For as many years as I can remember, I've struggled to fall asleep. At bedtime, my brain feels like it's whirling around at a thousand miles per hour, and no matter what I do, it just won't switch off.
I've tried a number of remedies over the years to battle these bouts of insomnia, from teas, sleeping medicine, and changes in my habits such as staying off of my phone half an hour before bed. But I've heard organizing a bedroom correctly to promote high-quality rest can do the trick.
I consulted two sleep experts to hear how they reckoned I should reorganize my bedroom to cultivate better ambiance for sleep. After implementing their tips, I was happy to find it really did improve my sleep.
4 steps to make your bedroom organized and optimal for sleep
1. Declutter your space prior to organizing
If you don't take the time to declutter your bedroom prior to organizing it, you will merely be organizing your clutter. Especially in a bedroom where it's important to create somewhere calm, the last thing you will want is a cluttered space creating a bad energy.
Julia Siemen, a certified sleep science coach at Sleep Advisor, says, 'Organization and decluttering are key to making your bedroom feel more spacious and serene. Having clothes and clutter scattered around can create stress, which will likely affect how relaxed you feel in the space, impacting your ability to rest.'
According to Julia, a person's bedroom can be broken down into three main clutter-zones: surfaces (nightstands, desks, dressers, and windowsills), closets, and under the bed.
'Clearing out your closet and under-the-bed storage, if possible, can help reduce clutter and make your space feel more open,' says Julia.
Dealing with busy surfaces is also an impactful way to declutter your bedroom to make it feel bigger.
Organize your nightstand drawers and get rid of anything you don't need, use or forgot you had. This will no doubt carve out space for storage so you can clear the surface.
After hearing this, I took everything out of my under bed storage and sorted the contents into categories. Sorting items makes them easier to declutter as you can see what like-items you own. From there, I gathered any items I no longer wanted into a bag to donate and began placing what I wished to keep under the bed back inside in a more systematic way.
I made sure my spare blankets were folded, my hot water bottles were together, and my spare yarn for projects which has no other home was neatly stored together in a plastic tote like the clear weather tight totes from The Container Store. This helped to keep my yarn in one place as well as free from dust and dirt.
I also made a conscious effort to declutter the surfaces in my room so they only contained items I used or particularly loved to look at. Surfaces can gather clutter really fast, and sometimes it takes removing everything off of your bedroom's surfaces to realize how much was there in the first place.
To get started, delve into the things in your bedroom that pro organizers recommend getting rid of right now.
2. Think about how items in your bedroom make you feel
I didn't notice until taking a closer look at my room just how much every object inside it makes me feel a certain way. My stuffed animals make me feel comforted but seeing my calendar and work supplies in my bedroom makes me think about work when I need to rest. Similarly, if I haven't taken out the little trash can in my bedroom, it bothers me and I'm constantly aware of it.
Carlie Gasia, a certified sleep science coach and certified wellness coach at Sleepopolis, says, 'You should view your room as your environment for relaxation and anything that does not contribute to that relaxed feeling should not be present in the space.'
As a result of Carlie's insight, I began placing my laptop and work notebooks inside of my desk's drawer before bed so I wouldn't see them come bedtime. If I had more space elsewhere I might consider moving my desk into another room to separate my work and sleep environment. However, I have found putting away your work supplies and placing a couple of items that bring you joy on or around your desk is an effective way to harness the power of decluttering a bedroom to improve sleep.
I also swapped my trash can for one with a lid similar to the brightroom step trash can with locking lid from Target so I can't see any trash peeking out and feeling it has to be discarded when I need to sleep.
This drill free storage organizer can hold your laptop and other work files out of sight. Simple mount it, drill free, to the side of your desk and out of site then pack away your laptop, notepad and other work bits so you won't see them in bed.
3. Consider how to organize your bed
Usually, I sleep with one large pillow and a smaller one to support my neck, as well as a many stuffed animals. My bed is also purposefully near a wall next to a plug socket so I can switch on a lamp when needed to enjoy reading, or wake up slower than switching on the overhead light immediately would allow.
Carlie explained to me how important it is to optimize your bedding as well as your bed, as it isn't enough to just be comfortable in your best bed sheets – it's vital to feel as though your bed in itself is suitable in the way it's set up to meet your needs.
'Optimize your bed and bedding,' says Carlie. 'Your bed is the centerpiece of your sleep and you should ensure that it is tidy and comfortable in all ways for good rest.'
Thinking on her advise, I realised at times in the nigh, I feel a bit cramped in my bed with all my sentimental stuffed animals, and it leaves me feeling like I'm trying to organize a bedroom with too much stuff. Whereas in reality, it's actually just my bed that has too much in it.
To help organize and optimize my bed, I decided to install a shelf in my room where my stuffed animals could live when they weren't in my bed. This gave me more space, gave my bed a less cluttered appearance, and made my bed easier to make every day. It also allowed me to enjoy the items I cared about in a more effective way, whilst not interrupting my rest.
I moved my bed slightly further away from the wall it was near too, as I could hear a pipe when hot water ran which could cause disturbance in the night.
These floating shelves can help you organize things you want to keep close without taking up drawer or floor space. They comes in six colors including pine, white and gray, and come with the hardware included to wall mount.
4. Inject calm into the space through thoughtful additions
If you find yourself waking up feeling emotionally drained, your bedroom Feng Shui might be off. Perhaps your room is unintentionally filled with Feng Shui mistakes and it's disturbing the peaceful energy a bedroom needs to have.
To combat this and create a more restful room, you can make thoughtful additions to your bedroom, as noted by Julia. 'Once your space is more organized, you can enhance your sense of calm with small additions like aromatherapy, houseplants, curtains, or a sound machine,' says Julia.
The additions one person wishes to make will differ from another, so after talking with Julia I took some time to think about what 'calm' means to me before bed and during rest.
I added a small succulent to my windowsill, a small coloring book of mandalas and a word-search book to my nightstand, and pared down my collection of candles to only leave my favorite most soothing scents.
I used to be someone with loads of different candles partly burned, but after considering which make me feel the best, I now only have three: Fireside by Woodwick which is available at Target, a spiced apple one similar to the Yankee Candle Autumn Wreath scent available at Target, and Yankee Candle's Mango Peach Salsa scent, currently available on Amazon.
'It’s also important to remember that everyone is different and what is comfortable for one person may not be the best for another,' echoes Carlie.
Give aromatherapy a whirl with this essential oils set. You can even make up fragrant DIY bedroom cleaning solutions with two cups water, 10-20 drops of essential oil. This will help layer scents you like in your bedroom (and cleans well!)
Final thoughts
Making the changes in my room as suggested by the sleep experts has helped me bring in a better sleep routine and environment. Removing my calendar, packing away my work items, switching my bin type out, adding shelves and clearing things out have all reduced my bedroom stress from clutter and work worries, resulting in being able to fall asleep much more quickly most nights.
Meanwhile, removing my teddies from my sleep space and putting some distance between my bed and the noisy hot water pipes has resulted in more comfortable sleep with less night awakenings.
Organizing my cluttered bedroom has definitely improved my sleep quality and duration for the better.
Going forward, I definitely plan to keep up what I've learned here, and perhaps also further consider how relaxation could be cultivated in other areas of the home such as the living room or by a bath tub.
You're now in the know about all things organizing when it comes to a bedroom space. But did you know there are actually some specific bedroom items pro organizers say you should never throw out? Make sure these aren't culled from your bedroom to avoid decluttering regret.
