You’re sick and tired of having to put up with the cluttered space, but are too overwhelmed by how hard it is to start.

You want to clean and organize your room, but where on earth do you begin?

This list has every step that it takes to deeply and efficiently clean your room, even if it feels like it’s not possible.

Committing to Cleaning

While you may be in the mood to clean right now, do you know if you’ll end up finishing the job? Make sure your schedule is completely clear, since cleaning your room is a large commitment.

Remember that you also want to be in a good state-of-mind when you clean your space, or else you might get stressed too quickly from the amount of things it feels like you have to do.

Luckily, this guide is organized in a way that will make sure this process isn’t too overwhelming to you.

Getting Started

Before we jump into getting to the hard part of cleaning, let’s clear up your room first.

• Gather everything that isn’t supposed to be in your room, and put it where it’s meant to go. This includes plates, bowls, orange peels – you get the idea.
• Open the window. Let some fresh air in to energize you and put you in the cleaning mood!
• Rid yourself of distractions. Ignore social media, turn off your phone, and forget about anything else that might take your focus away from cleaning.

Step #1: Make Your Bed

Before you even begin cleaning your room, be sure to start off by making your bed.

Your bed is usually the centerpiece of the room, and if it’s messy, then the whole room feels messy.

Make your bed, and organize all of your pillows and sheets to make it look neat and tidy.

Step #2: Compile Your Things

Let’s be real – doing this project one step at a time can take forever, and can be more difficult to sort out.

So how about we just jump into the thick of things and get started?

Take everything out of your dresser, closet (though you should ignore the clothes for now) nightstand, desk, from under your bed, and any other storage spaces in your room. Place everything on the floor in a pile.

This pile might be big, or it might be small. It doesn’t matter – we’ll get through it either way.

Take everything out of boxes and smaller storage, as well. Every little thing counts. Make sure not to break anything as you’re doing this, and treat all of your materials kindly so that you don’t wreck them.

Step #3: Sort it All Out

Now we get to sort through all of the items that you’ve just put into a pile.

Take a deep breath, and begin. Pick up items one at a time, and sort it into one of the following sub-piles:

• Keep
  • Any item that you can’t live without, or love too much to part with, should go into the keep pile.
• Doesn’t Belong
  • Items that you want to keep but don’t belong in your room go in this pile.
• Sell
  • This pile is for things you don’t want to keep, but might be able to earn some money off of by selling.
• Donate
  • Donating items is a great way to give back to others and know that your items are going to someone who needs it. Keep in mind that some places don’t allow certain items to be donated, so make sure you do your research. Also, make sure you only donate good-quality items, and dispose of the broken or dirty items in a different way.
• Recycle
  • Things like used paper, cardboard, and other items, varying at different areas, are all recyclable. Sort all of the things you want to recycle in another pile. Remember to always be environmentally friendly when throwing things away.
• Garbage
  • Put the items that you want to throw away in the garbage.

Everything that you’ve sorted should now have a home in a sub-pile. If not, create an ‘other’ pile.

If you’re questioning whether you need something, remember that if you haven’t used it in a month, a year, or not at all, you probably won’t need it in the future either.

Step #4: Boxes and Bags

Now that you’ve got all of your organized piles, find some boxes or bags to put your donate, sell, garbage, and recycle items in.

Go throw your recycle and garbage into the proper bins. Move everything that doesn’t belong in your room to its proper place elsewhere in the house.

Get your ‘sell’ and ‘donate’ boxes and move them out of your room to a place in your house where they won’t be blocking the way.

You’ll notice that your room is much more clean already, with all of that unneeded stuff out of the way.

Now your room only has one pile left, what do you do next?

Step #5: Clean Surfaces

If you surfaces are covered in dirt and dust, you should probably clean it off before you go any further.

Cleanse all of the spots that collect dust and grime by dusting and wiping it

Clean around your window frame, in the drawers, on your shelves, polish, and wipe any glass decor that you have.

Make all of your room’s surfaces as spotless as you can for that fresh, modern look.

Step #6: Organizing Your Keep Pile

Where will each object in your keep pile go, now that you’ve decided what you want to keep?

Look at all of the storage spaces that you have in your room. As an example; your papers, binders, and pens would probably go somewhere in your desk, while your small items would go in a box or your nightstand.

Pile them into these categories (I know, more sorting) and make sure that there is also enough space in your storage to put these items.

Step #7: Putting Your Stuff Away

Finally! It’s time to put all of your stuff away.

Going from one drawer to the next, put everything away in a neat, efficient fashion.

Sort things however you like. Try to make it aesthetically pleasing, and make sure it’s easy to locate the things that you need.

In my desk, I use a system where I put things that I frequently use where I can easily access them.

Step #8: Sort Your Clothes

Now we need to tackle clothes!

• First, clean all of your dirty clothes so that you can see all of them at once together.
• Take the clothes from your closet and dresser, and lay them out on your bed or a clean surface.
• Look at which ones fit you and which ones don’t. Do any off them have stains or are ripped? There’s no point in keeping clothes that you can’t use anymore.
• Sort the clothes that you like from the ones you don’t.
  • If you haven’t used a piece of clothing for over a month you probably wouldn’t use it again. However, don’t completely follow this rule if the reason that you haven’t worn the clothing is because it’s the wrong season to wear it.
  • Donating the clothes that you don’t like is a great way to give them more use, and is good for the environment. (Try to only donate clothes that are good quality, or follow the donation rules of the place you’re giving them to)

Fold all of the clothes that you’ve decided to keep and put them neatly away in your closet.

If you want to make your storage look even more tidy, there are many different ways to sort your clothes; you could do it by color, size, season, brand, and more!

Step #9: Clean Your Floors

A lot of dust and dirt had probably collected on your floor from when you put everything on the ground.

Be sure to clean all of that up by sweeping and vacuuming!

Step #10: Decorating

Since you’ve finished sorting through all of the stuff in your room, now’s the time to decorate it!

Any old paintings or pictures on your wall that you don’t want anymore? Replace them with new ones!

Pin up pictures, posters, calendars and whatever makes you feel happy.

Decorate the surfaces of your furniture with throw pillows, lighting, plants, and more!

Now your room is clean and organized, and you won’t have to stress about having to clean it anymore, because you’ve already done it! Make sure to keep it that way.