What is it about Vacation?

Our 3-day vacation spoiled me.  It made me a bit discontent with my life and surroundings.  Usually discontentment is a bad thing, but in this case, I hope it prompts me to make positive changes in our home.

First I needed to figure out what was so much nicer and more relaxing about our time in that house.  It wasn't hard.  First of all, there were no big projects hanging over our heads there, and everyone was in a good mood, because it was, after all, major play-time.  But the other thing was that the home was so clean and open... so uncluttered.  So, I came home with the resolution to do something about the clutter in our home.

I knew it would be a slow process, because our home is busy, full of people, and every room needs the work.  I didn't really realize how slow, but "slow and steady wins the race," right?  I started with our sanctuary: the master bedroom.

One thing that was impressed upon us at the Family Life's Weekend to Remember marriage conference, that we attended about a year ago, is that our bedroom should be a lovely place for us to be.   I can't say that it is.  It's not horrible, certainly, and has some lovely features, but overall, it needs improvement.  It's pretty small, and so it tends to get cluttered... We're not always fastidious with putting away our clothing, leaving out shoes, jackets, etc, and not having a system for clothes that have been worn, but don't necessarily dirty enough to need laundering.

Also, because Hubby and I have no other storage for personal belongings, and Hubby has no desk or other space, all sorts of random items collect in our bedroom, especially all flat surfaces.  Windowsills seem to serve as his desk.

I didn't think to take 'before' photos, as I was (short-sightedly) only interested in digging in, not sharing our mess, so believe it or not, any photos here are better than it was.  

We previously had Christmas decorations I'd made for Hubby's parents, but regained when they'd passed on, gathering dust on the shelf above our TV. The shelf under the TV was absolutely stuffed with DVDs and various papers, and gadgets.  

I had financial papers (never know how to organize and what to throw out) in a stack with quilting and drafting software beside my nightstand, along with books, mostly unread or in-progress.  

I always want to wait for opportunity, time, and clear space, when necessary, to do a job all at once, and get it done. Well, it took me until age 53, I guess, but I finally figured out that if I do a little bit everyday before I leave my room, I can make pretty good improvement over a week or two, then keep improving and maintaining over time... which will likely be much faster than waiting for those impossibly perfect conditions. (Emphasis = "The big point of this blog post." --Fair warning, in case you were waiting for creative "Eureka!" moment that turned this room into a luxurious oasis.  It may be coming, but not today.) 

It's still very much a work in progress...


1) I don't know what to do with Hubby's stuff, and, frankly, neither does he. 








2) I'm having trouble with duvet covers.  I like the concept, and the idea that they can be washed, changed, and replaced, but ours always seems to look unkempt.  Our long-clawed roommate shares a lot of the blame, I think.

3) Decor.  I need to think outside of the (what I fear is a very rigid) box.  Do we need a 'real bed' with a headboard?  The quilt doesn't match the bedding... Should it?  Father-in-Law's chair that means so much to Hubby... can it stay?  We definitely need to add nightstands.  My hand-me-down unit isn't doing the job.

I partially solved the problem of sparsely decorated walls, while also diminishing the stack of photos wedged in beside the chair, at least in one area.... I'll share that later.

31 Days at The Nesting Place