Love, Joy and Peas: Mystery Corner in Master Bedroom: Clutter Clean in 2016

Thursday, January 21, 2016

Mystery Corner in Master Bedroom: Clutter Clean in 2016

Today's main clutter busting project was the mystery corner (below) but I also took a few more items away and rearranged the dresser top featured in yesterday's post. I originally left the middle of the dresser open for folding laundry but decided that I'm fine with continuing to fold it on the bed. You can see the individual items more easily this way but the front 2/3 of the dresser is clear so it's still nice. I will probably continue rearranging until I think it's just right.

This mystery corner used to hold my hamper but I moved it closer to where I use it (you can see part of it in the next photo). This corner is a clutter magnet because there's no purpose to it at the moment, other than holding the floor lamp and a cat bed (the basket). We have no overhead lighting in the bedroom so the lamp is needed.

Here's a better view of the area I worked on today. The pile of black clothes isn't clutter; it's just laundry. So the first thing I did was to put the load of black laundry in the washer. I had put the empty box out to see if Baby cat liked it more than her basket. She did not, so it's going to recycling.

Two of the containers were full of weird stuff (from old love notes to painting supplies to an organic buckwheat pillow). There was even a box full of notes from books I read long ago (the box fit inside another box - boxes within boxes!). So I put away the keepers that belonged elsewhere (none of it belonged in the corner) and added the rest to the recycling or donation bags (recycling is in the kitchen and donation is in the office).

The white basket is currently being used for new items that need to be washed before used. I like to save the environment and money by doing fuller loads of wash so I wait until I have enough of the new item(s)' color (new things often bleed when washed for the first time) to make it worthwhile. I relocated that basket to the other side of the hamper so it's not one of the first things you see when walking in the bedroom.

This is the finished view. Much neater and less cluttery. I'd like to make use of that corner but I'm not sure if I want a little reading nook or a makeup vanity so until I decide, it's fine as a cat bed/lamp spot. What would you do with this corner if it were your room?

Lessons learned/Tips:

Shutting the lid on things makes them look neater (see the hamper open vs closed in above photos)
Having the floor clear makes the whole area look better
Less is more when it comes to the floor