Sigh of Relief {A Clean Bedroom}

~ If you read this post, please do not pass judgment on the "before" picture.  When I began this blog, I knew part of it was to share my journey of getting my home in order.  If clutter makes you cringe, you can just pass on this post.~ 

Our bedroom has become a cluttered, dusty place.  It is not comforting and certainly not a haven.  It has been ages since I could have someone in the bedroom and not be ashamed.  (I actually denied my friend's baby a nap in my bedroom last year.  He did nap, just not in the "peace and clutter" of my bedroom since there was no room for the Pack 'n' Play.)  Don't believe me?  I'm cringing at the thought, but will share a (small) picture.  
 Above is the only "before" picture.  It is of my side of the room, so I felt that I could share it.  I would like to think the mirror doubles the clutter on the dresser.  My husband's side was not nearly so bad.

I knew the job would be BIG.  I also knew that I wanted it completed in one effort, not little scraps of time here and there.  Saturday morning I woke up and somehow (thank you, God!) was in a very rare cleaning mood.  I began by cleaning the kids' bathroom and folding some laundry.  After my shower and breakfast, I dressed in sweats with the anticipation of getting dirty/dusty as I cleaned.  Having my husband's blessing (with the two Big Kids and often-fussy-baby to care for), I got right to work with a (not great, but the only one available) book on CD.  After hours and hours of cleaning, our master bedroom is CLEAN.

These pictures are honest pictures.  See the laundry basket and boxes?  I knew I could quickly remove them for a better picture, but that is where their new homes are, so I want them in the picture.

In this first picture, you can see the uncluttered dresser.  That is a three-bin hamper.  (LOVE it!) The night stand does not fit beside the bed.  (I am considering moving it to the basement since it does not have a real function in the bedroom.)  All that other stuff has either found a new home or is in the process of being donated.   You may have noticed that I switched the location of the hamper and nightstand.  My thought is when you walk in the room, it is nicer to have the nightstand greet us than the hamper.
 The boxes actually hold gifts.  Before I had one very large box.  I divided it into two boxes.  One box holds gifts for our immediate family; the other box is for others.  I like to buy year-round with sales.  They may not be attractive, but they serve purpose.

I put the laundry basket on the nightstand, partially to keep the nightstand from being a horizontal collecting surface.  The other reason was to keep the floor tidy.

Below is our king-sized bed, which is the reason I can't have a real nightstand.  There is a doorway (to the bathroom) just to the right of the bed and a window just to the left.  I cannot turn the nightstand sideways, because it would cover the only heating/cooling vent for the room.  I need a place for my glasses, clock, light, and books so a stand of some sort is needed.  We happened to have an old end table of dark wood, so that works for us.  We actually do have matching lamps, but I prefer a touch lamp on my side of the bed.  I used to have a prettier, more feminine one, but that went to the baby's room.  Now I use the Penn State lamp.  The books, lotions, and clocks may look like clutter, but it's there to stay because we use them each daily.  The bed may not look pretty, but I have determined extra pillows for the sake of "pretty" is not me.  I need practical and not something to be tossed on the floor each night.  Shams and decorative pillows are NOT practical for us!  (Does anyone else feel this way?)
 This is my husband's dresser.  The door shown leads to the bathroom.  There is another door to the right that leads to the rest of the upstairs.  Yes, that is a Penn State Pillow Pet on his dresser.  I am happy to say that the basket on his dresser is no longer overflowing.  You can see something to the left of the dresser on the floor.  It's a Penn State basket.  (Do you see a theme?  Thankfully our quilt is green and navy so it matches without a lion's head on it.)  It holds just a few items (now).  My goal is to get it into the closet (which is off the bathroom) once the closet is clean.  That will be another big project.
We do not have even one item hanging on our bedroom walls.  Nor have we painted them.  I hope that we (meaning he) will be more motivated to paint with the clean room!  In the meantime, the room is obviously more comfortable and inviting!

While cleaning, I also washed the curtains, wiped the walls (a first!), and cleaned the windows.  The dressers and bed were rather dusty.  It sure feels good to have a clean room again!  It's been a long, long time!  Thankfully, I am also motivated to maintain the cleanliness!

8 comments

  1. Our walls are in the same state. It's been on my list of things to change for a while.

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  2. Good job! I'm still working on my bedroom. It will take me until the end of February. I have so many spaces and lots of stuff to organize! I love what you did!

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  3. Awesome!! I haven't made it upstairs yet, so our bedroom is still cluttered. I have made tons of progress downstairs this month, though. ;)
    Thank you for these posts! You're keeping me motivated.

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  4. That is GREAT work!! Oh, I bet that just feels wonderful. I love it when I tackle and accomplish a big project like that. Nicely done!!

    I'm also happy to see I'm not the only one who buys presents year round when I see things that are perfect/on sale. I'm usually done with my Christmas shopping in August or something! ;)

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  5. Yippee! What a great job you did!

    My bedroom isn't that messy, but there's a stack of homeschool books to find homes for, a box of books to sell, an overflowing mending pile, and a box of old photos to organize...way more than I can do in one day or week. Working on it though!

    Thanks for the inspiration!

    Annie Kate

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  6. Your control of clutter has made a gia-normous difference. Q: Is it easier to keep stuff under control avoiding the morph into clutter? Since you have more stuff, would it be practical to exchange bedside units so drawer nite table is yours? If the 2nd night table is still in the room, the striped box would look more 'decorative' than the plastic basket don't you think? Do you have a chair in MBdrm? There is space at the side of 9 drawer, mirrored dresser. Using an open leg chair, basket or boxes can slide beneath.

    When we decided our Masterbdrm was our adult sanctuary, anything that didn't support that idea didn't get in the room!

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    1. Anyonymous, thanks for your encouragement and great questions. I think you've given us more to think about and move around! I have also thought with the removal of the spare nightstand we could have a chair in our bedroom. (And yes, I love the idea of an open leg chair!) It might happen in the not-so-close-future. :)

      Thank you everyone for your encouragement!

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