HEALTH: Declutter to aid restful sleep
Brits struggling to get a good night’s sleep are being advised to be ruthless and declutter their bedrooms.
The fitted bedroom experts at Online Bedrooms have put together their top tips for decluttering the space to aid eight hours slumber.
Statistics suggest around one in five Britons struggle to fall asleep every night with nearly half of the UK finding it difficult to fall asleep once a month.
A decluttered and tidy bedroom is an aid to a decent night’s sleep. Clutter can overstimulate the brain making it difficult to switch off.
Tips for tidying the restful space include clearing flat surface, organised wardrobes and drawers, donating unwanted items and utilising the storage space you do have.
Nic Shacklock from Online Bedrooms said: “Having a tidy and restful space to sleep in certainly helps homeowners nod off when they go to bed and wake up feeling refreshed and ready to face the day.
“Decluttering your bedroom isn’t a five minute job. It’s one that takes time, and requires a bit of a ruthless streak to part with items you no longer wear, want or need.
“Our advice is to start small. Simply making the bed and tidying away anything on flat surfaces is a great place to start and will make a difference straight away. Move on to blitzing your wardrobe, decorations and soft furnishing and even donating any furniture you don’t need.”
Here are Online Bedroom’s top tips for decluttering your bedroom.
- Make the bed
Leave your bed unmade and your bedroom will always look cluttered and a mess. Start the day by getting the bed made, cushions back on and straight away it will be a more restful space.
- Declutter flat surfaces
Bedside tables, drawers and windowsill are magnets for clutter! If the surface is flat then you are bound to put something on it. Declutter these areas first and get rid of anything that shouldn’t be in the bedroom. Find a home for it somewhere else or set aside to take to charity.
- Unwanted furniture
If your room is cluttered with furniture, do you really need or use it all? For example, is the chair in the corner used or do you just use it to throw clothes on? If the answer is the latter, sell the chair and put the clothes away or in the wash basket instead.
- Sort your wardrobe
Be ruthless when it comes to sorting through clothes and shoes. If you haven’t worn them recently, do you really need them? If clothes are too small or large, get rid. The same with shoes. If you like to swap your clothes over each season, think about storing those you’re not wearing in vacuum bags. These take up much less space and can be easily stored in the bottom of your wardrobe.
- Blitz the decorations
Do you have too many pictures? A windowsill covered in candles? Far too many cushions on the bed? If your answer is yes, donate them. Less items will straight away make your bedroom feel less cluttered.
- Utilise the space
Think about how you use the dead space you have in the room. Is there room under the bed to store items? What about on top of the wardrobe? These are all places which may get overlooked so make use of them. However don’t use them as a place to hide the items you’re not sure what to do with.
- Donating to charity
Once you’ve sorted all those items you no longer want or need, give them away. Whatever you do, don’t delve back into the bag and start retrieving things.
