How to Organize Your Bedroom on Nearly Any Budget
Declutter and organize a bedroom with ideas that address your storage needs and work with your budget
by: Jeanne Taylor
Houzz Contributor. Jeanne Taylor is a professional home organizer in the San Francisco Bay Area. She is the co-owner of Tailorly with her business partner Patricia Lee. Together they create beautiful homes through decluttering, organizing, and styling. For more information visit www.tailorly.net. More
Bedrooms may not be the first spaces you think of when it comes to home organizing. Perhaps yours are due for a refresh. Even if you’re not ready for a complete bedroom makeover, a little decluttering and organizing might support a more peaceful environment in which to relax and unwind. Read on for ideas on how to organize your primary, guest or kids’ bedrooms, no matter your budget.
What to Do Before You Start
Set your goals. Consider the room’s size and intended purpose, whether it’s a primary bedroom, a child’s bedroom or a guest bedroom. Think about your budget, your home’s style and the decor in other parts of the house.
Your goal might be to turn your primary bedroom into a relaxing retreat, or perhaps your guest bedroom needs to be reimagined to accommodate a home office. I recommend writing down your goals to help keep you motivated during the process.
Some of my clients get stuck because they struggle with their style and design preferences. For these clients, I recommend creating a Houzz ideabook. Browse and save bedroom photos by room type, whether you’re looking for ideas for a primary bedroom, a guest room or a child’s bedroom. This may help you better conceptualize your style and ideas for the room.
Remove clutter. Consider removing anything from your primary bedroom that hinders your goal. If your objective is to create a space that promotes relaxation and tranquillity, you may want to winnow items that add visual clutter.
Cull books and magazines from the nightstand and hang up clothing draped over chairs. Clear out clutter accumulated on flat surfaces, such as water bottles, receipts or hair ties. Think about paring down knickknacks and small decor from the tops of dressers. Perhaps it’s time to donate some of the decorative pillows and blankets that may be crowding the bed. Clear away anything that belongs in another part of the house.
Remove larger items that don’t have a place in your primary suite. For example, consider relocating or selling the exercise bike you bought during the pandemic if it’s only functioning as a clothes rack now. The same goes for the temporary home office setup if you no longer need the workspace or can relocate it to another part of your house.
Note: If you use your exercise bike or workstation on a regular basis and don’t have another location for it, please leave it where it is.
For some of my clients, the guest room is a dumping ground for things they can’t make decisions about, such as unused furniture and home decor, old linens, obsolete electronics and unfinished craft projects.
Since the holidays are approaching and out-of-town guests may be arriving, now might be the time to make decisions about these items. If you’re no longer using something, it may be occupying valuable square footage that could be put to better use. I recommend donating anything that’s keeping you from your goal for the space.
I suggest paring down the items in your child’s bedroom a few times a year. When my children were small, we spent time at the end of each school year sorting clothes, books, toys and schoolwork. We donated clothes that were too small and toys and books that were no longer being used. A few favorite school and art projects were saved in a memorabilia box.
If you have clothes, toys or books you’d like to save for a younger sibling, I recommend removing them from prime storage areas and placing them in a container to store at the top of a closet or another out-of-the-way storage area.
Perhaps your child receives hand-me-downs from older cousins or friends. In my experience with clients, this can be both a blessing and a curse. Sometimes drawers and closets become overcrowded with too much stuff, making it difficult for the child to find things and put them away.
Consider being selective about the items you introduce into your child’s bedroom. If they already have an overabundance of toys and clothes, perhaps select one or two special things and donate the rest.
Basic Improvements
Drawer organizers and dividers. I always recommend drawer organizers or dividers for my clients’ dresser drawers. If budget is a concern, consider using shoeboxes or other small boxes you may already have.
New drawer organizers are available at several price points. They come in various materials, including plastic, basketweave, bamboo and fabric-lined cardboard, as well as in many shapes and sizes. Drawer dividers are generally made of bamboo or plastic and are adjustable to fit the size of your drawers. Be sure to measure your drawers carefully (including the height) before purchasing anything.
In this photo, fabric-lined boxes keep small items like bras and panties organized and easy to find.
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In this photo, plastic organizers keep accessories in the top drawer of a dresser organized and tidy.
Jewelry storage. For jewelry storage, consider purchasing a jewelry box or a plastic container with compartments to make it simple to find what you want to wear. If you have a large collection, you may want to outfit a top dresser drawer with small dividers to keep your treasures organized.
If you own a large quantity of necklaces, think about attaching hooks to a wall to keep them from becoming tangled. A wall inside your closet might have space to accommodate such hooks.
Vertical folding. Although folding clothes vertically may seem like an organizing gimmick, I highly recommend it. Storing clothes vertically makes it easy to remove something without messing up other items. Since you can see everything, unworn clothes don’t get lost at the bottom of the stack. This also makes it easy to pick out items you never wear and donate them.
Vintage dresser. If you’re looking for high-quality bedroom furniture on a budget, a vintage dresser might be the answer. Also consider personalizing the furniture if it doesn’t suit your style. If you don’t like a dark wood finish, for example, consider applying a fresh coat of paint.
Hooks for jackets and accessories. If your family members aren’t in the habit of hanging their clothes in the closet, perhaps a wall-mounted coatrack or row of hooks would help keep jackets off of chairs. This can be an especially effective strategy for a child’s room.
Midrange Solutions
Bed with storage. A bed with built-in drawers underneath can be useful in a small bedroom that can’t accommodate a dresser — or has additional storage needs.
I also recommend thin plastic containers that fit under some beds to store out-of-season clothing. Be sure to measure the height under your bed before ordering.
Jordan Rosenberg Architect
Storage bench. A storage bench at the end of a bed can house extra blankets and flannel sheets used during the winter months.
Storage unit with baskets. For a child’s bedroom especially, a storage unit with baskets can corral a variety of items, including toys, craft projects, books and schoolwork. Baskets can be removed from the unit and belongings can be easily accessed and put away. I recommend attaching hanging tags with labels so your child can easily put items into the correct baskets.
Deluxe Improvements
Wall bed or Murphy bed. A wall bed is a luxury solution for anyone who needs a bedroom that will serve multiple purposes.
Some of my clients with larger budgets install wall beds in bedrooms that double as home offices or exercise studios. The bed can be folded up into the wall, leaving space for other activities. Often, the mattress on a Murphy bed is more comfortable than the mattress on a standard sofa bed.
Custom built-in storage. The price tag is generally high anytime you commission a pro to build a custom storage solution. Custom projects designed to fit your style, storage needs and room dimensions can be a high-quality choice if budget is less of a concern.
Custom bed with storage. This child’s bedroom in a new-build home has a custom bed with generous storage. During the initial planning stages, my business partner and I worked with the architect and cabinetmaker to design the storage for this home. When the home was completed, we unpacked and organized our clients’ belongings before they moved in. The whimsical child’s bedroom has abundant built-in storage for toys and books. A custom build such as this is a luxury solution.
Bedrooms are sometimes neglected when it comes to organizing since they’re often upstairs or in the back of the house. I recommend focusing on one bedroom at a time so as not to become overwhelmed.
After defining your goals, start with culling and removing anything that doesn’t belong in the space. For some, this can be a daunting process.
When you’re finished decluttering, reward yourself by searching for photos on Houzz of your dream bedroom. With more concrete goals in mind, you may be motivated to continue the process and make your aspirations a reality.