Declutter One Space at a Time Guest Bedroom

As the new year starts, I know my clients and many of you are looking to declutter and organize many of your spaces. Let us start the new year with going through each space in your home and give tips to declutter and organize. We will start out with the guest bedroom as it many times turns out to be the dumping ground for those things you just do not know what to do with or where to put them. Some of my clients tell me that it is the room they use to put all the clutter when someone is coming over.

Start with the bed itself. If you have piled items on top of it, take them off one at a time and decide if you are really in need of it and if so, where can it live? If you have not really missed having it, time to donate or trash depending on how long it has been sitting there. If you bought it to give to someone, start a bin labeled “gifts to give”. This should save you some money and time if you come and look through the bin every time you need a gift. If you know yourself and it is never going to happen, time to donate.

Move onto the dresser as many times it contains old items that no one has used for years. I find sometimes it is grown kids’ items from when they had the room, or keepsakes that were haphazardly put in a drawer. Unless you have guests that stay for long periods of time, it is only necessary to give your guests 2 drawers for their stay. I am saying this in case you actually need some of the drawer space for items you need to keep or for off season clothing. Make sure you make decisions on the items in each drawer and if much of it is keepsakes, start a bin for that too.

The closet should also have some space for your guest to hang their clothes when they visit. If you need some of the space for out of season clothes or extra items, then make sure they are all together and at one end. The shelf is probably not needed by your guest if they have drawer space. The shelf or shelves can be used to keep out of season items and the linens for the guest bed. Do not feel the need to keep more than one set of sheets for the guest bed. Unless you have a revolving door on your guest bedroom, you will more than likely have time to wash the sheets and change the bed before the next guest arrives. If you live a climate with a real winter, by all means, keep a set of flannel sheets for the guest bed too.

The accomplishment and sight of the bedroom will keep you from using it as a dumping ground. Feel good and maybe add some color or pillows to get ready for that guest.

Please feel free to leave a comment to my blog. I love hearing your stories.