What Made Getting Rid Of Half My Bedroom Clutter So Easy

There are few tasks I enjoy less than decluttering a space. It’s true that I get an itch at various times of the day to make sure my surfaces are wiped, the floors are clear, and my bed is made. But there’s something about holding on to possessions longer than I should that often feels comforting — until it’s not. 

It was time to tackle my constantly overfilled-with-junk vanity space, so I pulled my socks up and attempted an overhaul using the 50% decluttering rule. I’d seen it all over social media, including in this video by creator @ashleybrooke.j, and after trying it out I couldn’t recommend it more highly.

The 50% rule is an easy, tried-and-true decluttering method: You target an area and work to get rid of half of the items in that space. It’s nothing fancy, but it gets the job done quickly depending on how willing you are to let your items go. In the video, the creator challenges herself to get rid of 50% of everything in her closet, and then documents the items she ended up decluttering. “I’ve been doing this too. My closet has been transformed,” shared a commenter on the video.

When I looked around my bedroom, I knew my vanity area atop my dresser was a space in desperate need of decluttering. Bottles of empty perfumes, expired beauty products, and miscellaneous lids were clumped together in the focal point of my room. Just by looking at it, I felt confident I could get rid of at least half the items there — so I got to work.

I started by putting aside the items I knew I wanted to keep: fragrances that were new and full, lotions I use every day, and a big bottle of hair mist. Some items were more of a challenge, like a bottle of moisturizer I hadn’t used in a while with no expiration date. It smelled a little off, though, so into the 50% pile it went. 

Other items were less tricky, like a mystery lid with no matching bottle and an old contact lens case. There were also a few items I didn’t fully get rid of, but moved to a space that made more sense, like eye drops that could sit in my medicine cabinet instead. (I counted this towards my 50%!). I also had a pair of earrings in their original case taking up space, so I dumped the packaging and moved them to my jewelry collection. 

The 50% rule helped me figure out what I was able to fit, and what I really didn’t need anymore. I think it works especially well if a space obviously looks too full or cluttered, but it also works if you’re skeptical that you actually need to get rid of anything. In total, I counted 39 items to sort through, so I figured it would be fair to get rid of 18 or 19 of them — and that’s exactly what I did. Even if I couldn’t get rid of half of them, it was encouraging enough to try, and it made me think about my items in a more ruthless way that really helped clear the space out.

Of course, it may be more difficult for some to declutter half of their things, so it’s definitely not a decluttering method for everyone. However, if you’re looking for something that’ll help you ruthlessly get rid of things, this is definitely the one trick to try. All in all, there wasn’t a set rule for each item I contemplated keeping or getting rid of. Some were just questions like “do I use this every day?” and others I had to ask, “could this work better in another, less cluttered spot?” The result? A tactic I can’t wait to start trying in every cluttered spot in my home, because it can be used absolutely anywhere.