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I can’t help myself. I have to preface this post with, “Please, no judging!”
I wouldn’t start a series called the declutterathon if I didn’t have a clutter issue so pictures of a cluttered home shouldn’t really be a surprise, but posting these pictures online does feel about as horrible as I imagine standing naked in public would, and I may end up crying in fetal position in the corner before this post is finished.
Okay, last week our goal was to declutter our master bedrooms so here it is. These are pictures of my bedroom… the good, bad, and the cluttered.
This is what you’d see as you entered the room. I did take this picture after I stripped the bed and the linens were in the wash, but everything else is as we’d been living for a while. An empty suitcase waiting to be taken downstairs, empty delivery boxes, clothes, and homeless gifts from Christmas.
This is my dresser. (My husband uses the drawers in our closet so I can’t blame him for any of this mess.)
It’s covered in clothing and random items that haven’t been returned to wherever they belong. My daughter’s sunglasses, a project life kit, wrapping paper, two pairs of scissors, and powder for the cat box. That definitely doesn’t belong in our bedroom.
From here, you can also see a sneak peek of our master bathroom, which I’ve lovingly nicknamed Montezuma’s Revenge.
Green floors and countertops, brown walls, and peach bath and shower surrounds. I’m telling you, it’s a thing of beauty. I’m keeping my fingers crossed that a renovation will be in the not-too-distant future.
We have a small screened-in porch off our bedroom, but the doors are usually blocked by a pile of junk.
This is my side of the bed. I love to read and usually have multiple books going at once so my nightstand is covered in books, journals, and random objects. We also have a lot of pillows for our bed so they’re typically thrown in the corner since it’s usually not made.
After
This is what we see when we enter our bedroom now.
Who knew my dresser actually had a top?! The only item out of place was my lens cap. Progress!
The only thing on the floor now is furniture, which is amazing.
When I enter my bedroom, I feel like I’m in a hotel. Everything’s in its place, and it feels welcoming and peaceful.
Instead of seeing a bunch of junk I have to deal with, I see a place to unwind and relax.
My initial plan was to do a couple little tasks every day of the week. Unfortunately, I was derailed and my plans fell to the wayside, but knowing I had this series going on and you all would be expecting some sort of update really helped me get back in gear.
I’m notorious for underestimating how long a task will take so I was surprised to finish my room in only one day and in less time than I’d expected. I’d guessed it would take around six hours, but it probably only took 3 or so including dusting and vacuuming.
I filled a black trash bag with the items I no longer needed or wanted and everything else went to its new home either in this room or in another. Later this week, I’ll post about how I did this without running around the house like a chicken with my head cut off.
My bedroom is not completely finished. I do hope to eventually paint and add some more artwork and personal touches, but simply clearing the clutter has made me love the space more.
We’ll be slowing down a bit this week so if you haven’t finished your bedroom or whatever space you were focused on for this past week you’ll have another week to work on it. I’ll be back tomorrow with this week’s tasks, but I’d love to know, how did this past week go for you?
For more declutterathon posts, click here.
What a peaceful looking bedroom! Great job!
Wow! Your bedroom before looks almost precisely the way mine does today. This is my first time finding your series, and I am late to the party, but party I wil! I have gone over a lot of the things you’ve mentioned for week one recently, so I’m going to just put them on paper, post them where they’ll help, and jump in. You have no idea how much your before & after pics of your bedroom have reassured me. I do not mean motivate, I mean truly reasssure. I needed to see that I’m not the only one, and I needed to see that this task is not insurmountable.
Thank you so very much for sharing your struggle with us. We are blessed by your bravery. Your willingness to take charge of your situation and lead others in taking charge of ours is commendable. Thank you, again!
I’m so glad to hear it, Jaimee. It’s definitely doable even though it can feel overwhelming. Glad to have you aboard!
I’m a little behind. I still have a trunk and the closet in the master to go through. Kind of glad we’re getting a little extra time..
I haven’t even gotten to my closet yet, but since we get to it through out bathroom I’m not counting it as part of the bedroom 😉
Looks great!
Wow! Looks great! I have to say you make me feel a lot better because your room looked a lot like mine, and our master bedroom is VERY small, so you can just imagine…… Thank you for sharing and giving us grace. I did not feel well last week, so this week I started THE project of all projects and I am a little over halfway done with my master bedroom. I like that you pointed out that your bedroom only has furniture on the floor. That is my goal!
Thank you so much for this post!!! I am glad to see that I am not the only one with a messy bedroom. I always think that all my friends rooms are always clean and perfect like your after picture. I wish mine was but life happens!!! So tomorrow is the big day to clean my room and get it decorated by Friday as the Inlaws come on Friday.
Having company (especially inlaws) is always great motivation to get things done! I hope the decluttering went well.
Thank you! My bedroom looks a lot like your before pictures. I feel a sense of stress as soon as I go in there to sleep. I just found this challenge, so I am a little late, but I will do this! Thanks for letting me know that I am not the only one who lived this way and that it will look better!
You’re so welcome! I hope the decluttering is going/went well!
Great job! You have a very beautiful room!
