“Are you expecting a flood?” my husband asked after we had been married for only a couple of months. At the time we lived in a teeny tiny apartment. He was working full time at his first job, and I was still going to university.
“What are you talking about?” I asked. I was truly bewildered. I couldn’t see anything out of place in our home.
“Cindy, you have built a dike around the bed!!” I looked again, this time with my eyes wide open, and sure enough, I had dropped towels, clothing, socks, papers, and other junk in our bedroom. The piles made a perfect dike surrounding the bed. And yes, the stuff was ALL mine! Sheesk. Poor guy!
It is amazing how easy it is to stop seeing the piles that you have become used to seeing everyday.
I’d like to blame my “dike” on being an overworked student and new bride. Sounds like a good excuse eh? In reality, for some reason, keeping my bedroom neat had been a challenge ever since I was a kid. I once found a photo of my childhood room – YIKES! Towels, clothing, stuffed animals, homework and more. And let me assure you, the rest of my parent’s home did NOT look like this. They kept it very neat. “Oh, look!” my husband said, “You were building dikes back then too!”
Then when I was working full time, something as simple as making the bed in the morning seemed like a complete waste of time! Why would I want to make up a bed, leave the home for the day, and then mess it up again when we got home? And then, I found a really good reason not to make the bed – I heard on a science program that it was a good idea to let your bed “air out” for a few minutes before you make it. I decided that if a “few minutes” was a good idea, then “all day long” was even better. Sound familiar?
Of course, if the bed wasn’t made up, the room looked messy. And if the room was already messy, what difference did it make if it was a little bit MORE messy? And before I knew it, I was building dikes again!
Today, the dikes have disappeared and the husband stayed. Our master bedroom is one of our favorite rooms in the house (we even painted the walls – a major achievement for a decorating-challenged couple like us!). It takes less than FIVE minutes to make the bed, pick up stray items, and get the bedroom ready for the day. We haven’t seen a dike in many, many years!
So, how did I learn to control the bedroom clutter monster?? It was as simple as learning to control the “NOT ME FIVE” (and I was guilty of being the “not me” clutterer – we didn’t even have kids yet so I couldn’t blame them).
Regardless of whether your bedroom is just in need of a little spring cleaning, or it looks like you have prepared for a major flood, you are going to be amazed by how much brighter, friendlier, and more peaceful it feels when you love the room you sleep in.
It doesn't matter whether you share your bedroom with a special partner, a couple dogs, and a cat, or you enjoy it on your own, your master bedroom deserves to be a room, a haven, that you love, enjoy, and want to rest, relax, and sleep in everyday. And when you love this room, you stop buying "stuff" to make it better. It's funny, my passion for linens, towels, knick knacks, candles, cute lamps, and bedroom furniture has been replaced with a love for the things we already own. When I got rid of the IMPULSE buys, I discovered the things I really like. Plus, I still have enough "SHOP at home FIRST" candles to keep us burning for several years LOL.
Some of you are going to be able to whip through your master bedroom in just a few minutes. And for some of you, this is going to take a number of days. It isn’t a race. Go at your own speed. And when real-life intervenes and you lose that hour you were planning on spending in the bedroom, don’t worry about it. Plan some time the next day. Now, if any of you are really daring (hee hee), take a couple of “BEFORE” pictures. Trust me, once you get started on the NOT ME FIVE, your master bedroom is going to change before your eyes. Have fun! Mama Mia, here I come!
Step 1: DOing a Quick Surface Clean
- SHOP at home FIRST: Gather up a couple trash bags, a recycle bag for papers, catalogs, magazines, etc., a cardboard box (or large bag) for clothing that you don’t want anymore, some all purpose cleaner, some window cleaner, a dust rag, and a couple of washing rags. Don’t worry about the broom and/or vacuum. We’ll do that last!
- Put on some great music: When I have a big project, I need big music. The Best of ABBA always works for me “I am the Dancing Queen!”
- If it is warm enough, open up the windows and let some fresh air into the room. Open up the closet doors and let that fresh air get into all the corners. Nature’s fresh air works a lot better than the chemical "fresh air" stink that you buy in a can. Blech! Costs less too.
Step 2: The NOT ME five
The NOT ME FIVE are notorious for leaving you with that overwhelmed, yucky, and “where to I start?” feeling. And yet, once you get going, these five are the easiest to take care of. Ready? Set? Go!
- Laundry: gather up all the laundry, the towels, the socks, the shirts, the ironing, the mending, and whatever else has found it’s way into your bedroom dike. Remember to get the shirt you hung on the knob on the back of the door. And the hand-wash-only sweater that you are scared to wash because the last time you hand-washed your favorite sweater it shrunk! Get the laundry right OUT of the bedroom. Don’t feel guilty if clean clothes are mixed in with dirty clothes. It will all come out in the wash (LOL – I had to say that!). Bring it to the laundry room. Sort it out and start a load. It just takes a couple minutes. If you have to bring it to a Laundromat, load it up into the laundry basket and get it ready to go.
- Dirty Dishes: Whew! I bet your bedroom is looking better already! Now, hunt down all the dirty dishes and water glasses that found legs and ended up beside the bed, on the nightstand, the dresser, or under the chair. Bring them directly to the kitchen and load them up into the dishwasher (or beside the sink). Get them out of the bedroom!
- Trash: Grab one of those plastic bags and start loading up the trash. Bags and tags from clothing that you recently bought, wrappers from the nylons you opened this morning, tissues from the cold you had last week, and whatever else has found its way into the bedroom. Don’t worry if you are climbing in and around boxes and bags right now. Just gather up all the trash that you can see. Get it out of there. When you are done, take the bag directly outside and dump it into the trashcan. Au revoir! Check stop: Do you need to put on new music?
- Papers: Do you like to read in your bedroom? Perhaps a few magazines, catalogs, school newsletters, unopened mail, and other paper items have accumulated in this room. Today, take a few minutes and get it out of here. We used to keep a computer in our bedroom. One of the best things we did was get move the computer, the desk, the papers, the projects, the bills, and all the stress that went along with it OUT of our master bedroom.
- Stuff that doesn’t belong: Take a couple minutes to think about the things that you do in your master bedroom. It should be a place to rest, relax, sleep, and ….. uh, well, (I’m blushing now), you know. And if your room is surrounded by crafting supplies (been there done that), computer equipment (that too), unfinished mending and ironing (blech!), garage sale finds that haven’t found a home, magazines and pocketbooks that were read years ago, kid toys, dog toys, cat toys, and boxes and bags of stuff that doesn’t belong, then it is going to be hard to create a bedroom you love. Get rid of the stuff that doesn’t belong.
Do you have piles and piles of stuff in your bedroom? Go through it one bag and one box at a time. I often settle down in front of the TV to do this. When I get a couple boxes or bags done, I usually call it quits for the evening. Then I do a few more the next night. Before I know it, I have gone through it all (and most of it got donated or trashed LOL).
Congratulations on a great start. Sweet dreams everyone! - Cindy
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Loving Your Master Bedroom - A Quick Surface Clean