If there’s one room in the house we all wish felt bigger, it’s the bedroom. A place for rest and relaxation – and yet it’s often the space most in need of a declutter.
Because it’s rarely on show, the bedroom quickly becomes a dumping ground for the forgotten, the ‘deal with later’ pile, and all the bits we’ve hastily tidied out of sight before guests arrive. Over time, these things don’t just build up – they duplicate, leaving you with a space that feels anything but calm.
‘Having too much in the bedroom affects more than just space,’ says Jo Jacob, professional organiser and owner of Benella Home Organisation. ‘Practically, it makes everyday routines harder. Getting dressed takes longer when you’re wading through options you don’t love. Changing the bed becomes a chore when you’re pulling linens out of overfilled cupboards.’ All these minor stresses add up, creating an air of restlessness. ‘If you can’t quite put your finger on why the room doesn’t feel calm, it’s often because there’s simply too much competing for your attention. It should be a sanctuary, not a storage unit,’ says Jo.
So, to help bring your bedroom back to feeling like, well, a bedroom, I spoke to professional organisers (including Jo) to find out which duplicates they see most often – and what to finally let go of.
Decorative items
‘In my client work, it’s most often clothing, bedding and decorative items like cushions and throws’ says Emma Kenwrick-Meehan, pro organiser and founder of Home Nip & Tuck.
She goes on to explain, ‘Decorative extras build up quickly and can make the room feel busier than it needs to be.’ So if you’re feeling as though your room is getting cramped or chaotic, the secret may lie in the way you’ve styled it. Over decorating and adding too many stylistic pieces is an easy way to accidentally build clutter in plain sight.
Clothing
When I asked Jo what the most common bedroom duplicate she found in her work was, the answer was immediate, ‘Clothing is the obvious one,’ she says. ‘Five black jumpers, six pairs of nearly identical jeans, or a wardrobe full of “almost right” pieces that never quite make it out the door.’
Decluttering your wardrobe is a seasonal necessity, not only so you can swap to more weather appropriate pieces, but also so you can shake out those clothing duplicates. Nobody needs 10 black t-shirts, so be strict with yourself. You’ll be so grateful when you realise how much easier it is to get dressed in the morning with all that fashion fodder.
Phone chargers
Cables and electronics are a classic source of clutter, but nothing multiplies quite like the humble phone charger. Why is it we always seem to have either far too many… or none at all? One of life’s great household mysteries.
Either way, a tangle of unnecessary cables around your sockets is a fast track to visual clutter – and a bedroom that feels messier than it actually is.
Take a closer look at that nest of wires and you’ll likely find several doing exactly the same job. Streamline it, you really only need one charger by your bed. Move the extras elsewhere in the house for convenience, and enjoy a space that feels instantly calmer (and far less tangled).
Storage furniture
It sounds counterintuitive, but storage itself can become a form of clutter. In fact, it’s one of the most common “duplicates” experts see, says professional organiser Emma. When a room starts to feel chaotic, the instinct is often to add more storage – another unit, an extra set of drawers, more boxes. But instead of solving the problem, it usually just gives clutter more places to hide.
‘I often find them filled with items people have not looked at in years, from old clothes to spare bedding and “just in case” items. Bedside tables are another hidden hotspot, where books, chargers, skincare and random items build up and create low-level clutter that affects how the space feels,’ says Emma.
Too much storage can be a warning sign in itself. ‘If storage is full or difficult to use, it’s usually a sign there’s more there than is needed,’ she explains. Not only do extra units take up valuable floor space, they also encourage you to keep more than you need – turning your bedroom into storage, rather than a place to switch off.
Beauty products
‘I also see a surprising amount of toiletries and beauty products in bedrooms, especially when people don’t have much bathroom storage,’ says Jo. ‘Half used hand creams, duplicate moisturisers, “buy one get one free” purchases all add up quickly. None of it feels like clutter individually, but together it creates visual noise.’
The ‘might’ items
When looking for items in your bedroom that might be considered duplicates, it helps to ask why an item is there in the first place. ‘The reason these things build up is usually a mix of optimism and avoidance. We buy with good intentions,’ says Jo. Similar to ‘just in case items’ these duplicates pile up under the guise of necessity, preparing for unknown inevitabilities that never arise – I’ve coined them as the ‘might items’.
‘We keep things because they might be useful, might come back into fashion or might fit again,’ agrees Jo. ‘And because bedrooms are more private spaces, they don’t always get the same regular reset as kitchens or living areas. It becomes very easy for things to quietly accumulate behind closed doors.’
Pyjamas and loungewear
Chances are, you have a drawer somewhere in your bedroom that’s absolutely crammed with PJs, joggers and assorted ‘comfies’. Your cosiest outfits – mismatched, ill-fitting and slightly faded – are long overdue a clear-out.
They build up quietly over time: a festive set here, a gifted pair there, the odd impulse buy on a grey afternoon. Buying pyjamas is fun. Storing them? Less so.
Be ruthless. Donate or recycle anything with missing bottoms, worn-out fabric or that’s clearly past its best. Trust me, being able to actually close your drawer will bring far more satisfaction than those old Mickey Mouse joggers ever could.
Bedding
Often, the items we end up doubling up on initially seem practical, but unfortunately, for most of us, we tend to take it too far. ‘Bedding is another big one,’ says Jo, ‘People tend to hold on to multiple sets “just in case”, but they’re often mismatched, worn out or never actually used.’
Realistically, you only really need two sets of bedding per bed, one to be in use and one spare. Don’t overcomplicate it. You might be thinking you’re preparing for some unknown bedding-related emergency, but realistically, you’re just cluttering up your cupboards.
Candles
This one may or may not be inspired by my own situation. Somehow, I’ve managed to dedicate an entire bedroom shelf just to candles. Candle jars, candle sticks, holders… the full collection.
Often, more than one candle is just unnecessary – and a waste of space. Think about it, you’re not lighting more than one scented candle at a time, anything more is an assault on the senses. So take it from me: spread them out. Disperse candles around the house so you can actually enjoy them in different rooms, and reclaim some much-needed shelf space in the process.
And while you’re at it, be honest – a few of those are probably burnt down to nothing. Time to clear out the empties and give the whole collection a proper edit.
Paperwork
I thought this suggestion from Jo was a little random initially, but then I took a second glance at my own bedroom desk – and realised she may have a point. ‘Paperwork often ends up in bedrooms,’ suggests Jo, ‘Moved in a hurry to tidy up for guests or put there to action and then ignored as not in daily eye-view of main living areas.’ A lot of these bedroom duplicates are side effects of busy lives, and storing things in the wrong place.
Make sure to do a daily sweep of your bedroom. A quick scan of the room focusing on any items that need rehoming. It will only take five minutes, but it will make a massive difference to the visual clutter in your bedroom.
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