Do you see it?
Blocking the door? Laughing at me?
That’s my master bedroom door.
See, I have this rug. It’s a pretty rug, but I won’t say it’s a nice one, because it’s the opposite of nice. It’s mean.
We were given this rug two years ago. I decided to put it in the master bedroom. There is a perfect space for it right in front of the fireplace. (Did you notice how I just casually mentioned that I have a fireplace in my bedroom? I can’t allow anyone in there to show it off, so I’ll just brag about it here.)
So what’s the problem?
This rug . . . moves. I would assume that it’s only from us walking on it and somehow pushing it, except that it only moves in one direction. And we walk in both. I feel that that proves my point . . . that it is mean.
It moves toward the door. And eventually, when it finally gets its way, it blocks the door completely, either keeping it from closing, or keeping it from opening, depending on whether the door was open or closed when it made its final dash.
In the picture above, it’s keeping the door from opening. Sometimes, it’s almost impossible to get in.
I get it that normal people would just straighten the rug on a semi-daily basis and prevent the rug from getting out of hand. And not-quite-normal-but-not-a-slob people might catch it before it actually blocked the door, and move it back into place.
So what’s the problem?
This is the problem. Stuff.
That’s not a laundry basket with laundry waiting to be washed. It’s not a carefully packed box of Christmas decorations waiting to go to the attic.
It’s stuff. Random, mostly useless stuff.
The master bedroom is my dumping ground. If the house is almost ready for guests, but there’s just that one spot with a pile of mail/papers/whatever that I don’t have time to go through properly before they arrive, just stick it in a box/bag/laundry basket/whatever and put it in the master bedroom.
So when the rug moves toward the door, I often cannot physically pull it back, because of all the stuff. Hubby, who is a way-stronger-than-average hunk, also has a difficult time moving it, partly because the bottom is really rough, and HURTS your knuckles. But thankfully, he suffers, and moves it.
Well, today, in the spirit of my new little-by-little approach to excavating my master bedroom, I decided to focus on the rug. JUST the rug. Get all the stuff off of it. And move the stuff to where it goes. And stop dumping stuff on it, so that when it tries its little trick next time, even I can drag it back to its place.
Here it is now. Yes, I strategically took this picture to show ONLY the rug, and not the chaos that still exists around it.
It’s huge progress, but the room as a whole is still a disaster. Most of the stuff that was on it went in the trash. Out of the three boxes full of randomness, I saved about 6 papers. And I’m not even sure that I HAD to save those.
I’ve been enjoying my cleared off dresser so much, and I know that I’ll enjoy the open space in the middle of the floor as well. I might even have fewer stubbed toes.
MageeMommy says
I'm totally about the little by little approach! Great job!
JoDi says
Congrats on clearing another space in the MBR! You might want to try searching homedepot.com for a rug gripper pad to keep that rug in place. Can't have it trying to escape now that you've cleared it off so you can admire it every day!
debbie says
Congrats on taming another area.
I agree, get a rug gripper pad. One marked for carpet on carpet. It'll do 2 things-keep the rug in place and also protect the carpet underneath. Yeah, that really rough underside is actually going to destroy the carpet it's on. Ask me how I know!
Mama Hen says
Great job! My room also becomes the dumping ground.
Bonnie says
little by little bit by bit…right?
Ruth Marie says
Yeah, another person commenting on a super-old post. I’m reading from the beginning and loving it and loving you. I live like this too. You’re not alone, and your progress and slides and realizations about how your mind works and how normal people think are really helping me. Thanks so much!
We had a rug that crawled like this. If yours is like ours, you can get a huge laugh by putting it in its proper place then standing on it and marching in place. You can watch it move across the floor as you do. Something about the backing and the wall-to-wall underneath causes it. My husband and I tromped on ours and giggled like hyenas.
Shirls says
Since we had new fitted carpets installed ALL our rugs crawl like this. It’s driving me dilly. Must see if I can find these rug grippers mentioned above.
