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A 10-minute Sunday bedroom reset for a better week ahead
By Jolie Kerr The Washington Post
Published April 18, 2025
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If you've ever logged onto TikTok, you've no doubt seen one of those utterly watchable and preposterously addictive "Sunday resets," in which cleaning influencers - cleanfluencers, to use the parlance of the day - perform tasks that leave their homes spotless and ready for the week ahead. For the uninitiated, the "reset" is just a very online way of saying, "doing my chores."
The routine of it all - the videos often follow a predictable gantlet of tasks - provides a helpful blueprint to follow, but the TikTok-style reset has additional benefit: Reframing what are, essentially, routine housekeeping tasks as a "reset" can change the way we feel about cleaning and organizing our spaces. Instead of the sense of dread (and, for some, childlike petulance) that we associate with having to do our chores, thinking of it as a "reset" imbues a sense of simplicity - having a tidy bedroom can be as easy as hitting the reset button.
Maybe you want to try one of these bedroom resets for yourself. (You should, they're great!) To help you make the leap from social to IRL, we've created two Sunday reset routines: one that can be performed in 10 minutes or less and one that is more labor-intensive, which you can follow for a fresher, tidier-looking bedroom in the time it takes to do a load of laundry.
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This routine is designed to be performed on Sunday to reset your bedroom for the week to come - but resets needn't be reserved only for Sundays. Our reset focuses mostly on tidying and requires little by way of cleaning supplies. But don't let the simplicity of this routine fool you into doubting its effect; performing these low-effort tasks can transform your bedroom in just 10 minutes. (And if you move fast, you can probably get it done in five.)
Make the bed: First things first: Make the bed. The quickest path to a tidy-looking bedroom is a made bed. Even if you are performing this routine at night and will get right back in it, make that bed! (Also, making a bed and getting back in it is a time-honored tradition.) So start with making the bed and, if you want to really amp things up, use linen spray to smooth out wrinkles, which leaves pillowcases and duvet covers looking less slept-in and lends a touch of scent to the space. (For those who hate fragrance, unscented linen spray is just water in a spray bottle, and it works equally well to revive rumpled bedding.) This task will take ~1-2 minutes.
• Remove clutter from bedside table(s) and dressers: Surface clutter grows like kudzu in a bedroom, taking over bedside tables and dressers, and lending the space a disheveled, dirty appearance. To get things under control, start by throwing away any trash, then return anything that doesn't belong in the bedroom to its rightful home. Finally, tidy items like tissue boxes, eyeglasses, remote controls, etc. that do belong on your bedside tables and dressers. This task will take ~2-3 minutes.
• Dust, polish or wipe hard surfaces: After removing clutter and tidying bedside tables and dressers, dust, polish or wipe those surfaces. Wood and laminate table- and dresser-tops can be dusted with a microfiber cloth, while glass surfaces should be polished with glass cleaner and a lint-free cloth. Don't forget to clean items like lampshades and catchall trays, where dust often goes overlooked. This task will take ~1 minute.
• Put clothes away: Place dirty clothes in the hamper, and put clean clothes away in the closet or dresser. Neatly fold in-between clothes and stack them on a chair (you know the one) or hang them on a hook - hooks are an excellent place to stash in-between clothes, and it's tidier-looking than draping your favorite hoodie on a piece of furniture. This task will take ~3 minutes.
• Create some ambiance: The final step in this Sunday bedroom reset is optional but highly recommended: Light a candle or diffuser, put on soft music, turn on your fanciful projector lighting and admire how nice your bedroom looks. This task will take ~1 minute.
• A more intensive reset
For a deeper clean, try this routine for resetting a bedroom. Performing tasks in order, rather than haphazardly, helps maximize your active cleaning time and ensures all the major spots in the bedroom get some much-needed attention. This reset calls for more intensive cleaning, but it will leave your bedroom spotless, all in the time it takes to do a load of laundry.
• Strip the sheets, start a load of laundry: As with the short bedroom reset, this more intensive reset starts with making the bed. Or unmaking it, as the case may be! Strip the linens from the bed and start a load of laundry.
• Pick up and put away clothes: Staying on top of piles of clothes keeps those piles from turning into mountains that threaten to take over the entire bedroom. Use this reset to get control of your wardrobe; dirty clothes go in the hamper or straight into the washer, and clean clothes get put away. This is also a good time to launder any in-between clothes, like hoodies or jeans, that have gone too long between washings.
• Vacuum the mattress and clean the headboard: Here's where things get really fun! (We may have different ideas of fun.) With the sheets stripped from the bed, run a handheld vacuum over the surface of the mattress and, if it is fabric, the headboard, too. Vacuuming removes dust, dust mites, dander and other fine particulates that build up on a mattress over time, helping to prevent stale odors from developing and improving air quality in the bedroom. Vacuum or dust headboards, too, where a lot of dust, dirt and hair accumulates.
• Declutter, dust and polish hard surfaces: Start by throwing away any trash and removing items that don't belong in the bedroom, like mugs or the living room TV remote. (Oh, that's where that is!) Then, dust, wipe or polish surfaces like the dresser and bedside table(s), and replace items that do belong there, like eyeglasses or change bowls. While you have your duster out, go ahead and give these oft-overlooked spots a going-over: Windowsills, blinds, televisions, the tops of bookcases and other storage furniture. After dusting, polish any glass surfaces in the bedroom, like mirrors and windows, to remove smudges and fingerprints.
At this point, your load of laundry is probably ready to go into the dryer. Do you need to start a second load? Do that. Do you need a short break? Take one now, because the last two tasks are going to be the most physically demanding ones.
Vacuum, sweep and/or mop the floor: A general rule of cleaning is to dust first, then vacuum, sweep or mop the floors to capture any dust or hair that drifted downward during cleaning. Once you've dusted, then either vacuum or sweep, and if you have hard flooring in the bedroom, mop the floors, too. Bedroom floors do not typically need to be wet mopped; damp mopping using a flat microfiber mop and a mild spray cleaner that is safe for your flooring type will suffice here.
• Make the bed with fresh sheets: The final step in this intensive bedroom reset routine is to remake the bed with fresh sheets. Just as with the shorter bedroom reset, this is also the time to light your favorite candle or diffuser, rinse and refill a humidifier, or turn on ambient lighting, if you so desire.
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Previously:
• Your washing machine can clean a lot more than clothes