Nightmare Room - No More.

Done! 

Well Mostly.

One of our favorite places for my husband and myself to visit is the Beautiful San Juan Islands in Washington.  We keep talking about how much we’d love to retire there and soak in the beauty all around.



So the logical choice was to decorate our Master Bedroom as if we were on retreat at our favorite place.

Ms. Passion and I were nearly jumping out of our skins as we put some finishing touches on the room today.  So without further ado…

The Nightmare (Hoarding) Room Before…



And After…



Are you shocked???  I’m still in awe that this is my home.  Gone is the sheet covering the window, the blah beige, the overwhelming feeling of OVERWHELMINGNESS!

Another nightmare view…



to This…



Yes, I know some rules were broken… Where’s the dresser’s & typical Bedroom furniture?  We instead put up a section of the bookshelves that used to be in the family room.  This way we can save some of our favorite books, and have a room to go to get away from the house.  A place to treasure some of our treasures, and remember some of our amazing adventures to the islands.



A place to read and relax, among other things.

And because I’m digging this so much here’s yet another view…



Simply Beautiful.  



And while the room is mostly done, there are still some things that need touching up, like finishing the painting of the door trim.



I’m also keeping my eye out for some comfy chairs to replace the ones by the window.

Here’s the best part.  We are surrounded with items we love.  Things that mean something.



Whether it’s pictures we’ve taken while visiting our favorite place…



Or decorating with left-over material that I used to reupholster my husbands boat.   I had a lot of sewing homework.  Never sewed a bed skirt or valance before.  Tried to keep them tailored looking though.



We had to keep the cost to a bare minimum.  But using the left over boat fabric made the room even more special for my Prince.  He loved that boat.  Someday we’ll get another one, but until then he can go relax in our room.

Not only did we tackle the Master Bedroom but we also nailed down the closet and Bathroom.

And the old (child-scribbled-on) dresser/wardrobe…



Well, my boys did a bang-up job of painting it.



It’s new place is in our closet.



The Before…

 

I counted 44 boxes of memorabilia, pictures, Christmas ornaments, baby clothes etc.  44 boxes.



From foor to ceiling.



Now for the after.



Notice the top shelf is totally empty.  I’m still dumbfounded.  Gone are around 6 bags of clothes. 

Some Christmas ornaments remain.  Not a lot.



The boxes of memorabilia have found a new temporary home.  We plan on going through them when the house is done and scanning the pictures, tossing the extra’s.  It will take a long time.  So that will be future homework.
And the bathroom.  Here’s a peek.   I’ll show you the before and after pic’s next time.



Ms. Passion is amazing and with every step we take I’m feeling more hopeful and more empowered that I’ll be able to finally conquer the clutter (hoarding) demon once and for all.

The cost.  Although we kept it to a bare minimum and used as much as we could from around the house, the little details can still add up.
$124  for Paint  (Much of it can be used in other rooms which will make the other room’s re-do a lot cheaper than this one.
$117 for hardware (new dresser knobs, towel racks, hinges, electrical pipe for hanging curtains, curtain grommets, etc.
$77 bedding and towels for bathroom.
$35 thrifted items for decorations and material for backing the curtain and valance & pillows  (love thrifting sheets.)
$169 (I THINK) for totally replacing our broken French doors that lead into the bedroom.  This was something that Prince Erik tackled on the side.
$69 for Pictures and Frames

Total: $591
It was more than we were planning on spending, a lot more.  However, had we put the same room together with new furniture, well, the cost would have been in the thousands.  We used the furniture we had and took as much as we could from my fabric stash.  It was also our most distressed and neglected room (outside of the kitchen). And the cost covered Bedroom, Bathroom and Closet.  So three area’s.  The Bonus is that there is enough left over paint we can probably tackle the other upstairs bathroom for pennies.

So there you have it.  I’m still unbelievably motivated to keep going full steam ahead.  With the transformations we’ve seen so far, our home will be amazing when finished.  Even though the work is incredibly hard and time consuming – it’s so worth it.

I have a feeling that I’m going to be spending a lot of quiet time in my room from now on. 

As for the kids, they’re bouncing up and down, in anticipation of when their rooms will get transformed.

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Clone me, Please?

Just wishing there was a magic wand where I could make duplicates of myself.  A few extra me’s could tackle this home so much faster. 

It’s been two weeks since we completed our family room.  Whippee!  It’s lasted and the kids have helped keep it in tip-top shape.  Since then I’ve been putting every spare second into my bedroom.  One of my worst rooms.

And as much as I’d like to show you it’s (nothing-short-of-miraculous) make-over – I’m not going to until it’s done.  It’s amazing.  Ms. Passion is a miracle worker.  Cross your fingers and with a little luck maybe I can show you on Monday or Tuesday.  But here are some hints.

First I threw open the window’s (pulled down the sheet).  I could almost hear the neighbor’s silent cheers as the monstrosity came down – NEVER to be put up again. 

