Small Spaces Decluttering - Under the Bed

by Susan McCarthy

Everyday practice: Be deliberate about turning a space into a storage area.

As a young adult living in my oh-so-crowded bedroom in my parents’ oh-so-crowded house, I couldn’t store items beneath my bed because the room was so filled with bulky furniture, I would have never been able to get the items from under the bed. (Yes, I could have stored items I wasn’t interested in retrieving, but because I’d convinced myself that I needed everything in the room, not storing items under the bed, in my jam-packed bedroom, somehow made sense.)

If you have limited space, using the area beneath your bed can be a necessity. However, the risk of forgetting the items there or storing things you don’t need but feel you should hold onto “just in case” can cause stuff to accumulate.

Sorting through “just in case” items is another key to becoming organized because you’re asking yourself to finally decide what to do with an item instead of delaying the decision indefinitely.

How to Declutter the Space Under the Bed

1. Empty the space. If you can’t reach everything, grab a broom to push out every Lego.
2. What items, if any, will you permit to stay under the bed?
3. Is this the only space where seasonal clothing and holiday decorations will live? If you pull out these items yearly and use them, fantastic, you’re keeping track of what you have stored under the bed. If you’re storing a box of sentimental items beneath your bed, will you look through this box at least once a year to reminisce?
4. What else did you find under your bed? Is this the best place for the items? (It could be.) If it isn’t then you may need to decide where you want to find the item when you need it. (Instead of thinking, “where can I keep this?” think, “where will I go looking for it when I want it?”.
5. If you are returning items to this location, are they stored in plastic under-bed bins or bags to protect them from dirt and to save you from losing loose items in this difficult-to-reach space?

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Remember, using a space intentionally is fine. It’s when items get shoved out of the way and end up hidden under the bed that they become clutter. (“Company’s coming, quick, get this stuff out of the way! Shove it under the bed!)

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