The last big unpacking/organizing project left in the house was the fourth upstairs bedroom, which was destined to become my "project room" from the time our offer on the house was accepted. I had a room like this in our house in Iowa to hold the various odds and ends of my life, and it was time to whip this room into shape so that I could have one in our house in Massachusetts!
Before
This room was a mess! By this point, which was about six months after we'd moved in, it had become a very cluttered catch-all for all the things that I didn't know what to do with, in addition to the boxes and things packed up from my Iowa project room.
I use the Pomodoro technique for big projects. It's easy--you work on your project for 25 minutes a day until it's done. (For more urgent projects you can use 25-minute increments throughout the day.) This is how I get big projects done while not letting them take over my life. Diligent consistency leads to completion.
First I got the boxes and little things cleared out, leaving only the furniture so that I could figure out where that would all go and how to arrange the room.
This project may not have taken over my life but the things that I removed from the room certainly took over the upstairs for a few weeks!
Does my bedroom make me look like a hoarder? Yes, it does. But at least I'm a conscientious, fairly organized hoarder. 😄
After
I was happy with how the room turned out. It is now a happy place!
I was happy with how the room turned out. It is now a happy place!
Honoring my owl collection on the walls and the dresser. 😁🦉💖
I've had the dresser ever since I was 13 and in 8th grade. It's pretty much an antique by this point. 😂 I love that I still have it and that it holds things that I love.
I bought two new things for this room. The first is this picture on canvas. I saw it online and had to have it. There's something about a dancing couple in evening wear near a body of water that speaks to my soul. I'm not sure why, but I find it so romantic! I guess that's why.
The second thing I bought for the room is the oversized chair below the painting, which pulls out into a surprisingly comfortable twin bed so that overnight guests can sleep there if they want. There's a guest bedroom in the basement but this is an additional option, particularly for when the boys' friends or cousins sleep over so that they're on the same floor as them. Sam liked this pull-out bed so much that he set up shop in here and slept in it for a few weeks after we got it.
I think it's a very cozy set-up, personally!
The glider chair is the one I got when I was pregnant with John and it was in both John's and Sam's rooms when they were babies. I love that chair and hope to have it always!
The chest on the floor has my name carved into the top. My dad brought it home for me from Honduras when I was in high school. Another treasured piece of furniture in the chronicle of my life. 😊
I liked the built-in system that was in the closet when we bought the house so I didn't do anything to change it.
It felt so good to get this room done. Another satisfying and worthwhile organizing project in the books!