Thanks, Diana!
so glad to finally find someone else who’s bedroom floor looks like mine. I am constantly telling my husband and kids that I am not the maid but unfortunately I still spend most of my day cleaning up the house and following little paths of destruction while they are at work and school. BUT, I never get a chance to get to my room and by the time I do I’m exhausted! Your pictures have inspired me however! I can’t wait to get started on transforming my bedroom junkyard into a blissfully relaxing hotel suite!! Can’t wait to read the rest of your stuff on other rooms! I have a tons of rooms and closets that need to be decluttered so keep me coming!!!
haha I’ll do my best! It really can be exhausting, can’t it? I can’t wait until my house is finally organized and all I have to do is maintain it.
Hi Emily- just wanted to say I am following your journey all the way from England. I too am in a similar situation and find your honesty really refreshing. Although I love organisation/ home blogs, some of them look soooo perfect and from people that don’t really seem to have any difficulty in achieving orderly living.
I’m looking forward to seeing where the weeks ahead take us!
Thanks, Rachael. I can relate. There are blogs that I love, but I can’t really relate to since organizing and keeping a perfect home seems like second nature to them. Unfortunately, I wasn’t born with that gene.
Wow! Gorgeous! While it does need some work in the room itself, my bedroom is so small, there’s not really room for anything outside of the bed (truly). However, we have built in cabinets along one wall for our closet space and that is the big ugh! I’m just coming across your site today, but I’m ready to get cranking. Hubby leaves tomorrow for 2 days, so I’m here with the 4 kids, but I KNOW he would love to come home to a less cluttered bedroom. I just hope he doesn’t ask about the things I get rid of . . . . Looking forward to the next 26 weeks.
Btw, one of my 2015 goals was to get rid of 30 items of clutter per month. With the help of this blog/group, I’m sure I can reach that!
That’s a great goal! Hopefully he’ll be so excited to see the uncluttered room that he won’t even think about what was there before. My husband only asked about two items, and when I showed him where they were he ws thrilled with our newly cleaned space.
Thank you for sharing honest pics. This is my first visit to one of your declutterathons and I will be checking into more. My goal for January (in life and my blog) was to purge, organize and makeover our bedroom and closet for under $100. The ironic part is my bedroom held empty boxes, Christmas gifts and decor, clothes etc… Before I decluttered it the first time. Reading this sounded so familiar. I will definitely be following you and maybe even share some links to your posts with my readers.
We are doing a “One room, one project, one month a a time.” But I think some of my readers would benefit from your weekly ideas.
Thank you for sharing.
Thanks, Tina. If you like honest before pics, trust me, there are more coming! 🙂
You have such a beautiful home! Truly stunning… and fabulous furniture. While my clutter is not the same as yours ( I tend to have a few spots there I pile everything), I know that feeling of dread as I even think about doing anything to clear the spaces! You did a great job with your bedroom, I just hope you didn’t do what I do, and simply move the whole mess somewhere else. No judgement, I just know I can be guilty of not really tackling the problem, but rather housing it all somewhere else! Now if I can just get up and go tackle my art room. Today!
Thank you, Dede! I’m happy to say that I did actually clear the clutter in my bedroom (much more successfully than I did my entryway). I should’ve included pics of the stuff I got rid of. I’ll try to remember to do that from now on. Good luck on your art room!
Can I just say how nice it is to see that I’m not the only one who has a bedroom taken over by clutter and to much STUFF!!! I am also struggling to get a relaxing place to unwind and chill out. I find It’s so hard to find the motivation and time to get it done! But it’s going to happen!!!! Thanks for your great blog!
I hate to admit this, but it’s back to cluttered! We had people over and just dumped everything in our bedroom quickly. Oh well, it’ll get cleaned up again. On the brightside, the main living areas are looking much better! lol Trust me, if I can do it, you can do it, Melissa! 🙂
I have bedroom envy now. :o) You did amazing!
Wonderful job. If you read my blog, you’d see MUCH worse! I posted a pic of my bathroom sink that hadn’t been cleaned in… forever. It was gross. But that’s why we post, right? accountability?
Thanks, you’ve inspired me. I’m dealing with a whole house of clutter with a few really terrible rooms. Knowing I’m not the only one who struggles with this helps.
You’re definitely not the only one. My struggle now is just getting restarted.
Omg looks so good!! why don’t you guys put exercise equipment in another room? so happy I found your blog on Pinterest!
Great question! We actually had it in a room above our garage, but the only way I could get to it was by walking through one of my son’s rooms, and the only time I could work out was when they were sleeping so… I’d never workout. lol My husband and I moved them into our bedroom so I can workout while watching tv and without disturbing the kiddos. I still don’t workout. #planfail haha
Wow !!! Looks amazing!!! Thanks for sharing ! You inspire me!!:)
Thanks, Lisa! That’s so sweet. I wish I could inspire myself to keep it clean ALL the time 😉
I’ll admit it.. I have always felt my home should look like a model home…..but lived in. That means kitchen cleaned every night. Family room pillows and blankets folded and fluffed. Laundry delivered to owners room.
