Master Bedroom Reclaimed!

Today is November 30th – O.C. Day.  No, not as in “The O.C.” like on TV.  Today is the final day of the 30-Day Organizational Challenge.

At the beginning of the month I set out to reclaim our master bedroom as part of this challenge.  So today is kind of the unveiling of my work toward that end.

The Organizing Junkie is a total freak (in the best possible sense) about organizing.  She wanted to encourage us to have fun while organizing with this challenge.  She has things she is looking for in the process:

The following are some of the things I’ll be looking for at the completion of the challenge and you’ll want to keep them in mind: 

Overall Transformation – A well organized, uncluttered, clearly defined and efficient space that is easily maintained. 

Clutter Control – The ability to purge excess
Creative Use of Space – Using creative solutions to allow you to maximize your space and create zones and systems in a new and manageable way.

Baskets/Containers that Work – Using containers that allow you to establish boundaries and limits as well as contain “like with like”.

Overall Experience – The process you used, what you got out of this experience, what you found the most rewarding, most difficult, etc..

So, I’ve been working toward this, very little at a time.  I wanted to spread it out and do it over the course of the month, but THINGS always get in the way.  This time the things were recovery time, holiday celebrations with sweetie’s parents before they left, and wedding flowers.  I did have things done along the way, just not as much as I would have liked.  So, I’ve done the bulk of the actual work today, even though I’ve been thinking about what I wanted and needed to do the whole month.

These photos are just going to go in a row – no real design or arrangement.  To see the BEFORE pictures, go to my first post.  UPDATED – to include before and after shots in this post.

Without further ado – the reclaimed master bedroom:

There is still a bit of stuff on my husband’s side of the bed to go through.  I need him with me to do that so I don’t get rid of anything he might ‘need’.  But, at least now it’s neatly stacked and garbage has been removed.  There is also a video storage box on his side for him to toss his pocket-fuls of stuff into when he empties them out.  The laundry basket (BIG basket) is also on his side of the bed, so most of his clothes are making it in there.

I also got rid of a large bag and small box of my clothes (de-frumping and de-cluttering!) and tossed out old magazines and other things that were hanging around, especially on my side of the bed.  You can see, too, that I put a hook up on the wall by the window on my side of the bed to hang up my robe – then I can grab it when I need it and it’s not just laying on the floor.  I put another hook behind the door next to the mirror for my husband to hang his ‘paper route’ attire (he sometimes covers paper routes at night at like 2am and he needs to be able to just grab his clothes and go).

Instead of tossing my shoe boxes out, I used them in the closet to keep shoes in (more than 1 pair in the bigger boxes) and to use to stack shoes on top of as well.  I reorganized the sweaters and things on the shelves in the closet.  Moving my purses to the top shelf on my side of the closet from on top of my vanity was helpful.  Tossing all the things we never wear, worn out slippers and sandals, nd getting my sweetie’s sports shoes into his side really helped – less stuff to organize, easier to organize.  The closet is actually very nice now – sweaters and summer clothes all stacked nicely and easy to get to.  I also LOVE having space on the low shelf right above my closet bar as well as having space on the big shelf in the closet.  That empty space somehow makes me feel good – it gives me space to think.  Same with the whole room I think.  Less clutter means more space to think.

We like to have lots of candles so our headboard is covered with them. There are also books we like to read together there.  Most other books I took out.  Remember I had stacks of them all over the place.
I realize from the photos that things still look a bit cluttered.  It actually looks marvelous to our eyes.  In fact my husband hugged me in the hall and said thank you so much for restoring our room to a romantic sanctuary again.  I’d say that’s worth it ALL!

UPDATE – Saturday Night:  I have already addressed the 5 things set out in the original challenge (see above).  Additional questions The Organizing Junkie requested:

1. What was the hardest part of the challenge for you and were you able to overcome it?
The hardest part was finding the time this month.  Between surgery recovery and all the events toward the end of the month it was tricky.  But, I did bits at a time when I thought about, and then did a bunch of work at the end.  It was worth it. I was really motivated because I wanted our space back so badly.  I was on a mission!

2. Tell us what kind of changes/habits you have put into place in order for your area/room to maintain its new order?
Hanging up my bath-robe, for one, will keep my side of the bed free from stuff on the floor.  We are only going to put books in the bedroom that we will read together or for one another.  No extra books.  Keeping the closet doors closed requires that it stays neat because it isn’t very deep.  So we plan to keep them closed – it gives us more space in the room anyway, and makes it look more open.  Also, keeping the lid on my vanity (next to my dresser) closed so it’s a nice flat clean space instead of a chasm for catching clutter.  My sweetie will put his stuff in the box or the coin jar so that when he unloads his pockets he doesn’t get stuff everywhere.  We’ll work together on this one.

3. What did you do with the “stuff” you were able to purge out of your newly organized space?
Some of the books especially ended up on the bookshelf downstairs where they belong.  A box and a bag of clothes went to the Canadian Diabetes Association (they have a monthly pick-up where they come to my house to get my stuff!).  I threw out probably a whole big bag of garbage.  Most of it was getting things into a space where they would belong.  Sweaters on the shelves in the closet, shoes under the racks, etc.

4. Now that you have completed the challenge, do you think having and keeping your space organized will make a difference in your life?
As I’ve already said – WOW, my sweetie loves this space again.  It feels like our safe place again and we both love that.  I walk in there and there’s nothing to do except be together.  That feels awesome.  I know we’ll sleep better, and enjoy our time together there more!

5. Why do you think you should win the challenge?
I probably won’t win because I didn’t see the final prep stuff or the official requirements until just now (Saturday night), even though I tried to meet what I understood was necessary from the original post.  That said, I think the motivation for getting this space in order was really a cool one.  I wanted to reclaim our bedroom – we had put so much work into making it such a nice space and we’d let it get away from us.  I worked hard to restore it to the safe place it was meant to be.  This is especially important with some of the things my sweetie is currently going through – he needs this kind of space.  Providing that is awesome, an awesome reward of its own.

I think another reason I should win is that I worked carefully even following my hysterectomy to get this done.  I had to be careful, but there was lots of work to do, too.  So I had a great reason for doing it and I had to pay attention and not overdo things all at once.

My sweetie loves this space again, and I feel like there’s more space (physical and mental) when I go in there now.  That’s pretty good!  That was definitely worth the work.

(Now I have to get off the computer and spend some time with my sweetie!  He’s been patiently waiting while I updated this.)