Simplify -- The Master Bedroom

Simplify!

Our Goal

A simple and beautiful house

that the Lord can use as a peaceful haven

for my family and others.

Click here to find out why/how I started!

One day, I just started.  That's how I do many projects:  I sit and think about them for a long time.  Then, one day, almost on the spur of the moment, I begin.  Well, on this particular November day, I walked into our master bedroom closet, and stared at the boxes of stuff on the shelves.  I had  decided to pursue a path in my photography that did not specialize in photographing newborns exclusively; however, I had kept boxes of baby blankets, caps, bows...  I stared at those boxes, realizing I would probably never, maybe once, use those items.  And faced with the possibility of moving to a much smaller place, I knew they just had to go.  So I started making a pile piles.

I usually declutter when Fernando is out of town.  I'm not sure why, but I know that he is not a throw-er-away-er (my new word), and if I'm going to get rid of stuff, it has to be when he's not around.  Sometimes he doesn't even notice when I've cleaned out an area, unless it's particularly bad.  Plus, I work much better in quiet solitude.  So there you have it.  I was in declutter mode.

I don't have pictures of the closet, although I did declutter it a few years back.  But I had accumulated more stuff since then, and it needed decluttering.  So I did.  Since it was well organized, it was a relatively easy chore, and I was able to bring several boxes/bags of stuff to Goodwill that same day.

Feeling the freedom from that job gave me the courage to face our master bedroom.  It took me most of a month, but I got the major part done.  I also keep in mind that Fernando lives here too, and I can't touch his stuff.  There are places his stuff hides, and so it must stay hidden.  Oh--he just told me today he's ready to get rid of some of his stuff!  He's really good with ignoring it, and then all of a sudden it bugs him so he takes care of it.

Here's the view from just inside the main door to our bedroom.  Just ignore those sagging curtains on the window; if we ever do get the money, new curtains are definitely in order!

Above, standing there facing into the bedroom, I never thought I'd get to the point of being able to share pictures with you of the room where everything else ends up, the catch-all room for stuff around the house that has no place to go.

Standing directly in the room, here's our master bed--a Sleep Number bed, too!  My sweet friend Becky (and her hubby Tim) gave us the comforter and throw pillow.  The set came with shams, but we don't use them, and a bed skirt, which won't fit since the Sleep Number support piece is squeezed tightly into our existing bed frame.

In the above picture, you can also see, from left, a hanging shelf, empty since I don't collect anything but it was made by my grandfather so I'm holding off taking it down for now.  Then, there's the wall unit with the TV--yuck, but Fernando wants the TV there, so there it stays.  Then a tri-fold picture stand with photos of our boys, and the corner tall bookshelf with next to nothing on it, and a lamp on top which isn't even plugged in, lol.

This room, as you can tell, is long and narrow, and maybe one day we'll have just a TV hanging on the wall opposite the bed--I think I'd be okay with that.  For the below, I'm standing with my back to the west window in our room.  In the front corner, way back there in the center of the image, is my project desk.  I can see getting rid of it someday, since I rarely do "projects" such as scrapbooking or paper crafting.  It still needs to be decluttered, and lots of the craft supplies are ready to be sold or given away.  That's another project for the future.  My room is now peaceful, and a quiet place to lay my head at the end of a long day.

It's not done.  And a simple life is never a place you arrive at.  It is a place you maintain, and I'm not there yet.  I'm realistic enough to know I won't reach perfection, but it's a journey I'm happy to be on because I know that simple is best.  More on the bedroom soon!


Back to life,
Christine

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His Castle -- Master Closet

...He blesses the dwelling of the righteous.

Proverbs 3:33b  NASB

They say a man's home is his castle.  Well, I say that the "castle" belongs to the Lord, and our true home is in heaven.  But for our time on earth, this house is our castle from the Lord.  And I am its queen.  My "His Castle" posts include stories of both daily chores as well as special housekeeping and house-beautifying projects, and things that I do to make our home a beautiful dwelling for the short time we are here.

