Minimalism Zone 2: Master Suite
February is already here! Or, if you are joining in at a later time, Zone 2 is here! The second zone in my home is the master suite. This is my bedroom, bathroom, and closet.
Let’s start with the Master Bedroom.
Ask yourself this: “What is the purpose of this room?" It should be to rest and relax. Many times our master bedroom can become cluttered with other things that don’t point to the purpose of the room.
I want you to start with your bed. Do you enjoy sleeping in your bed? Do you have the right bedding to be restful? I like to layer my bed so it works for all seasons. If I’m hot, I’ll just pull the quilt up. If I’m cold I have the option of the comforter. What about your pillows? I love a beautifully made bed, but let’s be sure we don’t have so many decorative pillows that we dread making our bed.
Now move on to the your nightstands. What is on the surface? I like to keep a lamp and a tissue box. These are the only things that are permanently on my nightstand surface because I need the space. At night I bring water and my planner to my room. These sit on my nightstand until morning. Many times the book I am reading is there at night as well. All of these things are put away the next day, but I want to give myself space.
If your nightstand has storage inside it be careful to not keep things in it that do not directly pertain to your bedroom needs. I have a drawer and a cabinet in my nightstand. The cabinet is almost empty. The drawer has some things I use at night or might need at night: Medicine (only those I take at night or might need in the middle of the night), pens and highlighters, a note pad, cough drops, sleep mask, hand lotion, and chapstick. I have to continually check this drawer because random things can appear here.
Many times the space beside our bed, nightstand included, can be a dumping ground for things. Take this time to minimize the things you keep there. Rethink that stack of books. Another place in the house is probably better to store the stack, while keeping the one book you are currently reading on your bedside table makes better sense.
Now on to any other furniture in your room. When we moved in our house we really had no idea how large our master bedroom was because the previous homeowners had it so full. It’s a really large room and I immediately began to think of what furniture I “needed” to fill it up. However, we have found that we really enjoy the space. I caution you to not add furniture just because there is the room for it.
We do have a media cabinet in our bedroom. Inside it we keep things pertaining to the electronics we need there. As with any media space, be sure you only have things that you still need. Any space that houses electronics can be prone to keeping random cords and unused or even non-working pieces. Using a label maker to label cords is something that is really helpful with this. It’s actually a project I am working on throughout my house. I am tired of finding a cord and having zero clue which contraption it belongs to.
If your bedroom doesn’t invoke a peaceful mood, work on taking things out that take away from that. Your bedroom should be a place that is easy to rest in.
After you have minimized and decluttered, the final step will be to deep clean. Here are some of my deep cleaning tasks:
Vacuuming the bed if it’s fabric (wiping it down if it’s wooden)
Vacuuming under the bed
Dust and wipe down baseboards
Wash or dust curtains
Dust and wipe down blinds
Spot clean carpet
Wipe down all furniture (inside and out)
Dust walls and ceiling edges
During week 2 we will focus on our Master Bathroom.
Let’s star with bath linens. Do you need to replace your towels or bathmats? This is a great time to reevaluate those. I know I have been guilty of hanging on to towels or washcloths that were threadbare. Also, if you adopt the daily laundry routine, one load a day, you will find that you do not need as many bath-towels as you might have needed before.
Now for your toiletries. Here are some ideas of toiletries you need to toss:
Half used tubes of things you tried but don’t really care for.
Old toiletry items (these do expire)
Expired items
Broken hairbrushes, hair ties, curling wands, etc.
Duplicates. No one needs 3 hairbrushes ;)
I do keep back stock of the things I frequently use, but I make sure I have fully used one product before moving to the next. HERE is a blog post and video I did on bathroom back stock.
As for your bathroom surfaces, keep them as clear as possible. If at all possible, even the things you use on a daily basis should be kept in a drawer or in a basket in the cabinet below your sink.
Utilize plastic baskets to keep like items together. This helps to keep things organized and you can quickly see what you have available.
Once you have minimized, it’s time to deep clean. These are extra things I do during this time. I clean my bathroom really well each week. If I notice something has spilled on cabinet doors or on the wall or baseboards, which is likely to happen in a bathroom, I take care of it on a daily and weekly basis. I deeply clean my countertops, sinks, tub, shower, toilet, and floors each week. Because I do this so often it is an easy task. The bathroom deep clean is just an extra layer to keep my bathroom clean.
Here are some bathroom deep clean tasks:
Wipe down all cabinets (inside and out)
Run cleaning cycle in tub with jets
Dust and wipe down baseboards
Deep clean tile
Clean lights
Week 3 is our Master Closet. I have so many questions on the master closet that I have a separate video and blog post on that coming during week 3.
If you missed out on Zone 1 last month, you can find that blog post and video HERE.
Work through these 6 zones with me and you will have your entire home minimized, decluttered, and deep cleaned! That’s a lot of margin for goodness!