Room Cleaning & Organization Tips and Tricks

If you know me, you know that I love organizing and cleaning. I am also able to focus much better when I am in an organized area. I share a room with a six-year old, and you can imagine that it gets pretty messy. I have a lazy streak of my own, and over time, things come unorganized and messy. (Especially from the days where I get home late and don't take the time to put everything back where it needs to be.) 

One morning, I woke up with much determination to fix the mess. As soon as I got out of bed I got started. (hence the unmade bed and pillows on the chair. I promise, I make my bed every morning!) 

Since organizing is something that I really enjoy, I decided to put together some tips and tricks to organizing/cleaning your room, and also making it look cozier and more inviting. Hopefully it will help you with your endeavors. :)



This is the before picture...it was terrible. 

 

//1: Music- When I clean my room, I always have music on. This is because it helps me to stay focused. If there isn't something playing in the background, or something for me to sing along with, I will slip into the land of daydreams, and it takes me much longer to clean than it should. (not that it doesn't sometimes happen anyway, but it at least helps!) As you can see, Francesca Battistelli did the trick for me! I have to have something with words generally, as instrumental music is often too relaxing, thus providing the potential for daydreaming. Or sleeping. But that's another story. ;) 

//2: Containers/Drawers-

I highly recommend getting containers or a three-drawer organizer for your things. I have a big set of drawers as well as this little one, but I am not using right now. I found this one at a garage sale, and I use it for my hair things. The top drawer has bobby pins and hair clips, the middle drawer has all of my headbands, and the bottom drawer has all of my ponytails. I have it on top of my dresser, and it has helped me considerably with keeping my stuff together.
I used the first container for all of my perfumes, body sprays, lotions, and my favorite nail polishes and hair products. The second one I put all of my curling irons and flat irons in, along with my heatless curlers. These are also on top of my dresser.  

          

//3: Make your Bed-

Somebody told me once that teens are never supposed to make their beds. I ignored that. I can't not make my bed every morning. It makes your room feel so much more comfortable, and it also makes it look neater. I would also say pile on the pillows! I have always had a love of pillows, but it is very true that it adds soo much to your bed and also to the atmosphere and overall comfort of the room. I mean, who doesn't want to dive onto a bed cushioned with pillows? I make my bed more like a couch, because during the day when I am sitting on it, it is much more comfortable, and I can do school on it easier. It also helps to have a memory foam pad on your bed. Seriously, who doesn't love memory foam?

As you can see, it is already looking drastically better! I have a pillow and throw blanket on the chair in the corner as well, and it is now clear of pillows, leaving a great cozy spot to curl up with a book!

The toys that were all over the floor I put back under the bed much neater than before, and I also went ahead and made her bed for her. This is one kid who can clean up her toys by putting them under the bed! :) 

//5: Jewelry organizers- 

This was something I came up with a while ago to organize my earrings and necklace charms. I was tired of them getting scattered and lost, so I gathered a few things, and solved the problem!
Basically all this is is a small cup, (Of course, I had to use fancy one, but you can use any kind you prefer.) I filled it with rice, then hung my earrings all around the rim. I pretty much never wear studs, for reasons of my own, but I do have some, so I stick those in the rice along with my necklace charms that I don't have a chain for. I love this arrangement, and it works very well for me!

I don't have a ton of necklaces; I have several chains that I change charms on, so this is how I organize them. I have this cool little mail/key holder in my closet that I keep my cards and stuff in, then I hang my necklaces on the little hooks. It makes it easy in the morning when I get my clothes. I can just grab a necklace to go with it without having to go into a jewelry box or anything. 

*note: I do have a walk-in closet, so that's why all this stuff fits in there. If you don't have a walk-in, you can just hang it on the wall in your room. It is a cool way to display the necklaces as well!

//6: Scarves/Purses Organizer-

Let me start by saying how much I love over-the-door organizers. It makes life soo much easier, and keeps your room/closet from being so cluttered. I found this one around the house and hung my scarves and the purses I use most often on it. It is on the backside of my door, so it's inside of my room, and it isn't the first thing that you see when you walk in. It helps the room stay more organized, and also makes a great place to hang your purses when you aren't using them. (I have multiple purses for different things, so it's especially convenient for me!)

//7: Clothes Organizing-

I know some people use dressers for a lot of their sweatshirts and such, but I hang everything up except pants and my t-shirts. I prefer keeping everything less wrinkled than having it in a drawer, and it is easier to get to. As you can see, I am slightly OCD, and I color code my clothes when I hang them up. (And in my dresser.) One downside is that I don't have hangers to match, but that will happen someday I'm sure! :) I find that when I color code them, they are much easier to find what you are looking for. (especially if you have anything close to the amount of clothes that I have. This is only half of my ginormous closet.) If you aren't OCD like me, though, you can skip color coding them. I highly recommend hanging your clothes up, though. They stay smoother and nicer that way.

...And this is the finished look of the dresser/half of the room! I didn't get a picture of the whole room/closet, simply because it is a really weird shape, so it isn't exactly possible. This is how I set up my dresser, though. I love the cat at the end! It is a wooden carved cat covered with a rabbit skin. My friend gave it to me, because she thought it was creepy, but I fixed it up, and I have a strange fond attachment to it. I also used my drawers as a book-end. Oh, and of course the pumpkin spice candle...that is a staple in my room. :) I hang pictures/papers all throughout my room; there is not one blank wall. It livens it up so much more! 

I really hope you enjoyed this, and got some good ideas! I am sorry if it seemed scattered or boring..I tried to make it as interesting and helpful as I could! I'll post my September Favorites in a few days, so be watching!! :)

                              Until next time,
                                                   ♥