You spend roughly a third of your life asleep, yet the room where you do it often becomes the dumping ground for the rest of the house. It starts small, a pile of mail on the nightstand, a treadmill that doubles as a clothes rack, or a stack of throw pillows you have to wrestle off the bed every night. Before you know it, your space for rest feels more like a storage unit.
If you aren’t sleeping well, or if you just feel a low-level hum of anxiety when you walk into your room, your environment might be to blame. Clearing out specific items can instantly shift the energy from chaotic to calm. Here are seven things to remove from your bedroom immediately to reclaim your rest.
1. The Television
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It’s controversial, but nearly every interior designer agrees: the TV has to go. While falling asleep to a comfort show feels nice in the moment, it wreaks havoc on your sleep hygiene.
Screens emit blue light, which suppresses melatonin production, the hormone that tells your body it’s time to sleep. Beyond the biology, having a black rectangle as the focal point of the room kills the design vibe. It turns a space meant for connection and rest into just another media room.
2. The Work-From-Home Desk
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Since 2020, the lines between “office” and “home” have blurred, but your bedroom needs to draw a hard line. Sleeping a few feet away from your to-do list makes it difficult for your brain to switch off.
Seeing your laptop or a stack of unpaid bills triggers a stress response, keeping your cortisol levels elevated when they should be dropping. If you absolutely must work in your bedroom due to space constraints, you have to hide the evidence when the clock hits 5 PM.
3. The Army of Throw Pillows
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We love a styled bed, but there is a point of diminishing returns. If it takes you five minutes to make the bed and another five to unmake it because you have to arrange ten different cushions, they aren’t serving you.
Excess pillows create visual clutter and physical chores. They usually end up on the floor, collecting dust and making the room look messy instantly. A simpler bed is more inviting and far easier to maintain.
4. Synthetic or “Tired” Bedding
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Your skin touches your sheets for eight hours a day. If you are sleeping on polyester blends that trap heat or old sheets that have started pilling, you are downgrading your sleep quality. Synthetic fabrics don’t breathe well, leading to night sweats and tossing and turning.
Similarly, if your linens are stained, ripped, or just feel rough, they send a subconscious signal of neglect. You deserve a bed that feels luxurious to climb into. Switch to breathable, natural fibers like 100% cotton percale or linen. They regulate temperature better and soften with every wash.
5. Harsh, Cool-Toned LED Bulbs
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Lighting sets the mood, and in the bedroom, you want that mood to be “sunset,” not “supermarket.” Many standard LED bulbs emit a bright, blue-white light (often labeled “Daylight” or 5000K) that is too harsh for relaxation.
This stark lighting can make a room feel cold and clinical. Just like the TV, this spectrum of light wakes your brain up right when you want it to wind down.
Swap your bulbs for “Soft White” or “Warm White” options, specifically looking for 2700K to 3000K on the packaging. Or you can also ditch the (overhead fixture) in the evening. Rely on bedside lamps or sconces to create a softer, lower glow.
6. Dusty Artificial Plants
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In the bedroom, fake plants are often just dust magnets. According to Feng Shui principles, dead or fake plants can represent stagnant energy, the exact opposite of the vitality you want in your life.
Furthermore, cheap plastic plants can off-gas volatile organic compounds (VOCs), and the thick layer of dust they collect is a nightmare for allergy sufferers. Swap the fake fern for a Snake Plant or ZZ Plant. Both are incredibly low-maintenance, thrive in lower light, and actually purify the air by releasing oxygen at night.
7. Under-Bed Storage Chaos
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It is tempting to shove everything that doesn’t have a place under the bed. Old shoes, winter coats, broken gadgets, out of sight, out of mind, right? Not exactly.
In many design philosophies, clutter under the bed blocks the flow of energy (chi) around you while you sleep. On a practical level, stuffing this area full prevents airflow, encouraging dust bunnies and mold to breed in the dark spaces.
If you must use under-bed storage, opt for lidded, rolling bins. Only store soft items like off-season linens, not heavy or emotionally charged memorabilia.
Reclaim Your Rest
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Decluttering the bedroom means respecting your downtime. Start with just one of these categories today, maybe toss those old pillows or change out a lightbulb, and notice how the room feels different tonight.