The Clutter Fairy Weekly Survey #275 Results
Clutter in the Primary Bedroom
Below are the results of our survey released in preparation for episode #275 of The Clutter Fairy Weekly. If you haven’t already done so, please take the survey.
Responses
To view the complete, detailed survey response from any respondent, click on their name (or “Anonymous user”) in the table below. You may also find it easier to read long responses in the detailed view.
| Name (click to view full survey response and comments) | Share a word, a few words, a phrase, or more to describe the CURRENT or USUAL condition of your primary bedroom. | Share a description of the IDEAL state of your main bedroom. | What factor or factors stand in the way of having the “just right” bedroom you described above? | List an item currently in your primary bedroom that you acknowledge has absolutely no business being in the bedroom. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kathy | This day—closet a disaster | Clean, uncluttered with everything put away in its place. Restful and peaceful. Under the bed, closet and drawers containing only items used, neatly stored so they aren’t silently nagging. | Saving things for “just in case”, items tossed and not put away, unsure of exactly how to store items or use the closet space well. | Surprisingly, everything does belong. But I have my mixer neatly stowed in a cabinet and two folding chairs in the closet. I have to keep these things here since down sizing has left me with no other space. This is part of my problem—getting used to the new storage spaces in my home. In my mind, a mixer should never be in a bedroom. Yet, here it is. |
| Eleanore | Temporary Sorting room | Beautiful, finished, with a beautiful new bed with fluffy bedsheets. An lovely smelling peaceful, restful oasis. | Disorder in the rest of the house. I am decluttering the best I can but a lot of things are simply not in their right place yet. | Pram/stroller parts 😂😂 |
| Anonymous user | Aftermath of a Tornado | Neat, clean, tidy, and serene | Multiple Bad Habits and A Dire Need to “Thin the Herd” | Ironing Board |
| Ginger | Cozy retreat. This space has been decluttered. We plan some changes to furniture and flooring. | Our ideal bedroom is cool, dark, quiet and cozy. This is our retreat. We rest, read, listen to books or music, watch videos and sleep here. ▪️Structure. The walls are painted a nice taupe as they are today. The ceiling is white. The floors have luxury vinyl plank in a wide plank oak look. The windows have blinds and curtains. ▪️The closet is a wide reach in closet. My side is on the left. My husband’s is on the right. Our clothes are minimal and hung on matching hangers. We wear all these clothes. We have shoe shelves stacked on the floor. These hold all of our shoes. The top of the shelves on my side hold my tote bag with my 2 other purses. It also holds the Travel bag for my Cpap machine. In the far left corner is a small tower shelf. I keep a zipper case of my medications on one shelf, keepsake box on the other shelf and on top is a portable expandable file box holding our papers. There is nothing stored loosely on the floor of the closet. There is top shelf holds my husband’s hats and a few other items. ▪️Furniture. We have a simple king sized iron bedstead. Two bedside tables. A tall chest of drawers. A storage ottoman holds linens, blankets, pillows. ▪️Soft Furnishings. The bed has a cream colored dust ruffle and coverlet. We sleep with 6 pillows. We don’t have decorative pillows. We have a nice big washable rug that fits under our bed and hangs out enough to step on from either side of the bed and at the foot of the bed. ▪️Decor. Family photos. Framed quotes. Bedside tables are minimal with a drawer or two. Plus, a lamp, clock & fan remote on hubby’s. Lamp, angel box and Cpap machine on mine. | 🔲 We’ve spent a lot of time over the years clearing clutter from our bedroom. ▪️We achieved our goal of having nothing stored under the bed or in the floor of the closet. ▪️My wardrobe consist of about 135 items including all footwear, bags, outerwear. I haven’t inventoried my husband’s clothes lately. Earlier this year - we decluttered a lot of his clothes since his size went from 2x to Large in 2022 and he’s maintained the loss. 