9 Things That You’d Better Not Keep in the Bedroom, According to Experts

Some people enter their bedroom only when it’s time to sleep, but others do most of their daily activities inside this room. They eat while sitting on their bed or run on the treadmill right next to it. However, while they may feel comfortable and cozy here, keeping all these things in this room can be harmful in ways they would never even imagine.

Bright Side would like to explain 9 things that shouldn’t be kept in the bedroom.

1. Your shoes

The main reason why people remove their shoes before entering the home is hygiene. Our shoes carry lots of bacteria and dirt, and all that can get caught on your beautiful carpet and stain it. However, many people don’t have a shoe rack outside their homes, so they leave their shoes just past the entrance, sometimes in the bedroom. The best thing to do is to simply take off your shoes outside the door and carry them to your storing spot.

Avoid putting your shoes anywhere near your bed at all costs. This is a space that should be germ-free and completely odorless. If you can’t get used to taking your shoes off while in the house, at least follow that rule for the bedroom.

2. Your alarm clock or your phone

Alarm anxiety is a fear where people don’t trust their alarms to work properly. They also are scared that they will wake them up before they’ve slept enough. This anxiety stems from the fact that many people look at their alarm clock when they wake up in the middle of the night, thinking about how little time they have left to sleep. This can be fixed by simply moving the clock to a different room that’s still close enough to hear the ringing.

You can also get rid of a clock completely by making sure you get a full night’s sleep every night. This is how you can create a sleep cycle where your brain wakes up by itself. But you should also keep your phone out of reach for pretty much the same reasons. You don’t want to keep checking the time and all the messages and alarms that pop up on the screen.

3. Your family photos

We all tend to keep family photos around the house, but the bedroom is a big “no-no” according to Feng Shui. This is because looking at your family late at night can cause you great anxiety and unwanted stress. You start thinking about your responsibilities regarding these people, and you worry about if they’re going through something.

Photos of deceased family members can create a sad and negative environment that will keep you awake all night. To put it more clearly, the bedroom should be a place dedicated to you and your partner and nobody else.

4. Your exercise equipment

Exercise equipment takes up space, and if you don’t have a massive house, storing it can be tricky. However, you should by no means keep it in the bedroom. Not only does this cause clutter when the equipment is no longer being used, but it isn’t the most hygienic thing to keep next to your bed.

Additionally, your equipment can cause you guilt if you’ve been skipping your exercise routine lately. That guilt can keep you awake at night, therefore, depriving you of your precious sleep.

5. Your work desk

Separating your work from your relaxation time is crucial when you work from home. This is because your brain can easily be distracted by responsibilities when you just want to lie down. The easy solution would be to transfer your desk outside your bedroom. But sometimes that’s not possible when you live in a small space or all the other rooms are being used for other purposes.

If such is the case with you, you definitely need to avoid sitting on your bed to do your work. Not only is it bad for your posture, but you can also get distracted and become tempted to stop working earlier. You can also turn the desk in a way so that it doesn’t face the bed or even use a curtain to create some kind of divider.

6. Your unread books

There are so many people out there that consider books to be a member of their family. Some of them are even addicted to hoarding books in their homes, and it’s impossible to read all of them. If this happens, the collection causes clutter, and the books take up tons of space everywhere in your house, including the bedroom.

The solution to the problem would be to neatly organize your unread books in a bookcase. You can keep the one book you are currently reading next to your bed. This way, you won’t feel stressed about all the other books you still haven’t read, but you’ll also have more space to move around in — not to mention the fact that all the clutter creates a ton of dust that’ll keep cleaning again and again.

7. A space heater

Leaving a heater on all night can result in dry skin and irritation, which can cause itchiness. People with heart troubles and asthma should be very careful with heaters since they can increase the levels of carbon monoxide in the air. This is especially true with gas heaters, as they can even cause asphyxia. The safe thing to do is to turn off the heater when you go to bed or leave the room.

Even when you’re in a room with the heater on, make sure that there’s nothing flammable near it. Avoid putting it on carpeted floors — opt for a hard surface instead. If you start feeling dizzy or experience headaches, it might be a sign that the carbon monoxide levels have increased dangerously.

8. Your snacks

If you keep snacks in your bedroom, you’re likely to eat more often in there than in the kitchen. This habit is very unsanitary since all the crumbs left in your room invite many germs and bacteria. Besides that, you probably overeat when chowing down on the bed, watching some show on your laptop or the TV. Your brain is so distracted by the relaxed environment that it doesn’t signal when the stomach has had enough.

Eating in bed can also interrupt your sleep. Your brain gets taught that the bed is a place where you eat and watch TV. So when it’s time to sleep, it’s still in full working mode and can’t understand that it needs to turn the engines off.

9. Your passport and other confidential papers

Getting a home safe box might seem like an extreme measure to some, but it may just be the smart thing to do. If thieves enter the home, they will likely be looking for money and jewelry in your room but can also grab your confidential papers and sell them online. Papers like your passport, tax return, social security card, birth certificate, and even your will deserve extra protection.

Make sure the safe you buy is waterproof and fireproof and has a security code mechanism instead of a key. You can place the safe anywhere you think is better and easier to reach. You don’t want to keep running to the basement or attic every time you need to grab your passport.

How many of the aforementioned items do you usually keep in your bedroom? Have you noticed any sleep issues while keeping your alarm clock or desk next to your bed?