need anymore) and set aside donation items (for things nice enough to give away), so I could start fresh for the next section.
- Revisit Sections — Even if you Cleaned Them in the Past
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We all have that area in our room that we went through before. Whether it’s a stack of books or a drawer full of clothes, we often think that there’s nothing else we could get rid of, since we already went through it in the past. However, you’d be surprised by the number of things you may no longer need. In my room, I had several shelves of binders, books, and folders from high school that I had gone through already within the past year. In the past, I hadn’t been able to get rid of them because I thought I may use my notes or textbooks again. However, now that some time has passed, my situation is different; I now know that I will never be taking a math or science class ever again, so I no longer need to hold on to my calculus notes or my biology textbook. Thus, I was able to get rid of lots of papers and books to free up some space in my room. Revisit areas of your room to see if there is anything else you can part with!
- Wipe and Dust after Each Section
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Imagine you just finished going through a section and found a whole trash bag of things to get rid of. That’s great — look at all that free space! However, it is likely that the space you opened up is covered in dust. Make sure to dust or wipe any surfaces as you go to avoid a big, dusty mess at the end of your cleaning process.
- Don’t be Afraid to Keep Some Sentimental Items
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In your cleaning process, you will probably come across some really sentimental items. While the goal of decluttering is to end up with fewer things, don’t be afraid to keep some of these items that are close to your heart. Whether it’s your baby blanket or a shirt from your high school senior trip, don’t feel like you need to get rid of these items just because you don’t use them on a daily basis. Consider setting aside an area in your room (such as a drawer, basket, etc) to keep these sentimental items.
Hopefully, these tips help you clean and declutter your room and transform it into the organized room you always wanted! After all, with all this time social distancing at home, what better time is there to hunker down and do some deep cleaning!