Clean Your Room

Some people are just naturally good at keeping their rooms tidy, while some of us need to be reminded or told to do it a thousand times, whether by a frustrated parent or roommate, or by not being able to walk through our room without tripping over something. The problem is that if your room is a mess, the prospect of cleaning it can seem like an overwhelming task. But if you approach it in "layers" as described below, it'll be much less intimidating and, who knows? You might even have fun if you're lucky!

Steps

 * 1) Close all computer programs but this, bookmark important sites you have up if you have to. Sign off from any chat programs and put an away message. The temptation to chat or browse can be a major pitfall. If you are doing something, then turn off your screen or save what you are doing and shut down the computer. Also turn off your cellphone to avoid talking or texting so that you won't get distracted.
 * 2) [[Image:Clean_room_2_699.jpg|thumb]]Put on an album that you enjoy singing or dancing along with. Stay away from mellow, relaxing music--you need motivation. Turn it up as loud as you're allowed to put it so you're not thinking of anything else. Make a game of seeing how much you can get cleaned up during one song.
 * 3) Open all of your curtains or blinds and, if appropriate, the windows themselves to let some light and fresh air in. If you're cleaning at night, just turn on all of the lights. This will allow you to see everything and brighten your cleaning process. If you have a ceiling fan, turn it on. There's a good chance you'll work up a sweat.
 * 4) Remove all big stuff out of your room. That way the room looks a little bit more tidy already.
 * 5) Sweep out everything from under the bed and dressers. You may be surprised to find just how much junk has accumulated there, much of which is probably stuff you'd thought you'd lost or may have simply forgotten about. Separate all of it into four piles: One is trash, the second is give away, the third is recycling, and the last pile is things that should stay in your room.
 * 6) [[Image:Clean_room_8_30.jpg|thumb]]Gather the trash and throw it away. Then recycle the recycling. Keeping a garbage bag in the room will help. Pull stuff out from under and behind the rest of your furniture like desks, dressers, end tables, nightstands or bookshelves. Your only concern right now should be trash and recycling so don't put anything else away, and don't start organizing just yet.
 * 7) [[Image:Clean_room_7_806.jpg|thumb]]Put everything in your room that you need to put away in a big pile on your bed or in the middle of the floor. When stuff is all over the room it is easy to avoid, but when it's all right there in a big, tall pile, it is almost impossible to leave it there. As you're building up your pile, set any dirty clothes aside in a hamper or in a separate pile.
 * 8) [[Image:Clean_room_3_671.jpg|thumb]]Fold or hang your clean clothes and put them away, while throwing the dirty ones in the laundry pile. If you come across something that you haven't worn in quite some time, try it on. If it doesn't fit you or isn't in season, give it to charity or put it in a container as long as it's not dirty or torn. Organize your closet and dressers. Close all drawers and doors; make sure nothing is sticking out.
 * 9) Attack the pile!!! Put everything in its place - don't just shove everything under the bed and call it a day - but don't organize yet. For example, put all the books where they're supposed to be, like on your bookshelf, but don't get caught up in organizing the bookshelf just yet, or else you'll lose momentum. Just keep grabbing an item from the pile on your bed, put it in its place, and move onto the next item. If you find something that doesn't belong anywhere, either consider giving it away, or make a place for it. Continue putting everything away (stuffed animals, photographs, purses, shoes, and so on) until your bed is cleared.
 * 10) * If you find things that need to be put in another room (like dishes that belong in the kitchen) grab a laundry basket or box and put those items in there it is a lot easier to do. When you're done putting everything away that belongs in your room, you can go and put the rest of the things away that belong in other rooms. Individually taking the items to their spots in other parts of the house is a big waste of time.
 * 11) [[Image:Clean_room_4_280.jpg|thumb]][[Image:Clean_room_5_83.jpg|thumb]]Time for the bed. Strip it bare. Take off all the bedding and use this opportunity to rotate the mattress. Flipping over your mattress not only increases its lifespan, but it will also feel great to sleep on the under-used side. Now, get out some fresh bedding and change the sheets. Then, finally make your bed. An unmade bed will make any room look messy by itself.
 * 12) Now take a break. 10-15 minutes should be plenty.
 * 13) Stack your books and magazines neatly, even those on the floor. Stack the by height, biggest on the bottom shortest on the top. Organize your bookshelf if you have one. Dust the books and the shelf surfaces with a feather duster or a moist cloth.
 * 14) [[Image:Clean_room_6_673.jpg|thumb]]Clean up your desk, organizing and dusting as you go along. Even a simple dusting can make your desk look more inviting to sit at again.
 * 15) Remember all the big stuff you took out of your room earlier? Bring all that back in now and put it somewhere tidy.
 * 16) Straighten or organize anything else that needs attention. Look around your room and see if there are any spots remaining that look messy. Now is the time to untangle your jewelry, put pairs of shoes together neatly, re-arrange your picture frames, and so on. Focus on the finishing touches.
 * 17) Mop or vacuum the floor. Believe it or not, even if the floor isn't too dirty, cleaning it can make your room look much better. Make sure you get into the corners and edges as well.
 * 18) Wipe all surfaces with a cloth or paper towel and an appropriate cleanser. Don't forget door knobs, mirrors and windows. If you have a ceiling fan, turn it off and dust it thoroughly with a damp cloth.
 * 19) Remember all that rubbish you put in your bin? Well, now is the time to empty that bin and empty your laundry basket too!
 * 20) Spray your favorite air freshener or place some bags of dried lavender or potpourri in your room and reward yourself when you are done with something that you enjoy. You earned it!

