After the initial flurries of the school year comes the opportunity for teens to look back and reflect, wading through an ocean of paper, reports and projects.

With each school year, teens collect hundreds of pieces of paper. It can be hard to let them go, as teachers warn that a handout could change the students’ life, but it is necessary to clean out the horde as life moves on.

While mucking out ye old room, one might find themselves undertaking a project of larger proportions; cleaning and redecorating the bedroom. Over the course of just a few years the average human is contrary to change, so it is no surprise that the most inner chamber of one’s household mutate to fit a current taste.

Awash in color

The first to consider when giving a bedroom a makeover is color. Color defines a room’s mood and how the inhabitant is most likely to feel is affected by the colors they are surrounded by.

To give a bedroom unity in color, look to the bed sheets, as the bed will be the central focus of the room and the other aspects will feed off its color scheme. It is important to understand how colors work and interact to give a room the intended look.

There are three primary colors: red, yellow and blue. There are also three secondary colors, which are the mixture of two primaries: orange, green and violet. Complementary colors are any two colors directly opposite on the color wheel. For example, orange and blue are complementary colors.

As the name implies, a complimentary color is well suited to its partner and makes for a good contrast in a small area. Using this basic knowledge of color to unleash the rainbow, a room can be united with appropriately colored accents that are heliocentric to the bed.

Place for everything

After sorting out colors its time to get rid of all those things that you no longer need, but still feel slightly attached to. We can’t all be like Andy from “Toy Story” and try to keep every item of childhood memorabilia, which may seem sweet but is really a step toward the path of pack-rat-doom.

On the other hand it is not necessary to become a total Thoreau and burn everything either. Just be selective and choosy when making the choice of what to keep. Doing this sooner rather than later will be a big help for when it’s time to completely leave the nest.

This process will leave the decorator with mounds of stuff that must be taken somewhere off the property, to deter any second thoughts. For clothing there are multiple places to take items so that others may benefit from your cleaning spree, such as Plato’s Closet in Layton or Bountiful, where name-brand items may be sold to the store.

Another option is the DI — Deseret Industries — where clothes and knickknacks can all find a home through donation, as long as the items are still in good condition.For those goods that are no longer usable, it is best to dispose of them in a Dumpster or recycling bin.

Reap rewards

Then there are the things that you want or need to keep. To help maintain a clean room atmosphere, learning to properly store items is a valuable skill. There are multitudes of storage units and ways to keep things neat and organized. Plastic bins and shoe boxes are great for stacking, while baskets are functional and attractive. To find what works best for you, play around and have fun with this step as it is the final contribution to a complete room.

Cleaning out a bedroom may seem daunting and quite tedious, but it can be a lot of fun as well. Plan ahead and set aside a day or a few hours in which you can clean uninterrupted and the job will go by much faster.

Once the cleaning phase is finished comes the real enjoyment of setting up your dream room. Set aside some time to do this as well so that the process doesn’t stretch out for weeks or months and you can get some time to enjoy your room.

With a clean, fresh atmosphere in your personal space, you may start to feel pretty new and great yourself!

Sarah Stratford is a senior at Davis High School. Her hobbies are many and varied. Email her at lilypad_129@hotmail.com.