“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.
Let's get started with the Daily Pick Up...
- The Daily Pick Up: How fast can you make the bed and pick up the stray items in your bedroom? How long does it take to get your bedroom ready for the day and ready for the night? I am in and out of our bedroom in less than 5 minutes (and that includes wrestling with a bedspread). The first time you do this, it may take an hour (or more), but it will get faster everyday!
Coming up later this week...
- The Deep Clean (Cindy's Version): Every once in awhile, a room needs a deep clean (or a bulldozer). Especially the master bedroom. This room should be one of the most peaceful, calming, and favorite rooms in the home. Instead, it becomes the place we stash presents for the kids, magazines, mail, and other papers, clothing that didn't look right when we put it on, ironing, mending, garage sale finds, crafting supplies, and anything else that didn't quite fit in the living room, the kitchen, the kid's room, or the basement. Please don't ask me how a mitre saw ended up in our bedroom for two months! And one time, I found the iron UNDER the mending pile. Fortunately I tripped over it. Otherwise, I would have never found it (at least until I had bought a new one). Sheesk! Thank goodness it is possible to get rid of the stuff and turn the master bedroom into a room that you love and enjoy (and it's not hard to keep it that way).
- The Deep Clean (Cindy's Husband's Version): As usual, my guy has his own way of doing things... Enjoy!
Coming up later this month...
- The Closet: This is a beast all on its own! Our own closet has had its share of highs and lows. The highs occur when I have jammed everything onto the shelves. The lows occur when I turn my back and everything comes tumbling back down onto the floor. Sigh. Been there done that (several times).
Return to "Deep Cleaning Your Home"
