Harvest Homekeeping ~ The Master Bedroom

The Master Bedroom

These are the essentials of a thorough cleaning and de-cluttered/organized bedroom. If your Master Bedroom doesn’t need a thorough decluttering, consider using the Bedroom Cleaning System included in this post.

First – Take down curtains and wash them if you are able. If you cannot wash them, hang them outside to air. Be sure not to hang them in full sun if you think they may fade.

Second – Strip the bed linens and put them in to wash or in the laundry room.
Turn the mattress if you are able….. but don’t hurt yourself for goodness sake!

Third – Hang up and put away all clothes or laundry.  If there are clothes that need to be put in someone elses room, do it. If there are clothes that need to be stored, store them. If there are clothes that need to go to Good -Will, take them!

If you just don’t have any way to store those clothes, get rid of some of them!  Why do you need all those clothes?

Fourth – Get yourself three baskets, boxes or bags. Label these containers:

Throw Away
Give Away
Put Away

Walk around your room and put everything that you don’t want in the room in one of these boxes.

When this is done…

Find a fourth box…. put all your trinkets, doo-dads and nicnacs that you are going to keep in this box (think about getting rid of some of these! ). Put your alarm clock, pictures, wall decor, everything that will stay in the room. Place this box in the dining room or kitchen. You can enlist a child to dust and clean these items or save this for yourself for later.

Fifth – Pull everything out of the closet. Oh yes, the closet.  Pull it all OUT.  All of it.  Everything.  Now go through it quickly and put each item in one of your four boxes. Hang up clothes and sort them into the boxes quickly. Don’t take too much time with this. If you have not worn the item in 2 years, toss it or give it away.

If an item you pull out of your closet does not belong in the closet, if the closet is not where you really should store it, then move it to its rightful place. If you don’t have anywhere else for this item, then its rightful place is the closet. Only you know…

Dust, sweep and clean the inside of the closet. Rehang the clothes. Arrange the contents of the closet that are going back in it, correctly and neatly.

Sixth – Clean out from under the bed. Pull it all out, divide the under-bed contents into your four boxes. Sweep and mop under the bed when everything is moved out from under it.  Take this opportunity to go through any storage bins you have under the bed. Throw out what you don’t need, organize and label the rest.

There are lots of good ideas for under-bed storage. Those bed risers that I talk about every year are really a handy thing to have.    Using bed risers can give you up to 10 inches of space to store things. They cost about $ 8.95 – $14.95 for four of them. This is one of the best investments for the household I have ever made. I bought mine at Linen’s and Things but these at Amazon are very similar. Plastic Bed Risers – Set of 4

Flat plastic boxes are great for under the bed too.

Seventh – We’re on the home stretch! Dust the ceilings, tops of windows and door frames, and walls. If you walls are dirty and you want to wash them, go for it! Use a mild detergent or soap and warm water if you have painted walls. If you have wallpaper, you will want to use a barely damp sponge and a drying towel. Work from the top of the wall down to the floor. If you have carpet, cover it!

Now to the Nitty Gritty Cleaning of the Room:

*Wash the windows. Use my homemade window cleaner or what ever you have on hand. Use newspaper to dry them for a streak free shine!
*Clean up the window frames now and dry them well.
*Clean the baseboards with a soapy solution of mild dish soap and warm water or your natural cleaner
*Dust all furniture. Use lemon oil or orange oil on all wood. Use a mild soap and warm water on other furniture according to what its made of. Wash doilies and table covers.
*If you haven’t yet cleaned the nicnacs and needful items that go in your room go do that now. When they are cleaned, replace them where they go in the room.
*Think about adding a doilie or a table skirt to soften the room. Think about what you use to make the room a pleasant place to be with your husband or just to go to relax.
*Press and rehang your curtains.
*Sweep, vacuum and mop the floor depending on what you need to do. If your floors are hard, use which ever chemicals you have success with. I use a wood soap on my hardwood and then a wood shiner product made by Glade. Sometimes I even use orange oil on the floors and rub them to a deep shine. You must rub the wood very vigorously so that it won’t be slick!
*Dress the bed. Its getting to be cooler here in the US so dress your bed in sheets and two quilts OR with one quilt and one blanket. Think about getting a skirt to hide the under bed contents. I found a white cotton one at Good Will for $3.49 !
*Replace rugs

Light a candle and enjoy!

For each room we have worked on this week, I have given you a Room Cleaning System to use for your every day cleaning.  Feel free to add and take away specific cleaning duties in each room until you get a System that works for you.

Bedroom Cleaning System

Take up rugs, shake and launder if needed.

Pick up clothes, put away.

Pick up everything that is out of place and put it away.

Dust furniture and nicnacs.

Organize dresser tops, table tops.

Sweep or vacuum.

Mop if needed.

Make bed.

Replace rugs.

Tidy Idies For the Master Bedroom:

Try not to begin the habit of using your Master Bedroom as a storage room with boxes of stuff everywhere and clothes thrown across the bed.

*Organize as you go. Pick up and deal with clutter daily.

*Check to see if any casters or rubber floor protectors are needed under the feet of the bed, dressers, etc. Metal frame beds can be especially harsh on wood floors.

*If you store items under the bed using a bed skirt/ruffle will usually hide them.
Make a storage list for items in storage bins that you store under the bed. Put the list in each bin. That way you know what’s under there and you don’t have to go on a digging expedition for anything.

*Are their items in your dresser that should be hung instead of folded?

*Closets. Everything should have a place, even if it’s in (well labeled) storage bins/containers.
Consider a “closet makeover”.  Closets don’t have to look like a dumping ground. They can be painted or papered, organized and neat. The more time you take that first time to make your closets user friendly and attractive the better you’ll do at upkeep.

*The 20 Minute Tidy is a way to keep the Master Bedroom clean.  Just a few minutes a day can add up to big changes.

Here are a few more tidbits you might find useful from Deborah Tukua’s book, Pearls of Country Wisdom: Hints from a Small Town on Keeping Garden and Home

~An upright trunk makes a great bedside table and provides an inside storage space of 3 feet deep.
~Dresser drawers stick? Rub a moist bar of soap across the runners to help it glide easier.
~Has the life gone out of your mattress? No money for a new one? Extend the life of your mattress by purchasing an egg crate foam mattress covering. It’s much cheaper than buying a new mattress, usually around $12.00, yet adds plush comfort to your bedding for at least another year.