What Your Bedroom Is For

Let's talk about something intensely personal... the things that a master bedroom is for, and what it is NOT.

Ideally this room, the inner sanctum of our home, is the place where we go to restore, to find quiet, solitude, privacy, a place for intimacy, perhaps a place also for prayer and/or meditation....

If you picture it the way I do, upon arriving home and walking through the front door, one starts shedding the "armor" that was worn out in the world. As one goes further into the interior rooms, layers of protection and carefully crafted facades fall away, until we are here...the place where we are hopefully most relaxed and most able to be ourselves--unguarded, open, vulnerable.

As is the case in most of our homes, things are often not the ideal. Some of the most common obstacles to creating a personal sanctuary are ones that happen without us even thinking about it:

Our bedroom may be the place, when in a hurry, we have stashed things we didn't want company to see...

It may be the place where baskets of folded laundry sit waiting to be put away....

It may be the place where we have a work station, complete with piles of paper and glowing computer screen staring us down as we try to unwind at the end of a hectic day.  

It may be the place that others in the household feel they can just enter on a whim without knocking or asking permission. 

I am sure one or more of the above sounds all too familiar...

To compound matters,  it is during times of increased stress (the time when we need this room to be at its most soothing and uncluttered) when we are least likely or able to keep this area tidy and nurturing.

SO, to help you gain this very important tool (this place of restoration is just that) for a full, balanced, peaceful life, let's talk about some simple things that can help to create and maintain YOUR much needed retreat from the world:

When you are tired, remind yourself that it only takes a few minutes-- it is tempting to not put clothes away in the evening or to skip making the bed in the morning because we are tired, pressed for time, and we picture these chores as being a huge deal. Change your perception of these tasks and view them instead as doing something nice for yourself--make yourself muscle through for just 3-5 minutes & you will be amazed at how quickly you are finished. Recognize in doing this for less than five minutes, you are preparing a soothing environment for yourself later.

Remove anything that stresses you out--

Ok--if your spouse drives you nuts, then that is harder to deal with....

but at least remove inanimate objects that you find annoying, and don't find lovely. Anything pertaining to your work or household finances also SHOULD NOT be in this room.

While the room should not contain things that irk you, it should contain things that delight your senses:

soft lighting, a variety of textures (think satiny sheets and nubby chenille throws), colors that you find soothing, fresh (but not overpowering) scents, and flowers and /or plants that bring life and additional color to the room.

Taking the time to create a little oasis for ourselves is so important and has far-reaching impact in our lives. I'll go put away my laundry, if you go put away yours!....