Tips

 * Move some pieces of furniture out of the room (if possible) before attacking the mess (for example: hamper, bean bag chairs, etc) This decreases the clutter a little bit, making it seem less overwhelming, and gets those big, useless things out of your way.
 * Try not to stop moving unless you are on a break. This helps you get done much faster, and helps avoid distractions from taking over.
 * Try to find a friend or family member to clean with you. Cleaning is always faster and easier when you're cleaning together.
 * [Collect Cool Stuff] similar objects together so that they can all be put away together and don't bother about neatness at this point. For example, collect your clothes into one heap, stationery (pens, pencils, erasers etc) at one side. Collect papers, letters and bills into two heaps -- one for important and another for unimportant and collect items that don't fit any category (miscellaneous items) into one heap. Then begin attacking the heaps from the biggest to the smallest or alternatively start with the easiest items to clear first (Like clearing the kitchen items out). Clear the miscellaneous items last. Preferably start with the clothes and the bills. Finish with one category before shifting to the next. The idea with clearing out the larger or easier items first is to make the biggest change quickly, thus motivating you to clear up some more
 * Take a short break if you have to. Just have your break in the room. You could make it 10 minutes for every hour, or 2 minutes for every 10 minutes. Don't get distracted on your break
 * You can sprinkle some carpet deodorizer on the carpet before vacuuming to give your room a pleasant scent.
 * If there is a really big mess to clean up, try tackling one corner at a time. If you only focus on one section at a time, it makes a big mess seem easier Just follow all the steps above for one corner, then repeat them for each corner individually.
 * Remove the largest items first when attacking the pile. Just a few of them and you will see a big improvement.Continue with the next largest items until you are left with the little stuff like change and pencils.
 * Take a few pictures of your room when it was messy and then when it's really really clean.When you are done, compare the before and after. You will see how much work you did and you will feel more motivated to keep your room that way.
 * Play a game to make it more fun. For example:
 * Cleaning Show: You can pretend that you are on a cleaning show. And you have to clean your room in a certain amount of time. And when you take breaks you can pretend that that is commercial time.
 * Lava: The floor is lava and the only way to win is to not touch it. While you are trying to survive, you pick stuff up so that the other players get eliminated. Once eliminated, you can pick up 10 items to get back into the game. No one can push one another or touch them in any way. You must put away everything you pick up. The game ends when there is nothing left to pick up. Note: this does not work unless everyone wants to play.
 * Basketball: Shoot garbage into the garbage can or dirty clothes into the hamper.
 * Colors: Pick up everything red and put it away. Then move on to orange, yellow, green, and so on.
 * The pressure's on: Pretend you are a servant to an evil lord who will have you destroyed if your room isn't clean on time. Or, pretend that mutant aliens are coming and if the room is not clean in (insert time), you are doomed (works best with children). Pretend you are a servant to a bossy princess and need to clean her room before she comes back.Try talking to yourself as you do it about your life. It sounds crazy but it works!
 * If you keep your room clean (e.g. put dirty clothes in the hamper at the end of the day, put away a book when done reading), you won't have to clean as often.
 * Schedule the breaks you will take, and never take a break you didn't schedule, so you won't lose time.
 * Once you pick something up, try not to put it back down until you put it in it's proper place.
 * If you are dusting your ceiling fan, or any other area that is visibly dusty/dirty, do that before cleaning the floor in case anything lands on the floor. If you don't have static wipes for the dust, simply damp a paper towel and wipe the dust with the damp towel, that will stop the dust from being thrown in the air.
 * Try not to waste too much time changing different CDs or going from album to album, set your iPod to shuffle it will help you get done a whole lot faster
 * Turn your cellphone off. If you're watching TV or videos, it will probably distract you.
 * If you want you could go around your room, start from the left side and make your way to the right
 * Wash your bedding every week to make it comfy and clean to sleep on. You will sleep a lot better with clean bedding.
 * Definitely look out for sharp objects and put them somewhere you are not going to step on them.
 * If you have dust or other air-irritant allergies, take your regular allergy medication just before you start, or wear a dust mask.
 * If you stop cleaning, you will probably not want to start cleaning again. You can grab something to eat or drink, or go to the bathroom; just make sure you get straight back into the cleaning.
 * Hunger can become a distraction while working and make the cleaning process longer. Eat before you start (but not too much). If you know you're going to be cleaning all day, set out the food you are planning to eat and bring it to your room so you're less likely to get distracted.
 * Make sure you make all your shelves look presentable. If you just chuck things on your shelf or desk... it's not tidy:(
 * If you have a hamster or any kind of small animal that requires a cage, clean the cage and put fresh bedding into it Most of the time, stuff like that stinks up your room as well
 * Make sure you have a place for everything in the room such as papers, video game equipment, etc. It makes it much easier to find stuff later.
 * As you're cleaning your room, make sure everything has a place. If something doesn't, either get rid of it or make a place for it by getting rid of something else or making a spot for it.
 * If you have a bunch of things without a place, consider getting shelving, organizers and/or bins to make use of unused space. Even small spaces like under the bed, on upper or lower shelves of closets or desktop shelves can make a cluttered space neat and tidy.
 * Put things you use often where it is easy to get to and things that you don't use often in more hard-to-reach spots. You're more likely to put things away when you're done if it's nearby.
 * If your music player/iPod is on shuffle, resist the urge to change the song if a song comes on you don't particularly want to hear. You will find yourself skipping through the shuffled songs to find one you want, and that is procrastinating.
 * Do not eat or drink while you work. Make sure that you are hydrated Before you start and if you are hungry eat some pasta or bread or something.
 * Wear comfy clothes like a t-shirt and tracksuits. Make sure you don't mind it getting slightly dusty or dirty.

