Homemakers challenge 2 The Bedroom

It's so funny that this would be this weeks challenge (check out - http://joyfulmothering.net/category/homemakers-challenge/ ), because I just recently (finally) went through and deep cleaned my bedroom! The above picture is of my bedroom now. It is the after picture. It is my only picture. So, instead of a before and after, I will describe to you my bedroom in it's "before" state.

It used to be when I would clean my house that I would clean high traffic areas first. I used to focus on the downstairs (living room, dining room and kitchen) mainly. Then the bathroom. I have 2 very imaginative kids (who can spend hours playing with their toys) who are under 6. I also have a teenage daughter. You can imagine that by the time I was FINISHED these high traffic areas, I didn't have much time at all to clean any other rooms. And so my bedroom would continue to suffer. I was lucky if I got to make the bed every day. Not only that, but bureaus would get use to store things on top of them. I would change for the day and leave the clothes out (that I changed out of) on the bed, or the bureau - in hopes I'd get to it later (HA). I have hardwood floors which get dusty often. If I didn't make the bed everyday, you can imagine I didn't get to dust often either. It became a mess.

I found a bunch of wonderful (like minded) Christian (homemaker) moms who started blogs and posted THEIR cleaning routines. They all inspire me so much, and so I started following their cleaning routines (tweaking them to fit my life). By the way, you can find these inspiring blogs on the right hand side of my blog!

Anyways, on one of the blogs I was following it had said that "The more empty space in a bedroom, the cozier it feels". I had never thought of it like that before, but I realized that it was SO TRUE! So here's what I did. First of all I put all clothes away. Whatever was clean I hung up. Whatever was dirty - in the laundry hamper it went. Next I went through things that were on top of my bureaus, and night stands. If it didn't serve a purpose in the room, it was out. I reorganized, threw things away and moved things to other rooms (places where it would better serve a purpose). I then dusted and cleaned down those surfaces. Next I dusted out head board and base board of our bed, and the ceiling fan. Next I took all the sheets off the beds (and the pillow cases), and put on all new sheets and pillow cases. And made the beds again (I forgot to mention that my little ones sleep in our rooms in their own special little beds - a Tinkerbell bed and a Toy Story bed). After that was finished I went on to vacuuming the hardwood floor, making sure to get under the bureau and night stands. I cleaned the mirror (and vacuumed behind it). I organized the books on the one nightstand. I cleaned down the inside of the windows and the windowsills. All the while keeping in mind that the more empty spaces there are, the cozier it will feel. Finally I washed all the bed linens and put them away.

Now it has been so easy to tidy up and keep clean! Everyday I put clothes away, make the beds and tidy up anything that may have made its way to the bedroom, that doesn't belong there. Once a week I vacuum and dust (cleaning the mirror too). Once a month I change the bedding. Every few months I plan to wash and wax the hardwood flooring, and clean the windows and windowsills down. And that is how I got my Master bedroom clean, and KEEP IT CLEAN. Peace!