We did a little bedroom update this weekend. I’ve decided it is time to declutter and to do so, I need to rethink the space I have.

I ordered the book “the life-changing magic of tidying up – the Japanese art of decluttering and organizing“ by Marie Kondo because true to its name, I have actually read several life-changing stories from people who have practiced what Ms. Kondo preaches.

And without even reading the book, I knew the first place to start was our bedroom. It’s small (11’x12′), the ceilings are sloped, it lacks a closet and the window is low to the ground. Luckily we have a spare room that holds all of our clothes (aka. worst guest room ever), but dressers are like gold in an old home so I wanted to maximize the space by getting a bed frame with storage underneath and a big dresser for linen and extra bedding. 

To do so I knew I needed to purge and the first thing to go was the bookshelf full of books (gasp!) As much as I love my books, why do I need to fill my small space with so many? It looked cluttered and led to side-sweeping, rather than walking along the foot of the bed.

Good riddance warped shelf and secondhand dresser*.

Sadly however, the Ikea assembly party is over and I now have a much bigger, messier project ahead. Remember that guest room I mentioned and all those books? Here’s what it looks like now: 

At this point, everything from our bedroom, the linen cabinet, the hallway dresser, my office and the bathroom are going to be dumped in this room for strict evaluation and hopefully, over time, I can sort it all out and donate/sell/toss a bunch of it and allow this guest room to be the most lovely guest room it can be.

What about you? Any good tips on purging and/or organizing? Want to buy some used books? I plan to start an online yard sale so stay tuned!

*Disclaimer: The secondhand dresser did not go far… it moved one room over to my office but who said purging was easy?! psst. If you like what you’re reading, please subscribe and share. xomeg

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• Ikea’s Fjell bed frame with storage, Hemnes 3 drawer chest, Hemnes nightstands (already owned) and Valby Ruta rug
• Paint colour (already painted): Benjamin Moore’s Touch of Grey, which is actually more lavender than grey and looks great with the red and dark brown wood.
• The lamps are from Homesense (2 years ago)
• Window shade from Sears (6 years ago)
• Clock from L.L.Bean (4 years ago)
• Chair from Wicker Emporium (6 years ago)
• Dish from J.Crew (1 year ago)
• Bedspread from The Bay (9 years ago)
• Quilt made by my aunt!