🔲 Updates Planned. To Do List: ✔️1. Replace carpet with LVP flooring. ✔️2. Fresh paint but in same/similar colors we have now. ✔️3. Change our bed to one our cats won’t scratch and walk across the headboard. Our current headboard is too high. It blocks a window. AND, OUR CATS LIKE TO CLIMB UP AND WALK ACROSS THE HIGH RIDGE. AT 2am - THEY LOOKS LIKE BATMAN! I’m looking at a simple iron bedstead. One that’s lower so I don’t have to do a high jump to get into the bed. ✔️4. Get rid of the 9 drawer dresser with the tall mirror. This has been my dresser. A few drawers are empty. I think I can store my clothes in the tall chest of 6 drawers since we’ve decluttered so much of hubby’s clothes - or in the closet. ✔️5. Change our huge bedside tables to simpler, smaller tables. ✔️6. New bedding and curtains. ✔️7. Decide what to do with my stack of 4 baskets: Sewing, Journals, Photos, Cards/Letters. I haven’t inventoried my some ideas for decluttering these items and storing the keepers elsewhere. | An axe. Yes… an axe. We brought an axe to our upstairs bedroom after Hurricane Katrina in 2005. That was traumatizing even though we weren’t personally affected by it. ▪️We thought the axe might come in handy if our home flooded so badly that we needed to cut thru the roof. Or, if there was a fire and we needed to cut our way out. It floods in our area. In fact when my husband built the house - he designed it like a beach house. It’s built on stilts. ▪️The axe was actually under our bed for years until we cleared out under the bed. So, it went into hubby’s nightstand drawer. I found it recently when I decluttered those drawers. I left it there. ▪️I know it’s bad feng shui. I don’t really follow that philosophy - but it could possibly be a reason we’ve struggled with sleep for years. Hmmm…. I’ll take it back to the garage tomorrow. We are 20 years older now - I’m fairly certain we won’’t have the strength or energy to chop thru walls & the roof. |
| Nina | Magazines/books galore | A peaceful, restful spot where my husband's slippers and assorted footwear are stored in the close and not in front of the dresser! A "just right" bedroom would be free of the current abundance of fishing magazines and the shelf of old National Geographic magazines—a subscription I bought him eons ago. I may have to turn them into some sort of collage craft. | Working with him to read the magazines and recycle them! | Two speakers that were in the living room and were replaced by new ones. They are resting comfortably next to an end table. They need to go! |
| Anonymous user | Usual All the clutter needs to be dealt with. Too much flight from fright. | The ideal state of my clutterfree bedroom? Nothing to put away, nothing to repair. Cleaning is very pleasant - only dusting, vacuuming, and making my bed. The door to my bedroom remains open 24/7. I feel peaceful when I enter my room. | No concrete and written plan of small steps I could take, too many items needing action (maybe I need to set up mend/repair/action bins at the donation station I need to set up), mostly quitting too early on most bedroom tasks. Doing almost anything to avoid the work that needs to be done. At least in recent months this is me for my bedroom. | Haha, one item? I’ll go with the largest - a treadmill that requires a small two-person fix. Should be in the basement preferably or else in somebody else’s home. I did place an over the door multi hook piece on one arm which is great for hanging overnight bags and hats or to dry herbs in a different season. S hooks also practical on the tread tips that are folded up. I DO want to use this treadmill. Need muscle to move it downstairs and around challenging corners re the stairwell. |
| Kathy | Functional, picked up, and neat, but ironing board is always out. | Ideal: refreshed decor, blue tones, fresh coat of paint, homemade quilt on bed, cozy reading nook | We never put the ironing board away. So I'm going to go do that right now. ... Wonderful width-of-room built-in bookshelves but it is not neat. Small coffee table by reading chair is always cluttered. Cluttered dresser. As I'm typing, I'm realizing that I just need to spend an hour or so neatening things and decluttering/organizing bookshelves and it would look nicer. Plus get in habit of putting ironing board away. Then I could work on my ideal by planning to paint and refresh the decor next spring or summer. | N/A |
| Pat | Unmade bed and a load of laundry to sort/fold/hang and put away. Otherwise things are organized. | Change ceiling fan to remote operated | Current ceiling fan is working just fine. No budget right now for A new one. | Really nothing. What a great question for me to think about how good I really have it organized. |
| Gabriella | At night, I take down my Murphy bed in which I feel very cozy and sleep extremely well. In the mornings I stash it away while the coffee is brewing. During the day this room serves as my office and command center. | Of course I would'nt mind having another room dedicated as a proper bedroom. Nevertheless, I feel pretty comfortable with the arrangement as it is. | I have a small one-bedroom appartment which I enjoy living in. I have no intention to move to a bigger place. | There are a few smaller boxes containing heirloom china that are stashed away rather neatly on top of my book cabinet. I procrastinate selling these items. |
