Considering its pre-blog state, the master bedroom is not that bad.
Still, though, my heart would palpitate if someone other than the five of us saw it. My sense of hearing took on super-hero qualities every time one of the kids at last night’s Superbowl party walked past its door. If I had heard a doorknob moving, I would have knocked someone over to get there lightning fast.
One of my goals for the year is to solve the master bedroom mystery.
I’m not an idiot. I know that it gets to disaster status because I don’t consistently pick up clutter. I don’t hang up my clothes. I put every random thing that doesn’t have a home on top of my dresser, and my nightly routine includes throwing my current read onto the floor before turning off my lamp.
I get it.
But, head knowledge doesn’t do me much good. I’ve accepted that with the way my brain works, I have to put changes into practice before I can start to truly understand them.
Confusing enough?
I know that clothes are a big part of my problem. I’ve worked to decrease my children’s clothing, but I’ve managed to skillfully avoid messing with my own stash. So, I’m focusing on clothing as I begin this investigation.
First, there’s the big problem of the all-too-convenient End of the Bed. It’s just so perfect for stashing my good intentions.
- Clothes that were tried on, but didn’t ultimately win the Battle of the Outfits for that particular day.
- Clothes that were worn once, often just for a few hours, and so they didn’t qualify as Dirty Clothes.
- Clothes that were dumped on the bed to be folded on Laundry Day, but then got sucked into the abyss created by the previous two types of clothes.
- Dirty clothes. Because if I let myself pile up clean clothes, something dirty always slips in with them.
So, since today is Laundry Day anyway, I decided to tackle that pile.
I get paralyzed doing this sometimes, because of the whole, “Is this clean or dirty?” dilemma. This may gross someone out, but I decided to err on the side of calling things clean. My rationale was that I probably put it there, originally, because I considered it clean. (Surely I would have put it in the dirty clothes otherwise, right?) And part of the endless cycle is continuously putting these probably-clean-but-just-in-case-they’re-not clothes into the laundry again, causing more overwhelm-ment (not a word, but totally a thing).
The pile happens because I have good intentions.
“I don’t want to launder things that could be worn again . . . that would be wasteful.”
“I may not have decided to wear this today, but I’m not going to just throw it on the floor, that would be ridiculous.” (Dirty clothes go on the floor, duh.)
“I’m going to wear this tomorrow, so I’ll go ahead and balance it on top of the pile . . . isn’t the weather always the same two days in a row?”
But my good intentions have bad results. I’m un-scientifically guessing that out of every 10 times I throw something on there with a good intention, 9.8 times I forget what that good intention was, and the item becomes part of an ambiguous pile.
I have to start being intentional with my clothing. Clothes that don’t make the cut for the day need to go back in the closet. Clothes that can be worn again need to . . . . go back in the closet!
No more mindless stripping. (Sorry, honey.)
I’m linking this up to Orgjunkie.com’s 52 Weeks of Organizing. It wasn’t a week of huge progress, but just having that spot cleared (and maintained) makes an incredible difference in the master bedroom.
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There is one thing that works for me that I can share… (should be posting this on Wednesday, eh?) Somewhere I read that getting ready for bed before you're tired that helps you put things away. I also have/had a habit of dropping my recently worn (but not dirty yet) clothes on the floor or on top of my covers. Now, when I get into pajamas at the same time as my kids I have a much higher rate of success in hanging up my clothes.
You have no idea how much alike we are. Seriously. Every time I visit here I feel like I'm reading my own diary or something! And now I'm scared to read your master bedroom posts, but I'm gonna do it anyway.
I have two laundry baskets in my bedroom, one for dirty-need-to-be-washed clothes, and one for worn-once-but-still-cleanish clothes. Then when I get undressed I put my socks and and underwear in the dirty basket, and decide if the rest of the clothes are still clean (I usually wear outerwear 2-4 times before I wash it). If they are still clean, I drape them over the edge of the basket to air out a bit overnight. When getting dressed, I check the cleanish basket first.
Then when doing laundry I wash everything in the dirty basket, and if there is extra room in the load, I take the dirtiest stuff (or stuff that isn't likely to be worn again soon) out of the other basket and wash it.
I find that having it in a basket looks a lot neater than a pile on the bed or a chair, and it also limits the amount of stuff you can have in this category. I have used hooks before for the same purpose, but found them kind of messy looking, and clothes were always falling off onto the floor, so I like a second basket better.