I spent a day removing items to be sorted later.  Donated 4 bags of fabric to the thrift pile and saved another 4 for maybe a future garage sale.  Then I spent maybe 5 days painting.  FIVE DAYS is insane, but so is trying to paint stripes.  If Ms. Passion wants stripes elsewhere in the house I may mutiny. No I won’t give up - but I might whine.  However after spending so much time I have to admit her technique looks amazing.

The kids are continuing to pitch in.  Without them the whole room would have taken twice as long. 

And since I can’t show you the completed room I thought I’d give you a glimpse into some material I’ve been assigned to do something crazy with.

The whole process has been liberating.  In so many ways.  My Young and Gorgeous Counselor summed it up like this by sharing this quote with me.

Our Deepest Fear

Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightening about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It is not in some of us; it is in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.

~Marianne Williamson

And guess what?  The fear is shrinking and I’m starting to shine.

Crud, Sweat and Tears – Worth It?

So a week and a half after Ms. Passion helped me start on room number one…  The Family Room/Library/Music Room… well I’m proud to report that it is 99% done.  Remember the beginning of our room?

It involved a lot of Crud removal, Some good old-fashioned elbow grease, and I’m proud to say I bawled like a baby nearly every day.

Saying good-bye to bad habits is painful, but worth it.  Remember this wasn’t my worst room but a very packed room.  

Out of this room went three bookcases full of books, a piano, 6 bags of trash, and probably another 10 boxes of thrift items.

And after that it looked a whole lot like this…

And this… with the couches taking up the majority of the center of the room.

Do ya like all the electronic cables hanging around?

Ms. Passion is a genius – I might add.  Before she became a professional organizer she was a home stager.  You know, someone who goes into homes and stages it for a quick sale.  She knows her stuff.  So not only was she helping me organize but she also is staging my home so that it is not only functional but beautiful.  We spent around $55 on paint, electrical parts so my husband could rewire the entertainment center, and a art piece and lamp from the thrift store.

Ready for the reveal…

Introducing our ‘Family Room’!

We moved the entertainment center to a different wall.  Then Ms Passion found a way to make some of my more treasured stuff and arrange it in a way to make my husband say, ‘Wow.’ at least 5 times when he finally saw the room put together.  Wow is right.

The best part was she involved the whole family.  Everyone had homework.   From sanding…

 

To painting the trim white (which I’ve always wanted to do).

To rewiring…

Washing…

And a ton of dusting and cleaning and re-dusting, and re-cleaning.  The whole process was messy.  

 

But so rewarding… 

I cheated early on, and tried to do some of the kids homework for them.  Cause I could just envision the trim paint slapped all over the walls, etc.  However Ms. Passion chewed me out good about that one and she was right.  The kids need to invest part of themselves into making this room functional and beautiful.   They are more likely to take care of items they worked so hard to make that way.

Ms. Passion even found some fabric in my stash that complimented the couches.  So we turned that swatch into some curtains.

The only homework we have left?  Well, we are going to repurpose some left-over small matching cubbies into a desk for this corner.  And that’s going to allow us to pull the computer out of the dining room and put it here where the whole family can use it.

So that’s it – One room Done!  Guess which room everyone wants to spend time in now?  We all love it and can’t wait to see the magic Ms. Passion works on the rest of our home.  And the rest of the house, – well it’s desperate for the same treatment.

So for those who want to follow along I thought I’d post the steps I’m going through to overcome this Hoarding Addiction as well as Ms. Passions lessons that she’s giving me. 

*  Step 1:  First you have to ACKNOWLEDGE YOU HAVE A PROBLEM.  Yes, I know I’m a hoarder and I’m SO ready to be in the recovery phase of that illness.  Then  HAVE A DESIRE TO MAKE A CHANGE and have the courage to realize that you need to ask others for help.  Without the Acknowledgement or the Desire you are basically stuck on step one. 

*  Step 2:   ENLIST THOSE WILLING TO HELP ~ family, friends, counselors, organizers, blog buddies, etc.  Make sure they are committed, and will hold you accountable if you flub-up.

*  Step 3: EVERY ROOM HAS A PURPOSE!  If some item is in the room that doesn’t fit the room’s purpose it needs to leave.  You wouldn’t cook your food in a bathroom, or do your laundry in the front room.  Bring the Purpose back to your rooms.  What is the Vision for your home?  Both in looks, and how it makes you feel.

Clutter never feels good.

Ms. Passion helped us clear everything out of our family room except items that fit a basic vision for it’s purpose.  A room where our family could view movies, play board games, study scriptures, and have fun. 

All the extra stuff is temporarily being housed in my last room – the front room.

We are going to hit every room this way.  One room at a time.  Eliminate everything that doesn’t fit the room’s purpose.  I suspect that the hardest part will be seeing all the left over stuff I’ve accumulated in a embarrassingly large mountain of a pile.  That and after the last room is completed; knowing I will most likely have to part with that pile will be excruciatingly painful – but I suspect the beauty of having  a home where everything has a place and is in it’s place.   Well, I’m convinced that-soon-to-be place of peace and beauty will give me the courage to make those hard choices.  I’m ready to keep going.

Quick Reminder…

From this…

To This. 

And This…

To This.

It feels more Peaceful already.