I actually had another room chosen for Day 2 as the master bedroom can be a big job but a comment on a previous post by the lovely Caitlin Grace got me to thinking, the kitchen is the hearth of the home, the living room is family time, the bathroom houses the throne, but our bedroom is our oasis. When all else is said and done we retire to our room and this should be with a sigh of relief, a feeling of pure ahhhhhhh as we sink into our bed. Where better to start our challenge than where we end our day.
Stand at the entry to your bedroom right now, what do you see? What would you like to see? We are not planning a full out redecorating, that is something you can certainly do after but if the room is currently a catch all for "stuff" then even basic decorating is not going to change that. For now we are working for better, not perfect (you will see that phrase a lot through this challenge).
I'll tell you what I see when I walk in our bedroom, in fact, as embarrassing as it is I am going to bare it all because this is about being honest with ourselves so I may as well just let everyone in on my secret. I am a first class slob! Seriously. I can organise with the best of them, containers, labels, colour coded, the whole nine yards, but I am truly horrific when it comes to follow through. That will be my biggest challenge, keeping things in order after it's all been redone.
So come with me on a tour of my master bedroom (that sounds a little kinky, doesn't it? lol). Right at the entrance is what was long ago meant to be A) a hidden bar of sorts and B) a small altar. The bar is not terribly hidden because I'm too lazy to put bottles back in the cabinet so they sit on top quietly mocking me. The mirror has NEVER been dusted, I can't find the cute antique mailbox that I set there because it's buried in crap that needs to be taken to other rooms, and lighting a candle or incense? Oh hell no, that would be down right scary if not a complete disaster, and we've had our share of disasters this year, thank you very much! Moving further in, but not much, clean laundry piled on top the chest at the end of our bed that hasn't been put away since laundry day last week, dirty laundry is in one place, but on the floor because the hamper I bought is not assembled (in fact it is buried, under the dirty laundry of course). I use a tower fan to hang my pants on that still have a day's wear left in them, I have THREE night stands with some very cute bobbles on them, somewhere, I think. The dressers? They're for piling our clothing on top aren't they? Aren't they??? And let's not forget the nearly empty suitcase from visiting my mom in BC over a week ago, yup, still tripping on that sucker too. And that there me pretties, that is my shame, here for all to see. Please don't judge me too harshly.
Well then, let's get moving. In this post I am assuming any noticable recycles and garbage have been picked up from Day 1. You need boxes labeled for items (not clothing) you would like to donate and one for more valuable ones you would like to try to sell. If you are selling something, take the picture NOW, before it goes in the box. Use as neutral a background as you can find, set up and snap. Done. As briefly described in yesterday's post and mentioned by Heather in our Facebook event, working through each area in a counter-clockwise/widdershins manner is very good for releasing and banishing. Disclaimer inserted here: I am not an expert! In absolutely no way nor at any time do I expect anyone to follow me to the letter, or even to the sentence. I'm basically sharing with you my journey, what I'm doing works for me but tweak it up to make it work for you; these are guidelines and ideas to get you going. A good example is me with a recipe, I read the recipe, I like the idea but by the time I'm done it only vaguely resembles the original, I make it my own. Make this journey your own, make it about you, besides sheeple tend to smell I find ;).
Back to our regular programming. To start with we are going to pick up all the clean clothing and put that shit away! Match and fold the socks, yes, I said match them, and for crying out loud, please throw out the ones with holes! Shirts on hangers (or folded neatly away), trousers folded, whereever it goes, put 'er there. While picking up the clean clothing you certainly may do a basic culling of those items, but if you're anything like me, they're laying around BECAUSE they are the clothes you wear the most, not the opposite. I do say basic though as we'll be attacking the closets and drawers in our rooms tomorrow in part two of the master bedroom. Now gather all the dirty laundry and get it out of your room, if you have a hamper it can go back in there after the tidying is done, if the pile is big enough, wash it already, it stinks! Seriously! Ewww. (Oh wait, that's our laundry, cat pee'd on it.... dammitalltohell.)
If your sheets need a change now is the time. Seasonal cleaning is also a good time to clean the bedding and flip/rotate your matress if it needs that as well. Mattresses and pillows house all sorts of nasty buggies, for the mattress use either baking soda or diatomaceous earth (add your favourite essential oil for a little somethin' somethin'), sprinkle it on, leave it while you tidy then vacuum it up before putting fresh sheets on, that should kill those icky critters good and dead. Pillows, cushions and shams can be thrown in the dryer on the highest heat the materials can handle; buggies like warm, they're not so fond of being baked.
Laundry and the bed are done, so now we will go through the room (widdershins again) and remove everything that does not belong to the hallway. Make piles of items by location if you like, living room, kitchen, bathroom, etc., use your give away and sell boxes here too (remember, take the photos of the items you want to sell immediately!). We'll redistribute these things after the room is done so we don't get distracted wandering about the house. Put away the out of place items from dresser tops, tidy up the side tables, and do a very quick dusting. Whatever is left on the dressers and tables I am assuming you want there for decorative and practical purposes (better if it serves both) so go ahead and make it look pretty, classy, simplistic or purely practical, whatever floats your boat. If there are any added touches you'd like to make such as candles, plants, flowers, changing out any art work, seasonal decorating or even some sort of canopy over your bed, this is a great time to do that. Oh and ps. your leopard print bra or joe boxers with happy faces are not decor ;). Just sayin'.
A quick vacuum (please no major cleaning yet, we'll get to that in a few days), replace any lightbulbs as needed, batteries in remotes, and ta da, you are done. Stand back and admire your lovely oasis, gorgeous isn't it?
If you have a box of bits and baubles for donation, get that asap to the Goodwill bin or the charity shop. The photos you took for selling, decide on a price, upload, label and post.
Please share with here or on Facebook what you did for this challenge and how you felt when crawled into bed at the end of the day. Brightest blessings me pretties!
Love & light,
~Síonaínn ** ƸӜƷ **Ps. When you put fresh bedding and sheets on your bed go ahead and make it all up as pretty and tidy as a showhome. But recent research suggests that when you get up in the morning it is healthier to NOT make your bed as that nice warm spot you just left behind is pure heaven for them icky critters, so pull back the bedding (this can still be done neatly) and expose those shitheads to the bright lights and chilly morning air. Here's a link with a bit of information on that if you want to learn more: Don't make your bed!
Here's another heavenly outdoor bedroom to drool over.
