This project was at the request of a mother who decided she wanted to give her 22-year-old son the gift of getting his bedroom in the house he is renting a little “tune up”. It wasn’t about spending a lot of money on any storage or organizing solutions but simply starting to help him transition to a more adult-like space. Fortunately for him, we had another client that was giving away a bed frame that he will be getting for free and will make the bed feel a little more “grown up” rather than it being directly on the ground.

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The first thing to go was the dresser that was falling apart...and we aren’t kidding. It took no tools to break it down...it literally crumbled once we pulled the back off. He really didn’t have that much in the dresser...socks and underwear which were relocated to a 3 drawer plastic unit in his extra closet that wasn’t being utilized well and some sweatpants and shorts that were put on a shelf in his main closet.

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We also decided the nightstand wasn’t really needed since he had a lamp with small but still functional shelves next to the bed that could accommodate whatever he normally liked to have nearby at night.

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Removing those two items alone made the room feel more open but moving his keyboard and the two crates filled with records (which were actually blocking his ability to close the closet doors) against the long wall opposite his bed was a dramatic improvement.

Next we removed a giant drum case out of his main closet and took it down to the basement where the rest of his music equipment lives...along with 3 snakes that almost gave our COCTC aka Chief of Chaos To Calm anything but the feeling of calm when she saw them!

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We gathered his shoes and lined them up on the floor of the closet and while he could get away without a shoe rack, it would contain them better and cheap but still very functional ones can be found at Target or Walmart as well as online.

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The only thing left that still needs to be removed from the room is a bearded dragon. Until he can find a new home for it, his cat, Joni (named after Joni Mitchell), will clearly continue her quest to get inside the reptile’s tank.

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Other than that, he just needed to promise to vacuum more often and make his bed every day because it really will make him feel a sense of accomplishment before he even leaves his room and that will psychologically make his day much more productive. It’s a fact...and one that we have been preaching even before Navy Seal Admiral Willian McRaven spoke about in a commencement speech he gave at the University of Texas back in 2014 .

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Biggest Tips/Takeaways???

• If you are on a very tight budget you can still create a much less cluttered space if you are willing to let some things go. And even if you need some storage solutions, check out thrift stores and dollar stores for low-cost options. They may not be “chic” but the still serve a purpose. And if they are in a closet or drawer, seriously, who cares?

• MAKE YOUR BED EVERY DAY!!! … Not that we want to harp on this particular tip but if you commit to doing it eventually it really does becomes automatic and you don’t even have to think about it.