How to Organize Your Room in an Hour

By Elizabeth Manneh, The Family Handyman

Dreading tackling the mountain of clutter in your bedroom? Fear not! With a little preparation and one single hour you can see how to organize your room into the bedroom of your dreams. 

Planning Makes Perfect

First things first. If you’re going to clear the clutter in one hour, you need to plan ahead. You don’t want your efforts sidetracked while you’re searching for a storage box! Be sure to have a box for items you will donate, a box for items you’re not sure about and a box or bag for trash. Items you’re keeping will be put where they belong on shelves, in the closet or in drawers. Now, take a good look at your room, think hard about how and where you want to store everything, and buy any storage containers, such as linen bags and a shoe organizer, ahead of time so you’re ready to hit the ground running.

Do a Swift Sweep

Clear the decks with a rapid initial sweep. Hurl trash into a garbage bag, sweep dirty clothing into a bed sheet and take to the laundry-room (check out our tips for small-space laundry room organization), and then use the bed as a clearing station. As you work through each area, spread items out on your bed so you can see everything clearly. Plus, you’ll have to get done quickly or you’ll have nowhere to sleep!

Stick to a System

A haphazard approach doesn’t work here. Pick one area, for example, a bookshelf, and place everything that’s on the shelves on the bed. Then consider each item, or group of items and keep what you truly want and ditch the rest. Don’t get distracted or overthink things—work quickly and methodically. Then repeat the process for other areas of your room.

Clear Your Closet

Closets are a magnet for clutter, so get your closet organized fast. Rapidly go through all clothing items, and keep only those that fit you and that you truly love. Have proper skirt/trouser hangers, invest in a scarf hanger, use drawer-dividers for socks and undies, and use hooks for purses and hats. Store off-season clothing in under-bed boxes if space is limited. And don’t forget to sort through your shoes and boots.

Brighten up Your Bedside

Bedside storage also attracts clutter, like keys, loose change, and of course, phones. So choose a storage solution that hides the clutter away in bedside drawers.

Declutter Your Vanity Table

It’s hard to keep a dressing table clutter-free but it can be done. Chuck out any toiletries or cosmetics that are old or no longer used (three months is the recommended time limit for make-up), and use drawers with dividers, small baskets or stacking storage so everything is at hand but tidied away. Keep a trash can for used tissues, cotton balls etc.

Double-up With Your Door Space

Doors are often wasted space when thinking about how to organize your room. Hooks are great for hanging a bathrobe or items you need for tomorrow like your outfit, scarf and hat. Hanging plastic pockets that hook over the top of a door are great for storing small items like electrical chargers so you can see at a glance where each charger is without spending hours untangling cables.

Keeping Your Room Clutter-Free

And there you have it—by preparing well and working speedily, you really can get your room organized in an hour.

But once you’re organized, don’t throw that hard-won victory away by collecting more junk!