How to Organize Your Small, Heavily Cluttered Room

Co-authored by MacKenzie Cain

If you’re living in a box of a room with too much stuff and not enough space, you may benefit from better storage and tips on how to make your room feel larger. As daunting as tackling a small, cluttered room may seem, a little effort can go a long way. Start with some basics like making your bed and hanging up clothes. Then, move on to organizing and do things to make your room look and feel larger, like hanging your T.V. on the wall. With a little bit of time and some dedication to your cause, you'll be on your way to a modern, space-efficient room!

Part 1

Part 1 of 3:

Creating Storage Space

1
Use stackable storage containers. Purchase plastic containers and put away things you have around your room, but don’t use every day. Fill up as many as you need and stack them up in your closet.
2
Hang shelves. Wall shelves can be used in place of nightstands or tables. Hang long ones to use as a bookshelf.^{[1]
X
Research source}
- If you have a closet full of storage containers, go through them to make sure you still need everything.
Advertisement
3
Use under-bed storage. Remember to keep the space underneath your bed organized with storage units. If you have space under your bed, you can purchase fabric drawers and place them under your bed to use it for clothes, extra bedding, mementos, collections and so on.
4
Purchase over-the-door hanging organizers. Decide on what you want to store on your door. Shoe racks are the most common organizer used on doors, but you can store many things with an over-the-door organizer. If you want to hold random items, like pens, toiletries or accessories, opt for small baskets. Purchase a collapsible clothesline if you think you’ll hang clothes.^{[2]
X
Research source}
5
Use a wardrobe app. There are many apps you can use to take pictures of your clothes and shoes to help organize them. Make a note indicating where they are stored in your room. Locate items quickly and identify some neat outfit combinations with just the glance of an eye. Be sure to always put things back in their allocated places!^{[3]
X
Research source}

Part 2

Part 2 of 3:

Making Your Room Look Larger

1
Move furniture around. Shift the furniture around to find the best use of space in your room. You might find that a different arrangement helps you move around your small room more freely.
- Make a scale of your room by drawing on a piece of paper first if you don’t have enough room to move furniture around. Some computer programs help with this.^{[4]
  X
  Research source}
- Consider pushing your bed into the corner to create more floor space.
2
Bring more light into the room. Remove heavy drapes if they are in the room, and keep the blinds up and curtains parted during the daytime. Add long, slender lamps to add height and make use of the ceiling by hanging lights.^{[5]
X
Expert Source

MacKenzie Cain
Interior Designer & LEED Green Associate
Expert Interview. 4 July 2020.}^{[6]
X
Research source}
3
Paint the walls light colors. Dark colors can make rooms appear smaller. Paint with light or soft neutral colors, because they help give a sense of spaciousness.^{[7]
X
Expert Source

MacKenzie Cain
Interior Designer & LEED Green Associate
Expert Interview. 4 July 2020.} Pick a satin or eggshell finish to reflect the maximum amount of light.^{[8]
X
Research source}
4
Keep drawers and doors closed. Open doors and drawers make the place feel cluttered and cramped. Always close the doors to your wardrobe and shut the drawers to keep things feeling tidy and more spacious.
5
Hang the TV on the wall. If you have a TV in the room, get a hanging device so that it is up and out of the way. You will have more room to move around, and it will also free up dresser or table space. Place your TV on a shelf if you don’t have a flat-screen that can be mounted on the wall.

Part 3

Part 3 of 3:

Tidying Your Room

1
Make your bed. Move anything that doesn't belong on your bed off it. Making your bed can make a small room look cleaner with very little effort. Tuck bed sheets in neatly and arrange your pillows nicely.
- If you ever have too many blankets or pillows, take off the ones that you don’t need or use often.
2
Get rid of things you haven't used in the last six months. It'll be hard at first, but once you stop adding sentimental value to unnecessary items you'll find that you have a lot more space than you think. Donate anything you haven’t used in the last six months, or find storage outside your room, and move on.^{[9]
X
Research source}
3
Put anything you don’t use every day away. A small room can accumulate many small items on dressers and end tables. Find a spot for things like notebooks, jewelry, hairbrushes, etc., if you don’t use them every day and put them away.^{[10]
X
Research source}
4
Wash dirty clothes. Wash any dirty clothes lying around your room and put them away. Buy and use a dirty clothes hamper if you don't already have one.
- If you aren’t sure if some clothes are clean or dirty, wash it just to be safe.
5
Hang and put away clean clothes. Clothes can take up a lot of unnecessary space when they are not folded or hung up properly. Organize your closet if you need to. Hang up any outfits you tried on but didn't put away.
- Make a donation pile for clothes you don’t wear or don’t fit anymore. You can either pass them down in your family or take them to a donation center.
6
Pack away all out-of-season clothing. Put winter or summer clothes inside a luggage container, a bag or other place and store somewhere else until you need it. Swap the clothes out every change of season. This will create a lot more space and it cuts down searching time too.
- Only store clean clothing and add cedar balls, lavender bags, etc., to deter insects from eating the fabric.
- Get plastic bins that fit underneath your bed so you can store clothes in the off-season.

Expert Q&A

Question

How can I maximize space in a small room?

MacKenzie Cain
Interior Designer & LEED Green Associate
MacKenzie Cain is an Interior Designer and a LEED-certified Green Associate for Habitar Design based in Chicago, Illinois. She has over seven years of experience in interior design and architectural design. She received a BA in Interior Design from Purdue University in 2013 and received her LEED Green Associate certification from the Green Building Certification Institute in 2013.

MacKenzie Cain

Interior Designer & LEED Green Associate

Expert Answer

Keep most larger items simple, functional, and light/bright. Determine what the function of the space is going to be and focus on what is most important to you first. For example, how many people will you want to be able to sit in the space? From there you can determine if you need a sofa, set of chairs, sectional, combination, etc. You want to start with the larger pieces first and create a functional layout. Then you can go in and fill in with the rug, accent tables, and any accessories (plants, artwork, lamps, etc).
Question

What can I use for under the bed storage?

Community Answer

You could use under bed containers or small boxes. If under your bed is big enough, you could use suitcases.
Question

How do I make a place for everything?

Community Answer

Clean out under your bed and maybe make your closet neater, so you can put stuff in it neatly.