~ Plus your bedside table & other bedroom surfaces.
365 days. 12 months. 52 weeks. You could do ANYTHING in that time, couldn’t you? Renovate a house? Declutter a house? Let’s do May.
Your Dressing Table
Or your vanity, or that shelf in your wardrobe – wherever you have all those things that you need to get ready for the day.
And that you plop things on when you don’t know what to do with them.
Or carefully store precious things that you don’t know what to do with.
Or empty your handbag/makeup bag/baby bag/pockets onto when you can’t find something.
Do your bedroom surfaces seem to breed stuff?
- Makeup, creams and serums and other sticky things
- Deodorants and perfumes
- Jewellery
- Hair thingies
- Your kids hair thingies
- Your kids art
- Confiscated toys
- Buttons, puzzle pieces, coins and batteries?
- Papers from work
- Half eaten cookies and choc you’re hiding from the kids…
If you can’t see the surface, and it’s hard to find what you need, it’s time to think differently about that space.
First Things First
You deserve better.
Maybe you thought I was going to talk about clearing the whole surface off just like in the TV shows and videos?
We’ll get to that in a bit.
The most important thing is your mindset. How you think about the surfaces in your bedroom.
What are they there for?
If you’re reading this you might not be happy with how you’re using them right now. So let’s look at what they were intended to be for.
It’s your bedroom right? Imagine the bedroom of your dreams. A grown up person’s place to retire, sleep, get ready for the day, relax. You get the gist. And it’s kind of nice if it looks lovely too isn’t it?
Your room should give you pleasure, even if it’s half an office or gym out of necessity.
The surfaces in your room could, if you let them, make you happy to look at. You could choose to only have on them the things you’re needing and using right now. Along with beautiful arrangements of things you love to look at.
Cute containers, trays, vases. Easy to use and lovely to look at.
Do I hear a scoff, I’m a MUM Liz, this is not going to happen or stay that way!
Why not! Why not banish all the things that don’t fit the dream dressing table that’s in your mind? Plonk them somewhere else (somewhere smart that works for you.)
How to clear a surface.
As I’ve mentioned before, I’m not a big fan of dumping everything from a space to start organising and decluttering. It’s overwhelming as heck.
However, in this case it might work for you. It depends on the volume of stuff piled up on the surface you want to clear.
If it’s your bedside table, it’s even more manageable. The trick is to make sure you have enough time to deal with everything, so you don’t have to put it all back, just so you can get on with your life.
Here are the steps:
Choose to put some time aside to deal with one surface.
Get a box or bag for recycling, one for rubbish and one for donations if you think there’s good stuff on there somewhere.
If you’re dealing with a mountain, carefully work your way from the top, so as not to be crushed under an avalanche and rely on your kids hearing your cries for help.
If it’s not in danger of collapsing onto the floor, you might like to lay a towel or two on your bed, take everything off the surface and spread it out.
Group similar things together:
- Paperwork and art
- Toys and stuff that belongs to the kids
- Makeup and creams
- Backup products
- Vitamins and medications
Rehome anything that does not belong in the bedroom of your dreams and put it in a Smart Spot that makes sense to you and your family. (See blog post below)
If you have to keep it in your room get a good sized box to keep it in, under your bed or on a shelf in your wardrobe (but if you can find a place somewhere else, that’s much much better!)
Toss any expired products.
Clean any mucky tubes, pots, hairbrushes etc.
Organise and declutter your jewellery.
Maybe put some things away in drawers.
Find cute containers or trays to hold the things you want to keep on the surface, nice and tidy.
Arrange on your surface until it makes you happy.
How to maintain it.
Smart Spots in other places around your house are the way to go.
Instead of plonking random stuff on your bedroom surfaces, plonk them in the place you’ve assigned for them. Don’t even bring them in your room!
- Backup products under the bathroom sink.
- Kids art in the Kids Art box in storage, under a bed or on a little used wardrobe shelf (in their room, or last resort, your room)
- Expired or used-up products go in the bin or recycling straight away (get a bin for your room!)
- Bits and bobs – pop them in the junk drawer, toy box, battery box in the kitchen or laundry, anywhere other than your lovely bedroom.
- Kids stuff in the kids room.
Return things to their container or tray, drawer or shelf as soon as you’ve finished using them.
If you buy more beautiful products and need to fit it in, get rid of the old stuff you don’t use any more. Pass it on to your kids or friends.
If you bring your handbag into your room, make a space for it to live – a hook, shelf or special small table, just for your bag.
If you need to empty your pockets or bag, get a small tray and use it just for those things. It’s a great temporary sorting surface too, with your bin next to you for rubbish.
How do you feel about your bedroom surfaces now?
Declutter and enjoy!
Liz.
X
P.S. I’m committed to sharing my decluttering, organising skills and tools with the world, in the hope that it can help others. If this blog resonates with you, please consider forwarding it to anyone who may benefit from it. If this was forwarded to you, subscribe below.
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