The First Step You Need To Take With A Bedroom Makeover, According To Nate Berkus

A bedroom should be a relaxing environment where you can unwind from the day and wake up feeling rejuvenated after a night's rest. Creating that comfortable and serene retreat can feel overwhelming if you aren't sure where to start. Interior designer and HGTV star Nate Berkus has a simple suggestion for any bedroom makeover, and it doesn't have to do with renovation. "I can't sleep if there are piles of things around my room," Berkus said in an interview with Apartment Therapy. According to the interior designer, before starting any kind of cosmetic upgrade, you should first clean up the space.

Decluttering before starting any kind of makeover project is practical, as much as it is an aesthetic choice. It'll be difficult to work around piles of clothes or stacks of books if you're trying to give a room a facelift. Having less clutter in the room allows the eye to focus on the architectural and decorative details in a room's design rather than being distracted by a bunch of items that look out of place. This doesn't mean you have to lean completely into minimalism and have an empty room. However, having a tidy and uncluttered space is one of the best ways to see the aesthetics.

With daily life, it's easy for miscellaneous items to pile up without noticing. That's exactly why the first step to creating a curated bedroom design should be to declutter the space. On Instagram, interior designer Nate Berkus posted this very advice back in 2017 in a quote: "You need to edit your space. Good design isn't just about acquiring; it's about releasing." He captioned the photo by saying, "Nobody is going to care about your beautiful new lamp if there is all this junk on the table next to it." Tons of miscellaneous items stacked and piled up will end up being the focal point of a room, distracting you from the actual decorative details.

However, decluttering your space doesn't only maintain the aesthetic; there are also plenty of health benefits associated with the task. Clutter can hinder the ability to focus, limit information processing, and have effects on working memory. It can create excessive stimuli, and in the bedroom, this can make it harder to create a serene environment that helps you to relax and sleep. Cleaning and decluttering can also have impacts on mental health, with a clean room improving anxiety and stress, which can lead to better sleep.

Decluttering isn't about ridding your home of everything but rather shedding the excess and miscellaneous items that may no longer serve you or a room's design. When taking a look around your bedroom, don't forget to take note of things in the closet, under the bed, and in drawers, which can often get left behind in these cleaning processes. Separate items by what you want to keep, what you wish to donate, and items that are damaged enough to be thrown away.

After decluttering, embracing organizational methods can help keep the space clean and aesthetically pleasing for much longer. Nate Berkus is a lover of organizational methods, using fabric and plastic storage bins throughout his home to keep things tidy. Consider under-the-bed storage boxes, closet organizers, and drawer dividers so everything remains in its place throughout the room. Bowls and trays can hold jewelry, glasses, and keys, helping to keep surfaces uncluttered.

Having a regular decluttering and maintenance schedule will go a long way in keeping your bedroom serene. Of course, you don't have to go through and purge your bedroom and closet daily. However, you can daily remove items from surfaces and put them back in their place, throw out the trash, and put away clean clothes that may be sitting out. Meanwhile, weekly, you can straighten up the space, do laundry, and remove any items that may have accumulated. Every few months, you can tackle larger decluttering, and in between, you can return to your ideas for a bedroom makeover.