34 Weeks of Clean Rinse and Repeat: Week 15- The Master Bedroom

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh, the bedroom.  A place of rest and relaxation.  And beautiful sleep.

Anyone?

Yep, me neither.  At least not most of the time.

Most of the time it is a catch all.  A place to pile laundry waiting to be folded.  A place to throw the extras when unexpected company comes.  A place of piled up books and stuff to be filed and on and on.

But rest...not really.

So today is the day.  Well, luckily for you, this WEEK is the week.  Yes, you have a week to make a transformation.

This week- the Master Bedroom. 

We are going to make it a picture of rest.  A place to unwind.  A safe haven for sleepy heads.  (cue lovely music here)

Are you ready?

• First off- we are concentrating on just the bedroom proper.  Stay out of the closet and drawers for now.  Yes, I am talking to a few specific people, I will not name names yet, that I KNOW like to get ahead.  Stop it!  You are making the rest of us look bad.  So stick to the assignment at hand.

To keep it real- here are a few before shots-

Please keep in mind- this is that once a year, deep cleaning project.  Let's go!

• Strip the bed linens and put them in the wash.  ALL of them.  Comforters and bedskirts as well.  Trust me, they are dirty.  Throw pillows?  Them too!  Mattress pads?  Yep!  Take this time to replace anything that is old and ragged.

• While those things are washing, take everything off flat surfaces and take them OUT OF THE ROOM! Seriously, go on and do it.  I will wait.

• Now, with surfaces bare, dust.  No feather dusting this time, deep clean dusting only.  Tops, sides and more!

•  Before you put anything back, pull furniture away from walls and hit those baseboards!

• Vacuum around the edges of the carpet.

• Now put furniture back- this is your chance to do some quick rearranging if your husband is not looking- I mean if your husband agrees! ;)  My husband and I were really missing a chair in our room, so we moved one back in.  He loves when I rearrange furniture for the third time in a year.  NOT!

•  NOW, put your "stuff" back, but aim to only bring back half.  REMEMBER, WE ARE DECLUTTERING, TOO!  Is it needed?  Do you love it?  Is it time to give it to someone else to enjoy?  As you replace each item (after much thought, much thought being the operative word), make sure it is also wiped down.  Don't forget those plants and baskets.  They collect a lot of dust- ask me how I know!

• A word about nightstands.  Why do they seem to be a second (or third) junk drawer sort of area? Honestly, keeping mine straightened is one of my biggest battles. I kid you not.  There is always a stack of books waiting to get read, with a few in progress.  Add to that chap-stick, emergency weather radio, pens (in case I want to take notes in said stack of books), hair bands, a tea cup, and on and on and on.  I added a basket to hold those things in hope of it at least having a semblance of tidiness.  

Hubby's side table

• Look up, try not to cry, and clean off those ceiling fans and light fixtures and corners of your room.  Sometimes it is best to start with a vacuum, and since my daughter is the vacuum queen she does that job for me.

• Wipe down light switches and door knobs and door frames, both sides please.

• Wipe off window frames and windows.  If you have mini blinds, I am sorry.  Those get done too.  If you have curtains, into the washer they go.  If you are simply too afraid to wash them, at the very least, take them down, pop them into the dryer on air dry and give them a few minutes.  You will be surprised at the difference even that will make, I promise!

• Remake your bed. I admit, I did buy a new bedspread and some throw pillows to spruce ours up.  I liked the current quilt we were using,  but my hubby did not love it because it was so heavy.  (I have a thing with flannel quilts) Here's hoping this one works better.

• Lastly, finish vacuuming and you are done.

Seriously, you are done!  That is a lot of work.  Reward yourself with a cup of tea, a chocolate treat and a good book.

Oh, and a good night's sleep, of course!

Don't forget we would love for you to leave us a picture on our Family, Faith and Fridays facebook page.  We're all in this together and sharing is half the fun!  Plus for those that share every week, you are entered into a drawing for some prizes from some great friends of mine and yours truly!  621 Gifts is going to give one of you a $50 voucher to put towards one of their gift baskets! You get to choose the contents but I can highly recommend their yummy beef sticks!  In addition, Redeemed is donating one of their beautiful handmade signs.  I have several hanging in my house and love them!

See 'ya back next week!  Until then, happy cleaning!

Blessings,