master bedroom chaos

I was recently asked by a client what my #1 tip was for organizing a master bedroom. My client explained that her master bedroom was a very stressful place because of how cluttered and chaotic it was. Since the bedroom was where she went to bed every night and where she woke up every morning, she began and ended every day feeling stressed and unhappy.

After talking with her for a while, I realized that she had a similar problem to many of my other clients...you might relate. She used her master bedroom as the dumping ground for her entire house.

Let's see how you answer the following questions:

• When company arrives, where do you go with everything from the kitchen/living room?
• Where is your exercise equipment?
• Where is your computer?
• Where do you store the Christmas presents you are trying to hide?
• Where do you keep your gift wrapping supplies?

If you answered "the master bedroom" to any or all of those questions, then you are like most people. Even though none of the above items should be stored in your master bedroom, they often end up there, mainly because they don't have a home anywhere else.

So what can you do about it?

My #1 tip for decluttering your master bedroom is:

Take everything out and only put back what you need/use in your bedroom.
These would be items such as clothes, shoes, accessories, extra pillows and blankets, books or magazines you are currently reading, etc.

This may seem overwhelming at first but if your goal is to have a clutter-free, relaxing bedroom, this is the way to go.

Once you put away everything that needs to be in your room, you will then have to find/create a home for everything that is left over (this could be a lot of stuff). Start by donating or trashing anything that you don't need, want, love, or use. Then get creative; can you store gifts and wrapping supplies in a extra closet or purchase an armoire and store it in the living room or in an extra bedroom? Can you create an "office space" in a corner somewhere? Could your exercise equipment move to the basement or garage?

The more you can remove from your bedroom, the more peaceful your room will feel...and that is your ultimate goal!