Bedroom Disappointment

I suppose that title is a bit misleading. Let me clarify: bedroom decor disappointment. I have it.

We've lived in our current condo for about two and a half years now. Every room has come together (well, minus some updates I'd like to make, but...) except our master bedroom and bathroom. I'm not really worried about the bathroom right now, but our bedroom is really bringing me down.

It's by far the largest room in the house, so it has become a bit of a catch-all. It also doubles as an office. This is where I spend my day and it's really bumming me out. To my right, the printer sits atop the computer, surrounded by cords, my camera bag and stacks of miscellany. To my left, a box of wrapping and tissue paper, two empty shoe boxes that I have yet to throw away from when I bought new boots, a bin full of more miscellany, four stacks of Jamie's computer software cds that probably date back up to ten years, my syringes from when I was giving myself blood thinner injections, and a pile of pillows that are supposed to go on the bed... when it's made.

Behind me, in the wide open space of our bedroom, is the middle ground. If you imagine it as a square, the bed is on one side, the desk on another, the bathroom on the third, then the closet on the last side. It's home to laundry baskets, the laundry sorter (that needs to go back in the garage where the washer and dryer are) and usually piles of laundry.

The walls are white and bare, aside from one of those large metal wall-hangings that I feel is out of date. In the corner is a freestanding, full-length mirror which I love, yet is covered in dust and dog nose prints. The bed rests directly on the floor without so much as a dust ruffle to hide the box spring. (We upgraded from a queen to a California king bed earlier this year and have yet to buy frame for it.) Along the wall at the foot of the bed is one of those cube storage units that is more fit for a dorm or a closet. The black canvas bins hold all of my craft junk. These used to sit on top of our linen cabinets on the landing where they weren't distracting or obtrusive until one day while I was out of town, Jamie decided to be helpful and rebuild the storage piece and put it in the bedroom. While I appreciated the effort, it didn't really lend itself to any good use other than offering a new surface for the cat to sleep.

I describe all of this because I don't want to show you what a true disaster this room really is, but I'll show you a corner for a better visual.

Can you spot the cat?

To say the least, I'm over it. I want a space I can feel comfortable in, not one that embarrasses and overwhelms me. I know that having the room decorated to my liking won't keep it clean and organized, that's up to us, but I still think it's worth the effort to have a space you like being in.

Once upon a time when we owned our own place, I was happy to paint every room I could; green in our room, blue in Jamie's office, red in the guest bedroom, and orange in my office!

(note the aforementioned large metal wall hanging)

Looking back at those, they're not decorated how I would have liked, but at least the paint helps. And no, these spaces never stayed un-cluttered, but they looked nice when they were clean. This bedroom now, even when cleaned up, is just... blah. Unfortunately, we're now renting and cannot paint, so that's where decorating comes in.

Lately, I've been making and effort to make an effort to keep the common areas picked up. I'm home a lot more so I need to make the time to keep the house looking decent. It makes a big difference in how I feel, so why wouldn't I apply that to our bedroom just because no one else sees it aside from us?

So while I'm already pinning bedroom decor inspiration, my first steps are to get the room cleaned up and organized first. This means figuring out how to manage our laundry, setting up that cube storage thing in the closet and reorganizing all of that shiz, then at least for now putting the dust ruffle on the bed and making it every morning.

My goal is to document my progress here, so look for an update soon!