In my months-ago post about de-cluttering and cleaning our dining room, I stated that our dining room is not used much.  I could say the same about our master bedroom closet.  No, really.  I go in there to grab a skirt and blouse, or a pair of shoes, or something I need, then I leave.  Thirty to sixty seconds, and I'm out.  I don't see this little room again until the end of day when, if I'm diligent, I hang up the skirt, or put away my shoes or whatever.

As you can see in the photo above, things get put in there.  Lots of things.  The wire shelf up top gets filled, and the floor grows things such as globes, stepstools, sewing projects, papers to file, pieces of board games...  It seems that anything that doesn't have an official "resting place" somewhere else in our home gets put in our master bedroom, or our closet.  And if it gets put in the master bedroom, I frequently will "find" a spot for it in our closet, so I don't have to look at it when I go to bed at night.

One day (probably soon) we'll be able to clear our our bedroom and have a proper decorating project--painting walls, new curtains (the windows also need replacing but that's a whole other project!).  But for now, it's builder's-flat-white paint on the walls, and buckling carpet with a gum spot.  It's too cold in the winter and too warm in the summer.  Lest you think this is a complaint, wait--I merely wish to give you a feel for this particular room.  I am thankful that I have a place to shut the door and rest my head.  This is Fernando's and my room.  And I'm thankful for it!

The mood for a project overtook me, and I began taking things off shelves.  Time to de-clutter.  Here's what I did.  I tackled things, item by item.  Could it be disposed of?  I put it in the box for garbage.  Could it be recycled?  I put it in the box for recycling.  (I had two boxes sitting on my bedroom floor so I didn't have to keep running things downstairs.)

Look at those product boxes--all my beloved Canon lenses!  Time to recycle that cardboard and Styrofoam!

I also found two pillows in need of repair...for the last _ years (I'm embarrassed to put the actual number in there).

This is one point at which every thought of de-cluttering, cleaning, and organizing halted dead in its tracks.  I realized, "Why am I holding on to these if I'm never going to repair them?  What am I waiting for??"  I could feel the resolution welling up within me!  I marched the pillows over to my side of the bed, grabbed a needle and the closest color thread I could find (I didn't care at that point), and I started sewing.  Now, I'm not a seamstress.  I can sew on a button and do simple repairs.  I cannot tell you what type of stitch I used, but the Lord always seems to help me do it, and the thread ended up being hidden inside the folds of fabric.

About 30 minutes later, I had two almost-brand-new pillows gracing my bed!  Although we have never had a real comforter or bedspread for our master bed (something for me to pray for!), these pillows will make it seem more homey and beautiful.  And they're out of my closet and fixed and being put to use!!

Now to tackle something I intensely dislike--filing.  Brochures and product information booklets, warranty information, that sort of thing.  This paperwork is supposed to be filed in our awesome four-drawer filing cabinet--rescued from the dumpster at Fernando's work--which resides at the back of our closet.

Many years ago, I had made hanging files with "Product Information" tabs, such as A-F, G-I, and so on down the alphabet.  I spent about four hours filing all the new ones according to brand name, sometimes rearranging folders to accommodate the paperwork.  For example, after "A-C" is a folder marked "Canon" to handle the paperwork for all of my camera equipment.  Below is the original tabs to give you an idea of what I did--now all neat and tidy, and out of the way and unseen.

Then I confronted two large shoe boxes of candles.  I love candles.  I didn't like the shoe boxes.  I re-purposed three plastic shoe boxes from the basement, and with my highly developed organizational skills (wink), I arranged all the candles inside and put them up on my shelf, next to the one box I allow myself for memories and Fernando's and my sweetheart-days correspondence.

Look what I found while I was de-cluttering and going through paperwork!!

 

 Fernando's and my high school diplomas, and my college diploma--all now in my memory box

Yep, the above is a blank high school diploma.  Yep, Danny graduated just a few weeks ago.  Apparently I had purchased this diploma with Joseph's and Jacob's, thinking I would save it and use it for Danny.  Now it sits in a prominent place, waiting for Thomas' graduation three years from now.  Hopefully I'll remember!

I also made a few trips down memory lane.  One of those trips that interrupted my cleaning for quite some time is the below.  I'm sure you understand.  :)  Yes, all four calendars--one for each child--are complete, each with a zippered baggie of hair from his first hair cut.  Those items ended up in my memory box.