You totally get me.
I always wear my clothes at least twice before I wash them, unless they get something on them. My shower organizer has two hooks that I use to hang my clothes to wear again. This limits my clothes that I'm "saving" for another day.
But I'm absolutely terrible about taking stuff out of the closet and not putting it back. Next it falls on the floor and gets walked on. Then it has to be washed again.
Another area we struggle is when I wash items that can't be put in the dryer such as coats. I will put them on the kitchen chairs to dry, yet they seem to get dirty again. My coat is covered in bananas because I washed it right before lunch and guess what was on the menu?
Oh my goodness..I so could have written that post!! We are a family of six, living in a small three bedroom house. My husband and I just recently switched bedrooms with our youngest children, since they had more toys, clothes & etc. and we wanted them to have the room that would allow them to have more
play room. Anyway, I remember when we switched, I was forced to go through everything. I still have problems not dumping things in our room, but it is a little better since we have very little room now.
I am so going to blog about your blog 🙂
You always write how I think Nony! I've started to set out my outfit the night before and that has so helped me with the ever-growing pile of clothes on the why-do-I-forget-how-cute-the-ottoman-at-the-end-of-the-bed-looks-when-not-buried-beyond-sight. (I love the run on words too!)
I set out everything and have more or less now got to the point that I put away worn-once-but-still-clean clothes or that I wear them again the next day. It really saves me brain power because I'm so not a morning person and not having to think about what to wear makes it more likely that I'll get out of my pjs on the right side of noon too.
Grainne
The piles of clothes everywhere make my heart sink when walk into my bedroom but I'm chipping away at them.
I found this post and the comments very helpful. I like your analytical approach, Nony (“So, I’m focusing on clothing as I begin this investigation.”)
Shelssc’s advice to prepare for bed before you’re tired is good – I wait until I’m ready to drop and then have no interest in anything except sleep.
And Jenny’s comment about airing her clothes brings me to a point about making the bed. I hate to throw a spanner in the works, Nony, when you’ve trained yourself to make the bed as soon as you get out of it but I think it should be allowed to air. (If you could see my home right now, you’d know what a colossal nerve I’ve got in dishing out this advice. I’m better at the theory than the practice!). However, beds harbour dust mites which can give rise to asthma. One way of combating them is to let beds air, also vacuum the mattress at regular intervals, then use an ultra violet lamp which can kill the mites or stop them reproducing. Gypsies used to hang their washing on hedges to dry in the sunlight and the UV rays would have the same effect. I have asthma, so have taken an interest in this. Maybe I wouldn’t have it if I’d just follow my own advice!
The word I use is ‘overwhelmtion’. 😉
I know this post is from 2011 but you’ve previously expressed thanks for comments on old posts, and THIS POST… Man, it resonated. It completely encapsulates what my slob brain is/does. The kitchen, depending on my own theater rehearsal/performance schedule, is always usually presentable. The bathroom has occasional clutter. The living room looks lived in, but I’m fine with that. For me, it’s paper clutter that I can’t seem to stop piling around… and clothes. So many clothes. By the time I make it through the discarded outfits to the winning outfit for the day, several outfits are in fact discarded. On the floor… on the dresser… on top of the clean clothes laundry bin (presumably so they can be hung up with the rest of them. Ha.)
But clothing clutter makes my bedroom a terrible place and reminds me of my hoarder mother whenever I have to walk over/step on piles of clothes to get to my side of the bed. My husband just pulls out more and more laundry bins, until we have 5 bins of clothes and there are still more on the floor and in the closet. I get paralyzed knowing that most of the clothes are in fact perfectly clean, but maybe-just-maybe-I-should-rewash-them-since-they’ve-been-on-the-floor-for-over-a-month-or-two-but-who’s-counting…
I’m trying a combination of reading your blog from the beginning and taking inspiration from it, and the Konmari sparking joy technique of tidying/decluttering. I have several bins of stuff to donate or sell after hours of joy-sparking, but they’ve been sitting around for two weeks now due to my rehearsal schedule, and I’m not any closer to getting the now sorted, and partially folded piles of clothes on my bedroom floor. Hopefully I can push through this after the show closes this weekend!
Nony! I’ve said it before but it is soooo fitting for this post. You get me! You affirm that my brain is not alone. Thank you!