| Victoria | Unpleasant | Restful, relaxing, desirable | Nothing, just a lot to sort out | Several junk piles |
| Anita O | Always a few stupid things out of place. | Minimalist & peaceful. All the nighttime comforts in easy reach. | Lack of priority & self-respect ... it never seems urgent to put away the stray items, because no one sees this space "except me." As if I'm not worth tidying up for! | The laundry basket... for two days so far. |
| Carrie | Shirts in fairly neat piles and roughly categorized by levels of cleanliness on the floor. | Dark, cozy, smooth sheets/pillowcases… iPad in bed to listen to YouTube videos (including you guys)! | I’ve achieved having a “just right” bedroom. | DUST!!! |
| Kit | Tidy except for a slowly-shrinking collection of things in bins in a corner that need permanent homes or to leave - and occasionally a small stack of boxes of project-in-progress that we don't want in the front room when guests come over. Oh, and Spouse still routinely leaves laundry on top of the cedar chest. But the floor's nearly always clear and safe. OK, and there's now a collection of framed family photos that Spouse hasn't hung on the wall; they're on top of the dresser until that's done. But we really do keep our clothes put away 95% of the time and don't have collections of random crap or shopping bags or anything in there. | Get the photos hung on the wall, get the stuff in the corner out of the house or into permanent homes, get the projects from the front room completed, establish an even easier laundry system for Spouse (if that's possible). | Decluttering spaces where Spouse's collections might be permanently homed. Have procrasticlutter projects rise high enough in priority to actually get done. | Steampunk zeppelin that Father-in-Law designed and built. It's boxed and will come out every Dragon Season for display, but needs a climate-controlled environment in the meantime. Spouse continues to create room in the closet, so it may go there soon. |
| Evelin | hideaway | retreat, sanctuary, more different lightning/indirect lightning | half-worn clothes. I have hangers behind the door and one drawer just for the clothes that have been worn once but don't need to be washed yet. it doesn't seem to be enough though. then there's sometimes boxes of stuff that I have ordered, that I have to try on and decide which ones to keep, which ones to return... and two old pillows that I want to donate but first I want to wash them and it never happens....🙄 | except from the online orders (clothes) and the two pillows that need to be donated - nothing really. |
| Anonymous user | Not decorated to suit me | A place that makes me feel at ease, that I want to be there and I want to rest | Too many blankets, someone else's collectibles, just moved my mom to a nursing home who used to rent the primary bedroom. | |
| Sandra | Our primary bedroom is a compromise between my minimalist taste and my husband's attachment to big pieces of furniture. With little decor it works. | Anything Japanese style: bare yet functional ! | In addition to compromises on personal tastes in a shared bedroom, we do have to fit in there some items that cannot go elsewhere in the house, like a big display cabinet. And yes I would like to get rid of this cabinet but that's not going to happen! | My husband would say the cat. |
| PJ from Wiltshire | Having been listening to Gayle & Ed for many years now, with their help & inspiration from the Clutter Fairy Family, I'm pleased to report that the primary bedroom is a genuine WIP, but it's also at least 80% there to my dream bedroom. I make the bed each morning & keep the floor clean, laundry in the basket, and chair-drobe clear. Every other day I'll run a 5-minute reset on the nightstand to keep that tidy too | Pure white walls with calming light cast from warm table lamps, minimal but favourite tchotchkes on surfaces, finished hand-painted mural on the fireplace surround (yes - this is a WIP too!), a bit of free space in the hanging rail & wardrobe, nothing under the bed except a warm rug, and thick thermal/blackout curtains up for the colder months. | My arthritis has put a bit of a delay on the decorating front - I've booked in a painter/decorator to help. Currently the walls are an awful "office" grey, with tester pots smudges everywhere so it's not very restful. He's also going to install proper curtain rails for the heavy winter curtains. All the other stuff I can do though - it's progress not perfection 🙂 | A bag of craft materials I bought about two months ago... I'll go unpack it into the den now! Thank you for the prod |
| Susan | A total mess | No clutter on the floor. Neat table by the bed. Comfy, elegant bed linen. Duvet stays put inside its cover. Plants. | My procrastination dealing with the clutter on the floor | Can't choose just one item. I emptied a box of random things onto the floor, the idea being to sort them (as the bedroom is a comfortable place to be). But I haven't done it. It's overwhelming. |
