While annual spring cleaning sprees might first bring to mind the communal spaces like the living room and kitchen, the bedroom is a space that benefits from purposeful cleaning tasks throughout the year. We’re looking at a checklist of the small adjustments in the bedroom that create a more peaceful space that encourages restful sleep and better (read: less chaotic) mornings.
Tidy Up in 25 Minutes
For cleaning the bedroom, we start off with a quick once-over to get things back into order. Try not to get too involved in cleaning or scrubbing—instead focus on putting everything back in its place. Set a timer for 25 minutes and see how far you can get. Here are some areas not to forget:
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If you have books and magazines on the nightstand, streamline to no more than 1-2 titles you’re currently reading.
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Organize any trinkets, picture frames or jewelry on top of dressers and other surfaces. Corral loose jewelry or hair ties into small POP Containers for extra tidiness Anything else you could stash away? Less stuff = less stuff to dust.
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Clean up the space that almost everyone has for not-quite-dirty, but not-quite-clean clothes.
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Start a pile for anything that does not belong in the bedroom at all and put items away at the end.
Deep Cleaning Your Room
Pay special attention to hard to reach, often-neglected areas when dusting your bedroom, like ceiling fans and lampshades. We like to use the Long Reach Dusting System, as it’s a versatile tool for dusting anything from floor to ceiling. Be sure to clean all molding, door frames, baseboards and window sills. Even walls can be a little dusty!
Lastly, squeegee mirrors and wipe glass picture frames clean with a cloth.
Good tip: Dust areas methodically, top to bottom and left to right. This helps prevent moving dust over areas that were just cleaned.
Tackle Around-the-Bed Storage
If possible, pull out anything stored under the bed, so that the space is entirely clear. Dust under-the-bed flooring and carpet thoroughly. For hardwood floors, the Microfiber Floor Duster can be a real lifesaver!
Once that area is clean, challenge yourself to a game of tetris to find the most efficient storage plan. Start with the biggest items and work down to the smaller items, keeping in mind what items need to be accessed most and which can be a bit less easy to reach.
If your nightstands have drawers, tackle those too. Although it’s technically designed for the kitchen, the Expandable Utensil Organizer is a great tool for organizing smaller drawers in the bedroom too.
Optimize Your Bedroom Closet
Sorting old clothing and making a pile to donate to a local charity is a great weekend project. For our purposes today, we’re focused on a few small updates that make a big difference.
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Inspect dresser drawers and refold anything that resembles a pile. We like using drawer dividers to help keep piles in order and designate where certain items should go.
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In the closet, rehang anything that has fallen off the hanger and arrange clothing in an order that makes the most sense to you. We like to group like items together—button down blouses and long sleeves all in one place, for example—as it helps us see all our options clearly on busy mornings.
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If you keep shoes in the bottom of your closet, tidy these up and organize in a logical way, keeping similar style shoes together and rotating frequently worn items to the front.
Kick Start the Laundry
Apart from tackling regular linens and the contents of your hamper, now’s a great time to wash items that are long overdue, like curtains, decorative pillow covers and blankets. Be sure to check all tags to confirm if anything should be sent to the dry cleaners. This is also a great time to wash pillows too, as experts recommend doing that 2-3 times per year.
Good tip: Use tennis balls in the dryer to keep pillows fluffy.
While all bedding is in the wash, go ahead and flip the mattress. When was the last time you did that?
If you have an en suite, clean your bathroom another day—a deep clean there is best left to its own day. What else would you add to your bedroom cleaning checklist? Tell us in the comments or on social media using #OXOBetter.
