Often people let their rooms get messier and messier because the thought of cleaning them seems overwhelming. The more cluttered the room is, the more unappealing the task of cleaning seems. However, if you follow a list of simple steps to clean your room, you'll find you can clean it in no time and with no stress!
How to Clean Your Room Step-by-Step
If you're ready to clean your room fast, just set aside some uninterrupted time and use the steps in order. You'll find if you follow them as listed you will clean your room faster and future room cleanings will be a breeze.
1. Get Your Cleaning and Storage Supplies Ready
Gather together everything you will need to clean your room so you won't have to interrupt the flow of your work and leave to find things you will need. The items you will need will include:
- A trash can and/or trash bags
- A cleaning solution of your choice (such as a commercially prepared multi-surface cleaner like Mrs. Meyer's or Mr. Clean or a DIY solution using ingredients like vinegar)
- A dusting solution such as Pledge and dusting cloth (optional)
- Clean dry cloths, microfiber cloths or a sponge
- Equipment to clean the floor such as a vacuum, broom or mop
- A clothing hamper or basket for laundry
- Organizer items of your choice such as plastic storage containers, boxes, or bins
2. Set Items All in One Place
Take every item that is not already in its designated place and put in one central area. This could be on your bed, a couch or a chair. The idea is to take every item that is not where it should be and place it in one spot so you can then sift through and place items by category. For example, take all the clothes lying on the floor and books or electronics on your desk and put them on top of the bed in a pile.
3. Clean Empty Surfaces
Now that you've removed any items from covering desks, dressers, shelves or other areas, you can make quick work of cleaning those surfaces. Take your cleaning solution and your cloth or sponge and clean those areas thoroughly. You can also dust the surfaces as well with a dusting solution like Pledge. The benefit of doing the steps in this order is that you will be cleaning the entire surface area of a piece of furniture rather than cleaning around items on top of them. This is something people often do to save time, but doing so just perpetuates keeping the surface partially dirty. Likewise, this is the time to clean the floor as it's now free of clothes and other items and you can make quick work of vacuuming or sweeping.
4. Plan and Arrange Your Organizers
Take a minute to plan your next course of action, as doing so will make the next few steps go faster and smoother.
- You will need to decide what the broad categories of items that need to be put away will be. This could be a list of categories like dirty laundry, electronic devices, loose paperwork, or toys.
- Once you've decided on categories, decide where these items will go and how many storage bins or boxes you will need.
- Now take all of your organizing solutions and arrange them against the wall so they're easily accessible. For example, if you plan on placing items in some fabric bins, plastic storage tubs and a laundry hamper, line them up against the wall.
- If you're not sure which storage item will hold each category of item, you can write the category on a post-it note or a piece of paper and place it by the storage container.
5. Remove the Trash
Go through the pile and take anything that's trash. You can put the trash into a trash can or fill a trash bag. Once you've removed all the trash, tie up the bag and place it outside the door of your room. If you were using a trash can, you can put a fresh new bag into the can so you're ready to go for your next cleaning session.
6. Fill the Laundry Hamper
Now you're ready to start putting categories of items away. Start with your dirty laundry by gathering all the clothes in the pile and placing them into your hamper or basket. If the hamper or basket is full, place it just outside the door of your room. If it's not ready for a full load yet, place the hamper in your closet or in whichever area of the room that it normally goes.
7. Put Away Clean Clothes
If any of the clothes in the pile do not belong in the laundry hamper, take them all and put them where they belong. This means hanging items in the closet such as shirts, slacks and dresses. Smaller items that belong in dressers should be placed in the appropriate drawers. A quick and easy way to fold clothes that also maximizes space is using the KonMari method popularized by cleaning expert Marie Kondo. The method works by folding items into recognizable rectangular shapes.
8. Place Remaining Items in Storage Bins
Now you can concentrate on putting away the remaining items on your bed. Since you have your storage bins waiting with categories for each that you've decided on, you will find this step moves quickly.
- Pick the first category, such as "electronics" or "paperwork" and then grab every item on the bed that fits that description.
- Walk them over to the designated storage item and place everything inside.
- Go back to the bed and pick the next category and repeat until everything is now put away.
- Place the storage items where they go, such as placing fabric decorative bins in shelving units and plastic storage bins inside your closet or under the bed.
9. Make Your Bed and Finish the Job
The last step is to make your bed, which can be done easily as it's just been cleared of any items on top. It's up to you on how extensively you wish to make your bed, as some people will straighten out and tuck in all the sheets tightly. Others will simply casually straighten the sheets, blankets and pillow out and throw the bedspread neatly over them, giving the bed a generally "finished" look. Now that you're done, you can exit the room and grab the dirty laundry and trash on the way out and take them to the laundry room and your home's trash bins.
How to Keep Your Room Clean
The hardest part of keeping a room clean is being diligent about cleaning it on a regular schedule so the job doesn't become so large you avoid doing it. It also helps each day to put items in their place when you're done with them, rather than placing them anywhere in the room and allowing them to accumulate. Following this nine-step process gives you a routine to follow that you can schedule once a week. You'll find that the more often you do it, the process will become second nature and you'll clean faster and more efficiently. You may be shocked to find that you can easily clean your room in five minutes with the proper planning and motivation!