And this is the most easily done things that make you feel a lot calmer to end the evening and start the morning off. ALWAYs, load the dishwasher. No dishes in the sink. Garbage emptied! These are all very simple but with be effect so that when you want to start to declutter you have space and not the daily things to do first.
Now down to you bedroom….. doesn’t it look great all cleaned up. Did you fold everything in the drawers.. Eliminate all the non–fitting clothes and repeat 2 weeks later. Dump items with stains, tears, and items that need repair that you really wont fix.. The biggest no are the exercise equip and TV in bdrm.
Mine was as bad, EXCEPT, I’d also emptied the closet in preparation for decluttering, then hurt my knee rather badly, so it has stayed that way and accumulated more while my knee heals. You’ve shown me there’s still hope, so maybe next week I too, can achieve serenity.
Thanks for being brave enough to share.
There’s definitely hope, Bonnie! I hope your knee feels better soon.
Oh how I can relate! You have inspired me to do the same to our messy, cluttered bedroom! My hubby is leaving on a trip this weekend…I just might surprise him with a clean, decluttered bedroom!
I surprised my husband by cleaning ours, and he was thrilled! I’m sure your hubby will be too 🙂
Your before pic is the usual state of my bedroom! Thanks for sharing “real life.” I do find that it is comforting to know that people are keeping it real in the blogging world. I’m definitely making progress in this area, especially after a year of consistently decluttering. I recently got rid of anything not related to sleeping or clothing in our main bedroom area and it has made it very serene.
Sounds wonderful and very serene! Such a good idea, Angela. I may have to follow your lead.
Thank you, thank you, thank you! For sharing those BEFORE pictures. Seeing yours, actually eased a lot of my stress over my room. I know that I’m not alone, but it’s nice to see the proof of our struggles, as busy people. Thank you, again! And great job on the After pics too.
I’m so glad to hear that, Valda! That’s the only reason I’m embarrassing myself by sharing them! 🙂
Wow! I’m impressed! You are a brave woman…I would be mortified to share pictures of my own bedroom :-O Thanks for being so open. It’s very comforting to know that I’m not the only one, and very inspiring to see your results!
Oh trust me, I am completely mortified to have these pictures out there. The afters are a lot more fun to share than the befores 🙂
Don’t feel bad! That’s exactly what my bedroom looks like right now. I throw all the donations and unwanted items there so I can close he door when people come over. You’ve inspired me to deck utter mine! ????
That’s exactly what I was doing! Good luck decluttering your room. I’d love to see pics if you’d like to share. 🙂
Your room is now a beautiful and tranquil sanctuary, congratulations!
Thank you! It feels so much better to be in now.
Oh, my bedroom needs the same “declutteration”! We bought beautiful bedroom furniture a couple of year ago which you cannot see now out of staff all over the place…I know I will be coming back to this posts as I am going through the process of cleaning it out.
Thank you for another wonderful post!
Maria
Thanks, Maria! It feels so much better when things are picked up and in place, doesn’t it.
Congratulations for a great job. I am currently doing the same thing, only I am assembling the furniture from IKEA so that I can find a place to put everything. Yes, a few tears later, but what a burden lifted off your shoulders. During the process it feels like we will never get to that organized place that we see in our mind’s eye. You made it girl. Now it is my turn. Hopefully it will be done soon. Hang in there. The worst is over.
Thanks, Cindie! Good luck with the furniture assembly and decluttering. You’ve got this!
So I realize you totally understand my plight by your pics and blog in general. Your home is my home. For the first time ever, I believe you are an “answer to my prayers” over how to solve my messy home issue. Though I realize this blog took place last year, know that I’m applying everything said and tools used here in the present. I can’t thank you and all who’ve shared their stories enough.
Thank you, Sue! My home is still a work in progress so there will be many more before and after posts to come. I’m so glad to hear it’s been helpful. 🙂
The pictures you took are awesome, love it!!! I did a decluttering project back in March, makes me wish I had taken some before and after. Excellent article!
Thanks, Candace! The befores are hard to share, but they help me appreciate the afters even more. If you declutter any other rooms and take before and after pics I’d love to see them.
I don’t know if you realise how much of a relief it is to see someone who is ‘normal’ 😉 thanks for sharing the good bad and ugly, I’m inspired and encouraged that I can do the same! 🙂
Thank you, Andrea! That was my hope and the only reason I subjected myself to such an embarrassing post! I’m so glad to hear that. Trust me, if I can do it, anyone can. 🙂
I am blessed to have found you. I am a single mom struggling with Fibromyalgia. My girls all start school and this will finally be the first time my days will be open. I need a job, my ex is 45,000 behind and my illness has left me struggling to even leave my home. I hope that having a guide just might set in motion my devotion to feel normal. Your bedroom looks amazing and you deserve a pat on the back. Thank you. I can’t wait to get started. God Bless????
You have a lot on your plate, Nicole! I’m so sorry to hear about all you’re dealing with, but I’m glad you’ll have a little peace, quiet, and time soon now that your kiddos are heading back to school. I have lots of decluttering and organizing posts, and I hope you find them helpful. Please don’t hesitate to email me too. I’m more than happy to help however I can.
Awesome content and the room now looks clean that everyone can follow through it with your tips.