I'm not nesting...I promise

It all started last week, or possibly many weeks before, but I finally reached a breaking point concerning all the clutter and messes around our home.  I had just finished piecing this wall hanging for a fund raiser and was waiting on thread to arrive when I decided enough was enough.

With working full time, being a parent to a teenager, and focusing all the time I can on quilting its been too easy to ignore piles and pretend dust isn't there.  The spring cleaning bug finally hit me much to my daughter's horror.  She was perfectly content to ignore chores right along with me.

I started last week, cleaning out our master bathroom, thinking it would be the easiest and quickest place to start.  In my head I could knock that puppy out in an evening, heck hour and a half at the most and be back at my machine...wrong.  I spent 2 evenings throwing away old stuff, organizing and gathering things for donations or a yard sale.  But the results felt amazing.  So amazing, I proudly announced to the family the whole house is getting a well over due make over.  My husband raised an eyebrow suspiciously and ask if I was nesting...ha ha.

This week my focus has been on the master bed room.  After assessing the condition of the room, I narrowed it down to four main problem areas: nightstand area, book self, area in front of the bed and side dresser.  Each of these places have become catchalls for all kinds of junk due to lack of storage space.  I spent a lot of time on Pinterest this week looking at different DIY ideas and before and after pictures, and I have to say it really was motivating.

I started with the easiest section first, the nightstand and under this side of the bed.  I debated on sharing the pictures I've taken because this is probably one of the things I'm most insecure about.  But personal growth doesn't come without being uncomfortable.

So where did all my stuff go?  After going through the drawers, I found that most of the stuff inside could actually be tossed or put in the yard sale box, freeing up quite a bit of room.  Moving the dresser closer to the bed makes it easier to turn the light on and off from the bed (no more crooked lamp shade for all the OCD peeps) and gave room for a basket to put magazines in for late night reading.  I even discovered a possum living back there! Well a stuffed one that was a present.  The little white box leaning against the wall is an unopened Elf on the Shelf that my family had outgrown when I bought it.  It will be wrapped and on its way tomorrow to my cousin's 3 young son's with a letter written by Santa to let them know he watches...wink wink.  He's such a voyeur.  I also donated three bags of bed sheets (some from my daughters room as well) stored in containers under my bed.  How did I end up with so many???

One of my Pinterest finds is this awesome platform bed with lots of storage.

With the help of my favorite wood worker, I'm hoping to make this dream a reality.  This would solve many bedroom storage issues for us.  With this area finished and my thread still on the way to me, I guess I will turn my attention to the book self.  Wish me luck!