From Rat’s Nest to Restful Retreat: Mastering the Bedroom

The Weekly Tittle is an exercise designed to focus your attention on a specific space, aspect, or challenge of decluttering and organizing your home. We assign a new tittle in each webcast/podcast, then check on your progress the following week.

Claiming Your Sanctuary

This week’s assignment is to take a step toward making your primary bedroom the peaceful oasis you desire. Try any or all of these suggestions for claiming—or reclaiming—your soothing space:

• Identify an item that doesn’t belong in the bedroom. (Many of you already did this step as part of answering our survey.) Assign it a storage space elsewhere, or assess whether you’re ready to re-home, recycle, or otherwise dispose of the item.
• Clear the bedside table. Trim the contents down to the bare minimum you require to go to bed tonight—for example: your alarm clock, the book you’re currently reading, your reading lamp, and a coaster for a glass of water.
• Conduct a “noise and light” audit. After the sun is down, visit your bedroom with the lights off for a few minutes. Pay attention to sources of light or sound, such as electronics, chargers, doors or windows that don’t close completely, etc. Take any steps you can to remove or mitigate these potentially sleep-disrupting distractions.
• Consider adding a new highlight. Look around your home for a memento or decor object that signifies peace, rest, comfort, or whatever mood you’d like to cultivate in the bedroom. Make space for this item in your bedroom to serve as a trigger or reminder of the positive feelings you wish to evoke.

For the full discussion of this week’s tittle, watch the Weekly Tittle segment on YouTube.