Sara says
I’ve been reading from the begining and I’m absoultely loving that there is someone “like me” out there. I have taken the steps you took and my house looks great (to my normal anyway). I printed off your daily check list and modified it to fit me, its a great daily reminder to do those tasks. But I digres, I just have to say I LOVE THIS POST! It had me giggling from start to finish. Darn that mean rug!
Karrie says
I to have a rug that moves in the master bedroom. The stuff makes it impossible to put it back in its place. I am on a break from dealing with the stuff and saw this. Love that I’m not the only one.
Jenny says
Things around here really improved when I made our (mine and my honey’s) room my priority. I use to tell everyone, “put it in my room.” thinking/hoping would get to it later. Surprise surprise- I never did. I had a bed we made before crawling in and stuff sitting around, making it harder to dust and vac. Now our bedroom is pretty & welcoming. Monday morning, no matter the post weekend state of the house, I clean our room. Dusting, polishing, clearing and a good vacuuming. On a daily basis I keep it completely tidy. Dumping piles of “stuff” ? In my beautiful room? Never! It is a pleasure just walking past the door. Making our space my priority also sends a great message to the husband; that our space is most important to me, meaning our time together is most important to me, meaning he is most important to me!
Atia says
I love this comment!!!!
hestia74 says
When I opened this post and first saw the picture my immediate thought was “what’s that?” Then, when I read the next three questions I looked at the picture again and thought “is that a rug?”. And then I read the next sentence… totally laughed out loud when you said that was your master bedroom door, lol! And then I was so curious, I wanted to see the rest… but no, it’s not that time yet. I still don’t know if we’ll ever get to see your master bedroom, but I’m having a ball just reading about it, along with the rest of your journey. Thanks for writing!
Hazel says
In case you still haven’t sorted it…(yup, I’d probably still be getting annoyed at it walking), Velcro works wonders, about 2 inches in each corner really keeps it in place!
PJ says
I just discovered you last week, and you are my new favorite blogger. I have washed the dishes after dinner three days in a row. I have been trying to declutter for about three years, but I still end up tossing all my piles into laundry baskets and moving them from room to room when I try to clean, or if there is company coming. Two of your ideas have struck me: first, the idea of decluttering public areas first (easier to clean them if decluttered) and second, the idea of putting things where they belong as I declutter instead of making more piles! I am going to stop following the blogs by ‘normal’ people (they just make me feel bad about myself) and just follow you!
Dana White says
Welcome!!! And thanks!!!
Katia says
Well, that’s exactly what I always do – putting heaps of things here and there.
For almost a week I’ve been sleeping on a sofa ’cause my bed is full of books (I was tidying the bookcases and I haven’t finished).
Jacqi says
Our master bedroom is also a problem area and dumping ground. I’m reading through your blog from the beginning and can’t wait to see the progress. Gives me hope and motivation!
Crystal says
7 Years later and I find myself reading this blog post (and all the others before it). I am so grateful that I’ve had several slow days at work. Inbetween customers, I’ve been reading your blog from the beginning – that’s about 8 hours a day of Nonny the Slob reading all day long! This one gave me a good chuckle. Those rugs can be mean! 😛
thanks Nony.
Judith says
Over eight years later and it still helps me get some perspective: (almost) went to bed grumbling because ‘this housekeeping lark’ “is so repetitive, I only vacuumed a week ago and my floors ALREADY feel dusty again! Brought out the ladder yesterday to change a lightbulb, this night at 22 my curtain got stuck. Got a nasty maggoty surprise last week, cleaned the entire weekend like crazy, I KEPT EVERYTHING CLEAN and today there were blue flies, grrrrr!!!” And then I got onto your site and realized I’m not alone, and you’re not the only other one, there’s a whole bunch of us and they understand😍 Thank you 🙏
Cheryl says
Sending you a hug!
Jane says
My parents also owned a mean rug. We named it the tsunami rug. It is almost unbelievable how much territory that rug could cover. Enjoying reading your blog (a decade after the fact), I’ll catch up to present day soon. Congratulations on your progress!