Ok…let’s get honest here. If you are like me, the one place that is the last place that gets our best investment when organizing is the bedroom. It was the last place that I remodeled. It was the last room to get fresh new furniture and decorations. And, real truth…when company comes last minute, that is the last room I work on and if it is not finished, I gently close the door and work very hard to distract everyone from going near there. Anybody relate?
Several years ago, I was talking with a beautiful older lady from my church. As Mrs. Ettie and I talked about secrets to her beautiful marriage relationship, she shared that the her biggest secret was to invest in her bedroom. Her bedroom is the first place she cleans each day. It is where she set up a beautifully decorated “getaway” for her sweetie. Talk about convicting!
I went home that day to look at my bedroom. It had my sewing goodies out with a project in the works…the bed unmade (I said that I wanted to get honest here)… the computer with project piles all around it… laundry piled to overflowing in the basket I had brought up the day before…it was far from a beautifully decorated “getaway.” Well, when you come in the room, you DID want to getaway–FROM THE ROOM! ha!
I attacked my bedroom that day. It changed everything. I moved the computer and sewing essentials out. I decided to FINISH laundry before the clothes were brought upstairs. And, I decided it was time to work bit-by-bit to make my bedroom a getaway from the cares of the world. Here is what I did:
1. Decluttered! I worked fast to bag up all of the clutter. It was amazing how much better everything was after this step. Clutter cannot be organized. It must be attacked. I have to work very hard to keep my “things” from becoming clutter. I do not keep all of those magazines. In fact, as I decluttered my room, I took some “tea time” to go through the piles of magazines. I copied neat quotes, took notes from great articles, and clipped recipes/reference materials. I place them all in my notebooks and journals on those topics. Not only did I lighten the load of clutter, but it was easier to FIND those treasures. I went around the entire room decluttering everything from magazines to papers to old clothes. It made an immediate difference.
2. Throw out the business! This one hurt. I loved working in the quiet and peacefulness of my bedroom. Of course, having work in my bedroom stole away the peace and quiet that should be reserved for the bedroom. There was no place to completely unwind and rest. After I banned work from my bedroom, I saw that it had a subtle influence on sleep and sex. It was a distraction. It nagged at me. I could not get away. So, I threw the business out of my bedroom and dedicated that room as our getaway. I took the computer and projects downstairs. I have a rule now that WORK does not come into my bedroom. It is our spot for romance, memories, and shelter from the world. None of that happens when work invades our getaway!
3. Invest bit-by-bit! I didn’t mention that Mrs. Ettie told me some detailed secrets about her bedroom. She invested in it regularly. Cute thing! She told me about her “water fountain” that she purchased for her bedroom. She also used special occasions to invest in fresh new scented candles–she told me that her husband loved the vanilla candles the best (my husband LOVES them too!). She told me to put them going before drawing evening baths. It works! The room is always nice and pleasant in smell and there is something delightful about candles going around the room–woohoo romance! She also told me to watch out for my linens. UGH! You should have SEEN my linens when I went home that day from talking to her. Let’s just say that they were the first things on my big wish list. Just the other day I was thinking about this topic again and realized that it was time to get new linens again. This time I also invested in a feather mattress topper. OH! BLISS! You don’t have to do it all in a day, but it is so important that we invest in our bedrooms and our marriages. You only have to invest bit-by-bit to see a big difference.
So how about you? Are you sitting there with a lump in your throat like I had that day with Mrs. Ettie? That is ok. I will take you by the hand here and work with you.
Our bedrooms can be a place that builds our marriages. Our bedrooms can be a refuge from the crazyness of life. Want to commit with me to make the bedroom a special place set aside to build our marriages. No longer a craft room. No longer a sewing room. No longer an office. A haven. A place to pull back and be “all there” with one another.
There was an immediate difference in our marriage. Mrs. Ettie was sooo right! So, how about it? Want to join me? Let’s organize our bedroom!
Any hints on moving a baby out of your room that’s not sleeping through the night yet??? 😉