Saturday, November 27, 2010

15 Minute Clean-Up: the Room

I'm usually not the type of person who has to be told to clean their room. (Reassuring pause.) Nope, not really. But when I woke up to this:


I decided I didn't want to take any chances. (I realize this may be clean for some people....) For those of you who do need to be reminded how much of a pigsty your room is, don't fret--I am here to help. Follow these simple steps and you'll have a much more enjoyable space in 15 minutes or less! (Is it just me, or did that sound like it came straight out of an infomercial?)

Minutes 1-4 Let's start out with the desk; probably the most cluttered part of the room (well, the most cluttered part of mine, at least).

1. Clear your desk of all homework. If you have some left to do, I recommend putting it in a 'to do' pile (ex. on the pull out platform of your desk, in a wire basket, in a 'to-do' folder in your backpack, etc.)

2. Sort through doodads. If you can't think of a use or interest, it's not worth keeping. Post notes where they can be easily seen. Put pens and pencils in a holder (a cute one, maybe?).

3. Give your mom her laptop back. Or give your brother his notebook back. Or--you get the idea. If it's not yours, then why do you have it? Give it back.

4. Straighten up. Simple as that. Now that your desk can be seen, make it nice, so that you'll actually want to work at it.

Minutes 5-10 Now move on to your bed area. In my case I have a loft, and a chair and nightstand underneath.


1. If you are like me, you pile all your (clean and/or dirty) clothes on your bed (or rest area). In order to keep this area clean, try to break that habit (ahem, I need to work on that...).

2. Next is the night stand. Oh, the dreaded night stand. This, next to the desk, is the second most cluttered area (not just for me, right?). There's never telling what you're gonna find on the night stand. Start off by ridding the table of garbage, books that have a home, pens or pencils, and anything else that your sure you won't need by 11 p.m. at night. Looking better? Now straighten it up; maybe keep a couple reads on it, just incase you can't fall asleep, a flashlight, some paper and a pen or pencil, and a lamp (of course).

3. Cords can get messy (if you have a phone, light, camera, and straightener, well, you know what I mean). Cleaning up this tangled mess can make your room look a whole lot nicer. So set up a charging station. It keeps your cords organized and simple.


4. Put away any remaining clutter in the area.

5. Make the area enjoyable by arranging pillows, stuffed animals, etc.

Minutes 11-12 I'm sure everyone has 'that space'. You know, the place where you pile the stuff you have no idea where else to put it. And all that clutter just sits there taunting you for days on end. Ya, lets tackle 'that space' now.

1. Before we get to the hardest part, lets cover the little things: clothes, the unpacked bag from your last sleepover, school bags and instruments, etc.

2. If your like me, you have bags of clothes that haven't made it to the car yet. It only takes a minute, so get to it.

Minute 13-15 The last essential part to cleaning a room is the closet. Even though no one may actually see the inside, you will and keeping it organized can leave more space that you may think.

1. Make sure all your clothes are on hangers and are hung up. For some people it can help to have the clothes organized by color, date last worn, or type.

2. Put shoes on racks or in baskets. Trust me, it saves space.

3. If you have hooks, use them. Hang neclaces, belts, or scarves.

By now you should have a room lets not so much an eye sore. Maybe, just stick to these tips for a while.... :)

By the way, how do you like the new look? I know that I love it! Thanks to Olivia at Robin Blogs for the beautiful design! Don't forget Operation Beautiful: November is ending soon. I've got a little surprise up my sleeve for the December issue!

4 comments:

  1. you know i love your room...(: major jealousy going on right here. p.s. i wish i had that teen vogue mag to read!

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  2. Very good! :) I share a room with my little sister, and between the two of us, things can so south pretty quickly. I love living in an organized space, so every weekend I find myself cleaning my room...again. Haha, maybe someday I will find cleaning techniques that work! Thanks for the advice!
    ~Margaret

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  3. PS- The new design is wonderful! LOVE the collage header! :)
    ~M.R.

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  4. Great idea! I love your room, too cute! :)

    Blog design is amazing, just love it!

    ReplyDelete