Hidden secrets in Britain’s bedrooms

So you really think you can trust your partner?  Think again!  According to new research from MFI nine out of ten of us have secrets in the bedroom department.  Our nation’s bedrooms are far from being the havens of love, peace and harmony they ought to be, and our wardrobes are both the keepers of our darkest secrets and the Bermuda Triangle of our homes.

MFI ‘Bedroom Secrets’ study amongst 2,500 Brits also revealed:

• Nine out of ten have secrets hidden in their wardrobe
• Six out of ten women name the bedroom as their most peaceful zone but over half of men prefer the loo or spare room
• over 250 million odd socks lurking in the bottom of our wardrobes
• and over 180 million pairs of shoes that are never worn

So what are we hiding? 
The top three items hidden are:
• shopping receipts (54% of women),
• sex toys  
• love letters – with women emerging as the biggest cheats.

It’s also clear that wardrobe mess = relationship stress and one in three couples argue regularly about space allocation and wardrobe clutter. 

Other potentially disastrous tensions emerge.  Why, for instance, do 60% of women find their bedroom the most peaceful zone in the home, whilst their partners seeking calm retreat to the loo or bathroom (40%) or the spare room (15%).

Also, on the question of romance there are discrepancies.  When asked what, apart from sleep, goes on in the bedroom, romance topped the list for 45% of men and only 35% of women.  Other favourite bedroom activities are less sociable – top of the polls are TV, working or playing on the computer and the beauty routine.

Cluttered is the only way to describe most wardrobes.  Over half are stuffed full of clothes that are no longer worn, a quarter “so crowded I can never find what I’m looking for” and one woman in five hangs onto clothes in three different sizes.  Men are not much better – and six out of ten single men confess that they only tidy their closet when they’re entertaining!

Declutter expert, Sue Kay of No More Clutter says, “When I am asked to declutter people’s homes it’s often the bedroom that needs most attention and gives rise to most tension.  It might sound implausible, but if you sort your bedroom, and your wardrobe in particular, you really make your life feel a lot more sorted.”

MFI has introduced a new flexible wardrobe system with a range of versatile solutions to adapt to any storage needs or lifestyles.  No longer does your wardrobe need to be a general muddle into which each item of clothing is unceremoniously bundled – now everything from shoes, to ties, to dirty laundry has a home.  There is even a home office option which allows your computer and attendant clutter to be hidden away in a deep corner unit.

“But”, says Zoe Coombs of MFI, “there is no point investing in a new wardrobe system without first working out what does and doesn’t deserve wardrobe space..”

The research reveals that the bottom of the closet speaks volumes about our lack of order and our wastefulness. Whilst four out of ten of us make the sanctimonious claim to pair up all our socks, a quarter know there’s up to ten odd socks lurking in the wardrobe.  As for shoes that are never worn, 
women are the real shoe shockers – most have “quite a few” and one in eight as many as ten pairs of shoes they never wear.  

“This means that there are some 180 million pairs of shoes that are never worn”, says Coombs.  “Add to that over 250 million odd socks, not to mention 100 million ties and that’s a lot of extra potential storage space for anyone who takes our advice and declutters – not to mention the opportunity for greater order and relationship harmony in the bedroom!”