Well, the 31 Day Organizational Challenge over at Org Junkie is over! Laura has asked if we did more than 1 space (which technically I guess I qualify for since I did my bedroom, bathroom and closet, even if they are in one spot!) to break this final post down in to multiple posts. It will definitely make it easier on her for grading purposes (lol!) and it will make it much easier for you to follow. For this post I'll be focusing on the Master bedroom. Laura gave us some questions she wanted us to reflect on before I get to the before and after pictures. So here's my answers.
1. What space did you decide to organize and why?
I chose our Master Suite- bedroom, bathroom and walk in closet. We've always focused on every other room in the house except for ours. Because of this our room started to fall apart! It became a catch all for everything! No wonder we woke up tired every day. All we saw was clutter and chaos. And that really zaps the energy out of you! It was time for us to have a space where we could get away and find calm and serenity.
2. What steps did you take to ensure you completed the space within the 31 day timeline?
I started with the bedroom and I gave myself a full week to work on it. I dedicated at least 1 hour 2 to 3 days that week. Then every day I spent at least 15-30 minutes maintaining what I had accomplished so it didn't get back out of control.
3. What was the hardest part of the challenge for you and how did you overcome it?
The hardest part of the challenge was figuring out what to do with the stuff I was finding! Trying to figure out where to move things to when you don't know if you're going to have enough room in that space for all of it is hard. For example, I found tons of pens, pencils, and other office type supplies in my husbands' top drawer of his dresser. But we don't really have an office or space for all of that stuff. So figuring out what we were keeping and what we were tossing and then getting it to the right place was difficult for me. I tend to be a pack rat, so when I ran across things that were halfway sentimental it was hard to get rid of them, even if we weren't using them anymore.
4. What did you do with the “stuff” you were able to purge out of your newly organized space?
Goodwill got a lot of stuff from our bedroom. A local consignment shop also got some old clothes that had been piled in the corner (and I made $62! Sweet!!!) The garbage can got 1 large lawn size bag full of garbage, the recycle can got a bag also. And we have a diaper box full of papers to shred. Several other rooms in the house got things (like the office space in the playroom, the craft room downstairs and the attic).
5. Tell me one of your proudest moments during this challenge?
Well, that came at the end of the challenge because, as we all know, as you work the space tends to get messier. So there for a while it looked like I was undoing everything I'd gotten done. But at the end of the challenge when all the bags of garbage and recycle were gone, all the items that belonged somewhere else were gone I walked in to the room and just felt calm. It felt peaceful. And that was what I wanted. That's when I knew all the hard work over the last 31 days had been totally worth it!! That,and when a teething baby woke up in the middle of the night and I knew exactly where the medicine dropper and teething gel (in the middle of the night basket next to my bed!!) and the Tylenol (in the medicine cabinet with the pain relievers) were. That felt awesome!!!
6. Explain any organizing “tools” you used to help you create additional space and to establish some limits and boundaries?
I used a lot of tools that I already had. A desk organizer that my husband had had on top of his dresser is now inside the newly cleaned top drawer. A crystal dish holds loose change and Chapstick. A basket on top of my bedside table (my middle of the night basket) holds a medicine dropper, teething gel, a thermometer, etc. A few small gift bags are inside my bedside table drawers, holding the heads for my personal massager, and "fun" things for the hubs and I ;-P A small basket is on our prayer alter and holds our Rosaries and prayer books.
7. What is ONE piece of organizing advice you’ve learned on this journey that you could encourage someone else with?
The one piece of advice I learned for this space...clean up after yourself!! Our bedroom would have never gotten that bad if we had picked up things and cleaned out spaces before they got crazy. Finding containers to hold what needs to be corralled and emptying them before they overflow will help us to keep it together. Clean up after yourself!!! I'm gonna make a huge sign and hang it on the wall! lol
So now for the before and after pictures:
I chose our Master Suite- bedroom, bathroom and walk in closet. We've always focused on every other room in the house except for ours. Because of this our room started to fall apart! It became a catch all for everything! No wonder we woke up tired every day. All we saw was clutter and chaos. And that really zaps the energy out of you! It was time for us to have a space where we could get away and find calm and serenity.
2. What steps did you take to ensure you completed the space within the 31 day timeline?
I started with the bedroom and I gave myself a full week to work on it. I dedicated at least 1 hour 2 to 3 days that week. Then every day I spent at least 15-30 minutes maintaining what I had accomplished so it didn't get back out of control.
3. What was the hardest part of the challenge for you and how did you overcome it?
The hardest part of the challenge was figuring out what to do with the stuff I was finding! Trying to figure out where to move things to when you don't know if you're going to have enough room in that space for all of it is hard. For example, I found tons of pens, pencils, and other office type supplies in my husbands' top drawer of his dresser. But we don't really have an office or space for all of that stuff. So figuring out what we were keeping and what we were tossing and then getting it to the right place was difficult for me. I tend to be a pack rat, so when I ran across things that were halfway sentimental it was hard to get rid of them, even if we weren't using them anymore.
4. What did you do with the “stuff” you were able to purge out of your newly organized space?
Goodwill got a lot of stuff from our bedroom. A local consignment shop also got some old clothes that had been piled in the corner (and I made $62! Sweet!!!) The garbage can got 1 large lawn size bag full of garbage, the recycle can got a bag also. And we have a diaper box full of papers to shred. Several other rooms in the house got things (like the office space in the playroom, the craft room downstairs and the attic).
