Clutter has piled up after students have been trapped in their rooms for more than a year. Some have now tried to deal with it.

Margarita Fedorova, a 19-year-old business and finance major said the pandemic made her see her room differently.

“Before the pandemic, it was someplace I just viewed to sleep,” Fedorova said. “I realized being home is where I spend a majority of my time, even pre-pandemic.”

Fedorova said she felt inspired by the KonMari method, in which you question if your object sparks joy and throw it out if the answer is no.

“I went through my whole room,” Fedorova said. “And was like, ‘Do I need this?’ ‘Is this something I would take with me if I were to move?’”

This method of cleaning helped Fedorova keep her space organized and boosted her mental health, she said.

“There’s that one saying that cleanliness is second to godliness,” Fedorova said. “I’ve noticed that it’s so true. A clean space is only going to make you happier.”

Others found it difficult to clean their spaces during the pandemic, like Alex Rudolph, a 19-year-old aviation major.

“Being more confined means I do more, which means I forget to clean up stuff more,” Rudolph said. “The clutter is getting kind of annoying.”

Some have found a more relaxed way of cleaning, like Leslie Romero, who moved from Santa Barbara to Morgan Hill during the pandemic.

“I feel like I still never fully unpacked,” said Romero, 21, engineering major. “(But) it still feels like I made my living space my own.”

Romero said she takes cleaning step by step.

“Usually, I like to take a day to make sure that I at least clean out one area of the house,” Romero said. “If not the entire house.”

Romero said she decided to keep some of her pandemic cleaning habits when the world returns to normal, seeing it as a way of staying on top of things

“One of the biggest things that got me to be productive is to make my bed in the morning,” Romero added.

To see how students have changed their living spaces, click here.