| Guusje | Quiet | A quiet place to rest | Clothes that need to be put away | A lamp that doesn't work, not often used exercise equipment |
| Mel | Full of piles | Calm, organized, simple | Too much stuff that has no other home. I'm too lazy to finish decluttwring tasks and put things awaw.....even folded la | Small filing cabinet |
| Katherine | Neatly arranged and FULL. | Plenty of space to move around, bookshelves lining the walls, good lighting, room for a bed AND a chair. | Limited square feet, for one. Plus badly positioned lighting. | Old cell phone that hasn’t been used in over a decade, but that I don’t know how to recycle. |
| Dawn | Right now it looks pretty good. Buying new bedding and reorganizing the side table has made me want to live up to the beauty of it. I do a lot of reading and working on some quiet projects in the bedroom, so I need to "refresh" it every once in awhile. I just feel good with books around me...a comfort thing. When I was in college I used to sit at the head of my bed with my books in an arc in front of me... | To have it be a place of beauty and tranquility...not like it needs a major overhaul when time gets short to keep up on it. | Not having (or taking) the time in small swatches to keep it attractive. I have the same issue with my armoire. Yesterday I ended up having to refresh a couple of the shelves and found some items I was missing...now they're in their right "home." Each time I think it will be easy. All it takes is two or three times of "later" and it's easy for it to get messed up. | Well, possibly my box for donations. It's a convenient location and out of continual eyesight of DH; he spends most of his time in the living room. Every once in awhile he gets on my case about it. |
| Jeanne Bowes | Small, plain, and uncluttered. Would like to get a cheerful slipcover for my older wingback chair. I have a Charleston Rice bed, small chest that works as a night table , with a Chippendale mirror over it. Cosy and simple early Virginian, I love my sanctuary . I would like a wood floor instead a of carpet , but that is pretty far down the wish list! | I would enjoy enjoy a wood floor but may never happen. | No clutter, Closet is tidy,wardrobe is minimal. I am content for the time being | As far as objects go , there are no bedroom marauders. |
| Danetta | Peaceful | No TV or desk, minimal furniture, comfy bed with good sheets | Nothing | A buffet for a breakfast nook that we replaced and that needs to go to our son’s house in a nearby city. This is a new and temporary item. |
| The Maggs | Work in progress | Peaceful bedroom | Boxes left over from the recent move that don’t have homes yet. They are stacked in the corners waiting for homes. | Boxes of my sand collection that do not have homes. Sand that has been collected from around the world now stored in boxes stacked in my bedroom corner. |
| Lynn | Cardboard boxes, piles of clean clothes and books need to go to donation. I just don’t have the mental energy to look through the piles and boxes. | Fantasy of a clean, breathable room. Calming and relaxing. Only activities would be sleeping and dressing. (Single by choice since 2000). | Mental exhaustion. I just don’t want to explore the boxes. I don’t want to make any decisions regarding contents, but afraid to donate an unopened box! | Boxes of fabric need to move to the sewing room. |
| Ria | Messy | Uncluttered with clear surfaces and just the needed furniture and nothing more. Really ideal would be redecorated with the help of someone who can guide color decisions. | Becomes a dumping ground for papers. I don’t always put things away although my dressers and closet are decluttered and have room — just bad habits. And of course my old friend: procrastination | An exercise ball. Will relocate it now. 🙄 |
| JM | Getting lots better, but still needs work! | An island of sanity & serenity in a frenzied world. A place to sit quietly in the window seat and read, contemplate, or journal. A place to lay my weary head and sleep deeply and peacefully. | Time and money to finish a remodeling started right before the pandemic. Energy and focus to prioritize this room amongst the many other decluttering projects that are more pressing at the moment. | My husband's hiking stick & my entire dresser full of inherited antiques (no clothes) I don't know what to do with. |