5. Tell me one of your proudest moments during this challenge?
Well, that came at the end of the challenge because, as we all know, as you work the space tends to get messier. So there for a while it looked like I was undoing everything I'd gotten done. But at the end of the challenge when all the bags of garbage and recycle were gone, all the items that belonged somewhere else were gone I walked in to the room and just felt calm. It felt peaceful. And that was what I wanted. That's when I knew all the hard work over the last 31 days had been totally worth it!! That,and when a teething baby woke up in the middle of the night and I knew exactly where the medicine dropper and teething gel (in the middle of the night basket next to my bed!!) and the Tylenol (in the medicine cabinet with the pain relievers) were. That felt awesome!!!
6. Explain any organizing “tools” you used to help you create additional space and to establish some limits and boundaries?
I used a lot of tools that I already had. A desk organizer that my husband had had on top of his dresser is now inside the newly cleaned top drawer. A crystal dish holds loose change and Chapstick. A basket on top of my bedside table (my middle of the night basket) holds a medicine dropper, teething gel, a thermometer, etc. A few small gift bags are inside my bedside table drawers, holding the heads for my personal massager, and "fun" things for the hubs and I ;-P A small basket is on our prayer alter and holds our Rosaries and prayer books.
7. What is ONE piece of organizing advice you’ve learned on this journey that you could encourage someone else with?
The one piece of advice I learned for this space...clean up after yourself!! Our bedroom would have never gotten that bad if we had picked up things and cleaned out spaces before they got crazy. Finding containers to hold what needs to be corralled and emptying them before they overflow will help us to keep it together. Clean up after yourself!!! I'm gonna make a huge sign and hang it on the wall! lol
So now for the before and after pictures:
 |
| Looking in from the door before |
 |
| Looking in from the door after |
 |
| Steven's dresser before |
 |
| Steven's dresser after |
 |
| Top dresser drawer before |
 |
| Top drawer after |
 |
| left side close up. I love the crystal dish for change and chapstick. |
 |
| right side close up. The desk organizer that Steven already had is working great in here! Perfect place for a watch and wallet at the end of the day! |
 |
| In front of the closet before. |
 |
| In front of the closet after. |
 |
| Steven's bedside table. It looked like this before and after. He doesn't pile much on his! |
 |
| Top drawer of his bedside table before. |
 |
| Top drawer after. |
 | ||
| I loved our bed before but I'm loving how it looks now with the whole space clean and organized! |
 |
| My bedside table before. Yeah...I'm a piler! |
 |
| My bedside table after. I have another book that sits out here that I'm working through. My middle of the night basket on top is my favorite new thing in here. It holds a medicine dropper, thermometer, bulb syringe, tissues, nail clippers, highlighters and pens (I use those while reading...I'm a nerd!"), etc. It has been a lifesaver on a few nights already! |
 |
| My top drawer before. |
 |
| Top drawer after. I know it still looks full but I've narrowed it down as much as I can. The little bag in the back holds "fun items" that I don't want the kids immediately finding if they get in here! ;-) |
 |
| My bottom drawer before. |
 |
| Bottom drawer after. Just my massager, the little switchable heads are in the little bag and my heating pad. It's nice to have those things at the ready when aches and pains strike without warning! |
 |
| Prayer alter before. |
 |
| Prayer alter after. We need a new picture of Pope Francis :-) The basket on the 2nd shelf holds Rosaries and prayer books. The books on the left are religious books. On the right is a stack of Bibles (you can never have too many Bibles in your home!) On the 3rd shelf is our school box with stuff from the kids (the red one.) The pink crate is something I had gotten when my daughter started school to organize papers I wanted to keep. We've decided to scrap this idea and go digital by scanning in items and putting them on the Cloud. Until we can do this these will sit here. At least they aren't overflowing anymore! |
 |
| Pile of clothes that got boxed up and sent to the attic. |
 |
| Pile of clothes that went to the consignment shop (and made me $62!!) What they didn't want they donated for me so they didn't even come back into the house. Win-win! |
 |
| What that side of the room looks like now! Love! |
 |
| Behind the bathroom door before. |
 |
| Behind the bathroom door after. |
 |
| My dresser before. |
 |
| My dresser after. Looks pretty much the same. We are looking at getting a flat screen TV to hang on the wall. When that is done I'll get rid of the mirror (we'll put the TV there) and move the current TV stand to the wall by the window. The egg collection will move there so all that will go away. That should happen pretty soon (we're thinking a combined Mother's Day/Father's Day gift!) |
 |
| TV stand with view of door before. |
 |
| Close up. |
 |
| TV stand after. Much better! |
| Well, that's the Master bedroom. I love it and I hope I gave you some inspiration and ideas! Thanks to Laura for such a great challenge. Heading over to link up my post! |
8 comments:
You did a great job! Did you paint your bedroom too? That "after" view from the door is fantastic - loved it! Congratulations on completing the challenge!
You really did a fantastic job! It looks wonderful. And nothing beats feeling calm in your bedroom. I totally hear you on the master suite being the last thing to get done. I love the wall color!! Would you mind telling me what it is?
I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to post anonymously. Now you'll have my info, should you need it :)
Wonderful space now. Master room is my next challenge. I look forward to having the calm I see can be achieved with the right motivation. I think this 31 Day Challenge will be going on for a long time as folks get their spaces done and move to another room. Again, You !! have created a wonderful place.
Thank you Susan! Yes, we did paint the room too! My husband figured if we're getting it together we should get it all together! lol- we have yet to put on a 2nd coat, or paint the bathroom yet, but it's coming!
Crista, Thanks for the nice comment! I emailed you about the paint color for the walls!
Thank you Jo! I think you are right, the right motivation can do so much! I'd love to see what we get done next! Thanks for stopping by!
I love how your room turned out! The wall color looks fabulous with your bedspread and furniture. Your drawers are also a fabulous transformation. Great work!
Thanks Beth! We absolutely are in love with the color of the room too! Thanks for stopping by!
Post a Comment