Warnings

 * If you have a friend over, they may be a hindrance and make your room look worse. Instead, try to see how clean you can get your room before they show up.
 * Try not to talk to anyone whether they're helping to clean your room or not. You will get distracted and have the urge to turn the music down and stop cleaning so you can talk to them..
 * If you want any changes in your room, research about other teen`s room so you can have an idea on what to do on your room. But remember,its better to be original.

Things You'll Need

 * Garbage bag(s) and garbage bin
 * Timer or alarm for break times
 * Magic Eraser sponges (optional)
 * Sanitizing wipes or spray
 * A dust rag and spray
 * A vacuum or an g2 swivel sweeper
 * Window cleaning solution and cotton rag
 * A laundry basket or hamper
 * A good CD or favorite radio station
 * Radio/CD player/iPod
 * Air freshener
 * Clean sheets
 * Dusting Cloth
 * Comfortable clothes
 * A broom and dust pan ( if you have a rug in your room you won't need this)
 * Trash can

Related Tips and Steps

 * How to Clean Your Room Fast
 * How to Keep Your Room Clean
 * How to Organize Your Room
 * How to Make Your Bed
 * How to Be Organized
 * How to Make a Personal Space
 * How to Properly Clean a Room
 * How to Clean and Organize Your Bedroom
 * How to Clean Your Bedroom in a Hour
 * How to Tidy a Really Messy Bedroom
 * How to Keep Your Room Clean