| JM | Getting lots better, but still needs work! | An island of sanity & serenity in a frenzied world. A place to sit quietly in the window seat and read, contemplate, or journal. A place to lay my weary head and sleep deeply and peacefully. | Time and money to finish a remodeling started right before the pandemic. Energy and focus to prioritize this room amongst the many other decluttering projects that are more pressing at the moment. | My husband's hiking stick & my entire dresser full of inherited antiques (no clothes) I don't know what to do with. |
| Anita | Ironing piles, mismatch sock pile, fitted sheet usually at the bottom of the bed(despite using clips etc always comes loose) | No piles of anything on the floor. A nice fluffy mat/rug Cosy and calm, light and bright. I like a coastal decor. Light blues , creams and some baskets. | The piles on the floor,( I don’t seem to be able to move them? It’s like I can’t deal with them. I maybe need to to prioritise this area as I maybe am to busy trying to to declutter other spaces that are more visible to potential visitors? | Under a chair I have a box with a screwdriver and other D.I.Y. things! I’ve no idea why I chose this to be its home😆 |
| Anonymous user | Usually in control. Suddenly quite messy with being in between seasons and sweaters coming out of being stored in a carry on over the summer. Oddly, too much paper : case full of old journals. And a few unnecessary bags… | I’m actually quite pleased that I feel it is right in light of the decor. The paper clutter bothers me and I need to do another round of journal decluttering- and maybe some clothes- even acquiring just a few items has suddenly made the closet feel stuffed (yes, it’s a smallish closet but I like it that way and do not want to get new furniture fir clothes). A lot of scrwps of paper with notes on my nightstand. | Thiniking of things to make note of just before I fall asleep and needing to journal early morning creates paper clutter even though it probably opens up and dumps out head clutter. | Can’t think of anything. Glad a duvet cover has gotten old and will be out soon. Yes, I keep mine in my bedroom. Maybe papers related to an official matter but that’s important so ok to keep in the bedroom for a few more months. |
| Carla | I have lots of bags and boxes of things still waiting to be put away. Mostly things I cleared when guests were coming. | I want a bedroom like a hotel room but with lots of storage space. Easy to put things away. | I don't have much time as I have to look after my grandsons and my ailing husband. Thank goodness he has his own bedroom, but that takes a lot of time to keep nice for him. | All the things I cleared away in a hurry when guests or grandchildren were coming over. Probably things that belong in the kitchen, like cake decoration things. |
| C | Current: clothes from summer need to be put away Usual: several boxes of things for crafts tetrised under desk | Less or no boxes of crafting materials. Slow and steady culling of books. No more messy bedside tables. | Time to decide and act upon crafts, better organization of bedside table drawers. | A drawer full of small containers, boxes. They should be in a spare closet or donated. |
| L | Our bedroom stays decluttered. We have a bed, two side tables, two dressers, and a few decorative items. I like my bedroom to be a place to relax at the end of the day. | I love my bedroom. My husband and I sleep there and get ready for the day there. I like to keep things simple. | Nothing | I don't have anything that doesn't belong. |
| Cee | "Office takeover lost in the shuffle" Bins of old and current papers to sort as well as few clothes to put away | Calm space with clear chair to lounge, bills and paperwork limited to my organized secretary desk maybe one bin in corner for overflow paperwork stored | Lack of time to complete sorting and no decicated office space in house at this time. I feel like when I do have time much is tossed or trashed. In between times things get mixed up and shifted unintentionally | Stacks of paperwork in and out of bins |
| Lela | Peaceful & family-oriented | Exactly as it is …. Spacious with decor that focuses on our favorite people & hobbies/interests | Nothing. In the past, it was too much clothing and sentimental attachment to items. | My husband’s Dallas Cowboy decor! Lol |
| Anja | A restful place with useful things and -very important- without a TV. Love it. | I'd love even nicer bed linen and less laundry items. | I'd need more room and a more functional wardrobe. | A nightstand I do not use. |
| Name (click to view full survey response and comments) | Share a word, a few words, a phrase, or more to describe the CURRENT or USUAL condition of your primary bedroom. | Share a description of the IDEAL state of your main bedroom. | What factor or factors stand in the way of having the “just right” bedroom you described above? | List an item currently in your primary bedroom that you acknowledge has absolutely no business being in the bedroom. |
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