Now that my closet is done, I like to linger in there for a few minutes each morning as I choose my outfit for the day.  Sigh--it's so nice to have a welcoming closet!  Below are all the after pictures--the "showcase" ones that I'm happy for you to see!  Keep in mind--I still have boxes of things, such as blankets/afghans, on the shelf.  You'll see our once-little Joey's Bear tucked in with those.  We just can't "bear" to part with it, even though Joseph is now 22!  Maybe one day we'll pose Bear with Joseph, take a few shots, and have a proper "funeral" for it.  But for now, Bear greets me with his nose-less face and plastic brown eyes each morning, a sweet memory of little boy days.

Fernando's side--filing cabinet at the back

The back half of my side--that's my wedding dress!

The front half of my side

A resting place for my "beach" bag, just outside the closet door.

Back to life,
Christine

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To Sleep, Perchance to Dream

At the end of a busy day, how much do I think about exactly what I'm doing when I prepare for bed, climb under those covers, and rest my head on my pillow?  Well, I've been thinking a lot about that lately.  :)

After my back pain flared up due to a fall, I thought about bed constantly.  I couldn't wait to simply lie down and try to ease the pain.  The pain would ease throughout the day, but after days and days of waking up in the morning, stiff and sore and facing a 15-minute ordeal simply to get out of bed and get my body in a vertical position, I knew something was up with the bed.  Finally, I refused to sleep there, choosing a sleeping bag on the floor instead.

sleeping on the floor--messy but helpful

Though I was stiff from the hard surface, my back began to heal, and today I deal with a little soreness and stiffness if I sit (or stand) for any length of time.

My dearest Fernando and I went shopping for a mattress, and after a long search, with lots of research, we found a solution to the bed issue.  That solution arrived last week.

On Saturday, the guys combined their efforts not only to replace our bed, but to give our master bedroom a whole new look, quite by accident, I might add.  :)

Of course it's messy--we're getting ready to move things around (that's my excuse, anyway)

The first step, of course, was to remove the old mattress.  This thing was a monster of epic proportions.  The photos speak for themselves.

(disclaimer--the mattress stain you may have noticed was from a mug of Fernando's coffee...)

Then my sweet Thomas cleaned the headboard, footboard, and railings of our existing bed frame.  And oh, my, did the carpet need a really good vacuuming!

Here's the "quite by accident" part.  Fernando asked me to show him exactly where the frame for our "new" bed should be placed.  Comments and suggestions flew, and the next thing we knew, we--I mean the guys--were moving every piece of furniture in the room, some just a foot or two, and some clear to the other side of the room.  As you saw in the image of our bedroom at the top of this post, our bedroom is long, but very narrow, which presents a host of problems with a king-sized bed and just four pieces of furniture--dresser, TV cabinet, skinny bookcase, and my project desk.

My project desk experienced most radical relocation.

Fernando's "side" of the bed was the most interesting area to clean out.  He is an organizationally challenged stuff collector (I love my husband, and I'm trying to be kind here--he's okay with me sharing this).  As he started to go through the bookcase that was "his," he stopped, placed his hand lovingly on one of the shelves, and murmured, "Wait.  Before we start, I need a minute alone (*sniff*)."  Giggles all around.  Dad's Shrine to Stuff was emptied, and all of his, well, stuff, was put in what was affectionately called Dad's Doo-Doo Box (sorry if that's an offensive term).

Here are a couple of things among the more interesting finds in that corner of the room:

Four opened boxes of Kleenex

A ten-year-old strip of negatives

Then it was time to fit the mattress supports, then the mattresses, into our existing bed frame.

Danny helping with the mattress cover

Ahhh, my first night on the new bed was strange (the smell of new sheets, sleeping on the opposite side of the bed, etc.).  But I woke up refreshed, without additional back pain.  I am a happy girl.

Here is what is left to do:

This is now cleaned off, but there are a few similar piles around the room.

I'll post more photos of the "finished" room once we organize our little piles.  :)

At this I awoke and looked, and my sleep was pleasant.

Jeremiah 31:26 nasb (taken slightly out of context by me)

Back to life,
Christine

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